Note that the 2024 LingComm Grant application cycle has now closed. Any future grant cycles will be announced on this page and on the LingComm social media accounts.
2024 LingComm Grants – Small Grants for Communicating Linguistics to Wider Audiences
We want to see more linguistics in the world!
The 2024 LingComm Grants are $500 (USD) to support linguistics communication projects that bring pop linguistics to broader audiences in engaging ways. The grants also include a mentoring meeting with Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne to ask us your lingcomm process questions, and listing here on the LingComm website.
The initial grants are funded by Lingthusiasm, thanks to the kind support of our patrons, and by Rob Monarch, Wordnik, Claire Bowern, and Kirby Conrod and friends for am LGBTQ+ lingcomm project has been funded by Kirby Conrod and friends. You can help fund additional grants here. The grants are judged by Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch.
Applications can be submitted through this Google Form.
Dates
Applications and funding close: 30th of April, midnight 2024 (i.e. as long as it is still April anywhere in the world)
Winners announced: Winners and Lingthusiasm patrons will find out by Friday, May 17th, 2024. We will publically announce the winner on Monday, May 20th, 2024. All applicants will find out before these dates.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are you looking for in a LingComm grant application?
We’re looking for projects that bring linguistics to broader audiences in engaging ways.
We’re open to any area of linguistics, but we encourage projects to pick a specific topic, theme, and/or audience rather than a general “what is linguistics” aimed at everyone. It may help to do some searches and look through the Resources page to see what already exists — what makes your project different?
We’re also looking for projects that are specific enough in scope that $500 can provide a significant boost to what you’re already doing and where we can see the initial effects of the grant by the end of 2024, even around other work and/or school commitments that you presumably have. (This is about 6 months from when we announce the winner.) We recognize that projects do have a lifecycle, and you don’t have to promise us free content for the internet indefinitely, but we do ask you to talk to us about how the grant fits into the longer-term longevity of your project.
Why do you ask about new audiences?
We want communication about linguistics to reach as many people as possible, and thinking critically and creatively about projects to cater to a wide range of people makes that happen. We strongly encourage people from backgrounds that have been underrepresented in linguistics communication to apply, perhaps reaching new audiences that you yourself are a part of. We also encourage you to use this section to talk about how your project will be accessible, such as with transcripts, captions, or alt-text. The application itself is in English for the time being, but we also welcome proposals for LingComm projects that aren’t in English.
Do I have to have experience at doing LingComm?
No! You just have to have a good idea that you can realistically make happen. However, you probably have experiences from other areas in your life that you might be able to draw on. Everyone has to start their lingcomm career somewhere, so maybe this will be your start!
Can I apply for an existing project?
Yes! Just make clear how the money will help you to make the project better. (One idea is to use the money for an accessibility upgrade for a current project, such as by creating transcripts or translations.)
How many grants are you giving out?
We will give out at least two three $500 (USD) grant in 2024. You can help fund additional grants. We will announce the final number of grants we are able to give before the application deadline.
Can I apply to the LingComm Grants for more than one project?
You can apply for at most one solo project, and at most one project with the same team of people, however, there is in principle no limit on the number of different project teams that an individual person can be a co-applicant on. That said, like with the scoping of the projects in the first place, we encourage you to reasonably assess your energy levels and ability to create multiple things, and to not over-commit yourself. Furthermore, one of our goals with these grants is to broaden the field of LingComm, and giving out several grants to a single person is less likely to accomplish that goal.
What can I spend the money on? Can I pay myself?
There are no specific rules, restrictions, or reporting requirements about how you spend the money. (No keeping track of receipts!) We will simply send you $500 in May 2024, and you can spend it however you see fit, whether that’s on equipment, tools, website hosting, paying yourself or someone else for time, something else, or some combination. However, if you’re a prof applying for this grant primarily to pay students, consider instead encouraging your students to apply for their own project directly.
You will, however, have a collection of linguistics fans online who are following the LingComm results and excited to see what you make! No pressure 🙂
Do I need to be based in a particular place?
Nope! Anywhere that we’re able to electronically transfer money is fine. Since we’re based in Canada and Australia already, the mentoring meeting will happen electronically anyway, via videochat, audio call, text chat, as you prefer.
Does it need to be an internet-based project?
Not necessarily! If you want to do linguistics with a physical group of people in your local community, that’s also great! In this case, we encourage you to post any activities you did or write up a blog post about it, to help anyone who wants to do something similar.
Does it matter if I’m a Patron of Lingthusiasm when applying to the LingComm Grant?
It doesn’t matter one way or the other. We will not be looking at whether applicants are patrons or not.
How can I support the LingComm Grant?
The initial LingComm Grant is funded through the kind support of the Lingthusiasm patrons on Patreon. Lingthusiam patrons get other fun perks at various levels, like access to over 80 bonus episodes and a Lingthusiast sticker! All current patrons in May 2024 will get to find out about the successful grantee(s) before the general public (all applicants will also be informed of the success of their application before this).
If you’d like to help us offer additional LingComm Grants for 2024, you can help fund additional grants.
No but seriously, I have a well-paying job, how can I support the LingComm Grant a LOT?
If you’re especially excited about lingcomm and have cash to spare, you can also sponsor a whole LingComm Grant existing, for which we are very happy to thank you or acknowledge you anonymously on the Grantees page.
We’re open to additional LingComm Grants for the 2024 application cycle until April 30, 2024 — after that date, any funds received will be held for potential future years. Because we cover international transfer fees for grantees rather than eating into their grant monies, a $500 grant costs $525 to sponsor.
I’d like to support the LingComm Grant, but I don’t have money to spare!
The LingComm Grant only works if we also get applications, so it’s also a big help to share it with anyone you think might be interested in lingcomm!
We’ll also be posting about the grantee(s) once decided, so we encourage you to support them as well by checking out their projects, following them on social media, etc. You can follow previous years’ grantees here.
Do you have any samples of what LingComm Grant projects might look like?
You can check out our Grantees page to see what the 2020 and 2022 projects and their descriptions looked like! We’re really pleased with how all of them turned out!
I don’t really need a grant myself, but I love the idea of feeling like I am part of a broader lingcomm community!
We applaud your sense of enthusiasm, and yes, you don’t need to apply for or receive a LingComm Grant to be doing lingcomm, especially if you already have other sources of funds! You might also be interested in the LingComm Conference, other news and resources, and engaging with people interested in #lingcomm and @LingComm on twitter.
What if I want to know more about lingcomm?
Check out our Resources page for pointers to other lingcomm projects for inspiration, meta resources for doing lingcomm, and other resources on scicomm and indie web projects, such as Creative Commons. We’ll also be updating our public lingcomm resources as we find out other questions that people have about lingcomm, through the mentorship part of the program.
How can I stay in the loop about the LingComm Grant?
To find out when we announce the winners and other LingComm Grant updates, sign up for the Lingthusiasm monthly email list.
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