This request is for five years of continuing support for the Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders (SRCLD) held annually at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin. This symposium is sponsored by the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin-Madison and by NIDCD/NICHD, as well as attaining funding through registration fees. SRCLD is the only national conference devoted solely to child language disorders research. Over the past 40 years this meeting has achieved the distinction among child language researchers as a high-quality scientific meeting which fosters the exchange of theoretical, experimental, and methodological advances among professional researchers and doctoral students in training. Past programs have been uniformly of high quality, featuring multiple invited plenary presentations by prominent researchers from the field of communication sciences and disorders and related fields and a steady number of research papers submitted for poster presentations or short oral presentations. The impact of the SRCLD conference has been documented in several areas including its unique focus, program diversity and quality, and the extent of student participation in all aspects of the conference. NIH funds are requested to provide travel and per diem for invited speakers, travel support for students, partial support for an administrative coordinator, and website improvements and management. Progress during 2015-2019 involved: a) A vibrant and diverse annual program comprised of 3-4 invited plenary talks, nine submitted short oral presentations (thematically arranged), and an average of 110 poster presentations; b) Support of an average of 30 students during the last five years through NIH student travel funds and private donations, with student travel award recipients consisting of 50% under-represented minorities and 95% women; c) Continued advances in the website which features an online poster attendance planner as well as expanded abstract archives; and d) Sustained international participation by researchers studying children learning a variety of languages. Objectives for 2020-2025 are to: a) Invite plenary presentations by leading researchers in communication sciences and disorders and related fields; b) Provide a forum for the highest quality contributed posters and oral presentation submission; c) Facilitate networking and research collaboration; and d) Promote student participation, with a specific goal of supporting under-represented minority student involvement.
This proposal requests partial funding for continued support of the annual Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders (SRCLD), a well-respected meeting for researchers and students in training that is hosted by the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Wisconsin- Madison (http://www.srcld.org/home/home.aspx). Funds will be used to provide travel awards to allow students to participate in the conference, travel costs for invited plenary speakers, website management, and part-time salary support for a conference administrative coordinator.
