Boston University Conference on Language Development, 2022-2026

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PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT We seek five years of funding to enhance diversity and accessibility at the Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD), which will take place at Boston University each year around the first weekend in November. Now in its 46th year, the BUCLD is internationally recognized as one of the most important annual meetings of researchers in different areas of language acquisition and development, including first and second language acquisition, language disorders, bilingualism, and literacy development. The meeting comprises oral presentations and poster presentations selected through peer review, as well as invited keynote and plenary speakers, a symposium on a topic of current interest, a NIH/NSF research funding workshop, a professionalization workshop for students and postdocs, a pop-up mentoring program, and a sponsor exhibit. The BUCLD serves as a prime venue for disseminating and inciting new scientific research; it brings together researchers from all different areas of language development who do not typically interact or encounter each other’s work regularly elsewhere, thus fostering substantial interaction across theoretical and disciplinary boundaries. It also offers excellent training for students and postdocs, both in the form of access to high-quality scholarship and in training activities such as the funding workshop. In this proposal, we are requesting funds for student travel awards that will increase the quality, visibility, interdisciplinary contribution, health relevance, and accessibility of the conference for students from underrepresented populations, including women, racial/ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and first- generation college students. These student travel awards are a key piece not only for ensuring that the BUCLD continues to be a high-quality venue for the above activities, but also for allowing the conference to grow in important new directions that are demonstrated priorities for the scientific community as well as NIH.