The thing about human ingenuity is that you don’t know where that next great idea will come from—who the next big thinker will be. Our ambition at the American Hearing Research Foundation is to make that next game-changing discovery possible.
View Frequently Asked Questions
How AHRF Makes Grant Decisions
Progress Report Template for Grant Recipients
AHRF Discovery Grants
Next deadline:
5:00p.m. Central Time, Thursday, August 15, 2024
Grant amount; grant period:
Up to $50,000; January 1 – December 31, 2025
Eligibility requirements for AHRF Discovery Grants:
Applicants must hold an MD, PhD, AuD, or equivalent degree(s) and be associated with a university or hospital in the United States.
Acceptable topics for AHRF Discovery Grants:
Research topics must be related to hearing and balance disorders of the inner ear.
Application Guidelines + Checklist for AHRF Discovery Grants:
Please carefully follow our 5-step application process:
- Confirm your eligibility by checking the requirements above.
- Confirm that your topic is acceptable for this grant by checking the requirements above.
- Carefully follow the application checklist below.
- Save your proposal as a PFD document.
- Submit your application online here.
Application Checklist for AHRF Discovery Grants
Please write your application using this checklist. Please follow these guidelines carefully:
- Title Page (first page of proposal)
- Title of research project
- New or renewal project
- Principal investigator name(s) and credentials
- Collaborator name(s) and credentials
- Institution name
- USPS mailing address
- Telephone number of PI who will be primary AHRF contact
- Email address of PI who will be primary AHRF contact
- Financial officer contact information (name, email, and telephone number of official who will sign any agreement)
- Description
- At top of page: Applicant name, credentials (e.g., MD or PhD), & project title
- Brief one-page summary of the project; include performance site and key personnel of project
- Detailed Budget
- Budget ONLY for the one year of your proposed project.
- Provide a one-year budget that includes salary for support staff (students, post-doctorate fellows, etc.), equipment and supplies. Salaries plus fringe benefits may not be more than 80% of your total direct costs.
- Do not include salaries for principal investigator(s), travel or conference attendance expenses, educational costs, or indirect costs (overhead). AHRF does not fund these costs.
- The budget should include the total amount requested.
- Biographical Sketch
- Include a biographical sketch for each principal investigator and co-investigator. Maximum is three (3) pages per biosketch, including contact information (USPS mailing address, telephone, email, etc.) and relevant publications. NIH format is acceptable.
- Include an additional single page with a list of current funding, pending funding, and requested funding. Indicate clearly where other grants overlap the AHRF grant. Awarded overlapping funding must be returned to AHRF.
- A single one-page letter of support will be accepted. Include any letter of support within your proposal document.
- Main Body
- Include one page listing specific aims of the project.
- Include up to five pages for background and significance, methods, and type of subjects (human or animal) – only for the one-year project.
- For renewal projects, you may include up to two additional pages to describe progress on the original grant proposal.
- Note: Grant recipients who are conducting studies with human or animal subjects must show they have applied for IRB or ACUC approval by March 30 of their grant year.
Saving your proposal as a PDF:
- Save your proposal as a PDF, naming it as follows: “Yourlastname_Yourfirstname”
- If the PDF file is 5 MG or smaller, you can submit it via the online portal. If your PDF is larger than 5 MB, please email the PDF and application form data to Info@American-Hearing.org.
Discretionary Grants
In some years, AHRF may identify one or two studies that show outstanding promise. At its discretion, AHRF may award these studies with the $75,000 Birtman Grant or the $65,000 Richard G. Muench Chairman’s Grant for exceptional scientific investigation. If chosen, the researchers will be invited to submit revised aims and budget for the additional funds. There are no application steps for this grant.
The Birtman Grant is named for Georgia Birtman, a Chicago school teacher who was a significant benefactor of the Foundation.
The Muench Chairman’s Grant honors Richard Muench’s commitment to improve hearing health. In 2022, Richard Muench ended his 27-year tenure as AHRF Board Chair. Since joining the AHRF board in 1984, Muench also served as board treasurer and vice president – sometimes overlapping these responsibilities. He was instrumental in increasing the organization’s annual grant funding which helped launch careers for new investigators and helped seasoned researchers tackle new areas of study. He continues to serve on the AHRF Board.
Bernard & Lottie Drazin Memorial Grants
Next deadline:
5:00p.m. Central Time, Thursday, August 15, 2024
Grant amount; grant period:
Up to $1,000; January 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026; Payments issued January 2025
Eligibility requirements for Bernard & Lottie Drazin Memorial Grants:
Applicants must be otolaryngology residents associated with these specific institutions:
- Northwestern University
- Loyola University Chicago
- University of Illinois
- University of Chicago
- Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
- Rush University
- Washington University, St. Louis, MO
- University of Miami, FL
- Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Acceptable topics for the Bernard & Lottie Drazin Memorial Grants:
Research topics must be related to hearing and balance disorders of the inner ear.
Application Guidelines + Checklist for Bernard & Lottie Drazin Memorial Grants:
Please carefully follow our 5-step application process:
- Confirm your eligibility by checking the requirements above.
- Confirm that your topic is acceptable for this grant by checking the requirements above.
- Carefully follow the application checklist below.
- Save your proposal as a PFD document.
- Submit your application online here.
Application Checklist for Bernard & Lottie Drazin Memorial Grants
Please write your application using this checklist. Please follow these guidelines carefully:
- Title Page (first page of proposal)
- Title of research project
- Resident name(s) and credentials
- Collaborator names and credentials
- Institution name
- USPS mailing address
- Telephone number of resident
- Email address of resident
- Financial officer contact information (name, email, telephone number of official who will sign any agreement)
- Description
- At top of page: Applicant name, credentials (e.g., MD), & project title
- Brief 2-page summary of the project and any preliminary results.
- Budget
- Provide a small budget proposal. Include costs for equipment, supplies, and subject participation. Do not include salaries for residents or PIs, travel, conference attendance expenses, educational costs, or indirect (overhead) costs.
- Biographical Sketch
- Provide a 1-2 paragraph biographical sketch for each resident applicant.
- Letter of Support
- Include one 1-page letter of support from the principal investigator(s) working with the resident(s).
- Note: Grant recipients who are conducting studies with human or animal subjects must show the project has current or pending IRB or ACUC approval by September 30 of their grant year.
Saving your proposal as a PDF:
- Save your proposal as a PDF, naming it as follows: “Yourlastname_Yourfirstname”
- If the PDF file is 5 MG or smaller, you can submit it via the online portal. If your PDF is larger than 5 MB, please email the PDF and application form data to Info@American-Hearing.org.