The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) has announced that it will continue to accept applications for the fifth edition of its Research Grants Programme until 20 March 2025.

The deadline extension aims to enable a greater number of researchers to benefit from the programme’s annual grants, which offer a total prize pool of AED 600,000 and cover various fields, including Arabic lexicography, academic curricula, literature and criticism, teaching Arabic to non-Arabic speakers, applied and computational linguistics, and editing of manuscripts in all fields of Arabic studies.

Researchers wishing to participate in the programme, which has awarded 28 grants since its launch, must complete the application form via the Centre’s website: www.alc.ae.

The Research Grants Programme reflects the ALC’s strategy to support Emirati and Arab researchers, as well as Arabic speakers, in producing studies that advance the Arabic language and promote its local and global presence as a language of science, culture, and creativity. It supports the authorship of academic books, encourages researchers in Arabic language and linguistics, and motivates them to present high-quality research projects that contribute to enhancing the status of the Arabic language.

Ultimately, the programme aims to establish a strong research base in Arabic language studies, promote the publication of Arabic research and studies, and reinforce the Emirate of Abu Dhabi’s cultural status and leading role in supporting and promoting the Arabic language.

The submission requirements include that the research must be in Arabic only and not less than 50,000 words. It should adhere to academic standards, be novel and methodical, and not have been published or submitted to any other entity.

Conditions also stipulate that the ALC shall hold all the paper and electronic copyrights to the funded research projects, whether theoretical or applied, for an open and indefinite period, across all six categories of research supported by the Research Grants Programme.

Research proposals are evaluated against a set of world-class criteria including merit and intellectual novelty, the expected impact of the research proposal’s outputs, the proposal’s relevance to the ALC’s strategy, and the qualifications and research career of the principal researcher and any research associate or partner in the research proposal.

In its last cycle, the Research Grants Programme at the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre received 270 applications from 31 countries, with the highest number of applications coming from Egypt, followed by Morocco, Syria, and Jordan.