The National Institute of Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR, ) is part of the Administration on Community Living under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
NIDILRR’s mission is to:
- Generate new knowledge and promote its effective use to improve the abilities of people with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in the community.
- Expand society’s capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for its citizens with disabilities.
Category: Federal Government
Eligibility: Researchers, students, and faculty affiliated with U.S. universities and or non-profits. U.S. small businesses.
NIDILRR has a small annual budget of just over $100 million. However, NIDILRR is the only Federal Agency focused entirely on the needs of persons with or aging into disability. As such, NIDILRR has a disproportionate importance in this space.
Many of NIDILRR’s grantees conduct research and development activities pertaining to communication.
NIDILRR supports about 10 programs whose grantees carry out research, development, training, technical assistance, capacity building, and knowledge translation activities. Across these programs, NIDILRR funds about 85 new grants annually .
Of special importance to early investigators are NIDILRR’s Fellowship , Field Initiated, and Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training programs. Applicants may apply for Field Initiated Research grants or Field Initiated Development grants.
To maximize benefits deriving from its investments in research and development activities, NIDILRR developed its innovative Stages of Research (SOR) and Stages of Development (SOD) frameworks . The SOR and SOD are used in many ways by NIDILRR including to provide peer review criteria, references for proposal preparation, and frameworks for grant performance evaluation.
To maximize benefits deriving from its investments specifically in development activities, NIDILRR supports the Disability Rehabilitation Research Project on Knowledge Translation for Technology Transfer (KT4TT). The KT4TT provides technical assistance to investigators who are writing and or carrying out development grants or projects.