NSF Dynamic Language Infrastructure - NEH Documenting Endangered Languages

The NSF Dynamic Language Infrastructure – NEH Documenting Endangered Languages (DLI-DEL) program is a joint initiative between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). It is designed to support projects that advance scholarly and scientific knowledge about endangered human languages, particularly those that are understudied and at risk of disappearing. This funding effort addresses the pressing need to document, preserve, and analyze linguistic data from the approximately 7,000 languages currently in use—about half of which are predicted to become extinct. The program places a high priority on fieldwork and the digital recording, documentation, and long-term archiving of endangered languages to contribute to future linguistic, cultural, and cognitive research. The DLI-DEL program provides funding to institutions and organizations proposing senior research or conference projects. Research projects may involve original fieldwork, creation of linguistic resources like grammars and lexicons, digitization of existing collections, or the development of computational tools for language analysis. Projects may focus on one or more of three emphasis areas: Language Description, Infrastructure, and Computational Methods. The program encourages interdisciplinary collaboration involving linguists, computer scientists, anthropologists, educators, and native speaker communities. While revitalization is acknowledged as important, DLI-DEL specifically funds documentation rather than language revival efforts. Applicants must submit their proposals through either Research.gov or Grants.gov, adhering to the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide. There is no requirement for a letter of intent or preliminary proposal. Full proposals must include a project description, data management plan, and documentation of community consultation. Proposal reviews focus on NSF’s merit review criteria—intellectual merit and broader impacts—along with specific considerations such as the urgency of documentation, existing data quality, and collaborative engagement with language communities. Projects should present clear plans for sustainable, interoperable archiving with minimal restrictions on access. The maximum award amount is $450,000 for up to three years for senior research and conference proposals. The anticipated number of awards is between 20 and 25, with a total estimated program budget of approximately $4.8 million. Projects may be standard or continuing grants, and collaborative proposals are permitted under the same funding ceiling. Cost sharing or matching is not required, and indirect cost limitations do not apply. Eligible applicants include U.S.-based institutions of higher education, nonprofit non-academic organizations such as museums or research labs, and Tribal organizations. Individual PIs may submit only one senior research proposal per review cycle but may also submit a separate conference proposal. Institutions with international branches must justify the necessity of conducting activities at the branch campus. The program encourages submissions from Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUP) and institutions serving Native communities. Target deadlines occur twice yearly, on February 15 and September 15, and continue annually. The application process is not rolling. Award notification generally occurs within six months of the proposal deadline, with awards administered either by NSF or NEH depending on project alignment. The program requires awardees to complete their data management and archiving tasks before final project report submission. For additional information or submission guidance, applicants may contact any of the listed program directors at NSF or NEH via phone or email.