C · R · C · L  Inc.      Center for Research in Computational Linguistics, Incorporated

Center for Research in Computational Linguistics, Inc. Mission Statement

CRCL Inc. was formed in 2003 for educational purposes under the California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law. Its activities are confined to charitable purposes intended to qualify it as an exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (currently pending).

CRCL's mission is to promote research and study of the modern and historical languages of Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia, and to freely disseminate findings and results to the international community of students and scholars. We pursue applications in: education, including development of tools, resources, and methodology for instruction in these less-commonly taught languages; and linguistics research, including research in etymology, computational linguistics, and computational lexicography, as well as related disciplines and research.     CRCL Inc. bridges the gap between foundations and agencies that (usually because of regulatory requirements) are restricted to funding nonprofit entities, and research projects that (for lack of technical expertise and funding) cannot adequately promulgate their results.  Our core competence lies in writing software that makes language data accessible; our competitive advantage in research and development derives from our expertise in computer science, and extensive experience in SEA lexicography and linguistics.

CRCL INC. FUNDING

CRCL's founding endowment was generously provided by a private donor; we have no regular paid staff, and rely on volunteer effort for administrative operations. CRCL's ongoing program of research and development is supported by: project-specific funding  CRCL writes and submits, or joins others in submitting, specific project proposals. The CRCL Board of Directors approves all such grant submissions. technical assistance funding  CRCL seeks funding to support our program of providing technical assistence to outside projects. This help is granted by the Board a case-by-case basis following the procedures described below.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FUNDING GUIDELINES

CRCL has limited funding available to provide technical assistance and support. Projects seeking assistance should: directly further CRCL's mission in promoting Southeast Asian computational linguistics and lexicography; create resources that will be freely, publicly, and permanently available for scholarly use (such materials may, of course, be copyrighted by the applicant); be appropriate to an international audience of scholars, students, and researchers. Any grant will require a followup report, and permission to display project results via the CRCL website. APPLICATION PROCEDURE To apply for assistance, please submit a brief statement (no more than five pages) that addresses the following questions: Describe the project  What resource(s) will the project develop? Describe yourself  Who are you, and what is your expertise in this area? Describe the project's benefits  What kinds of study or scholarship will the success of this project further? Describe your needs  What type of technical support can CRCL provide? Provide statements of support   Include brief comments in support of the project from at least two internationally recognized researchers in the field. FORM OF AWARD CRCL support takes the form of technical assistance. We do not provide direct financial support, purchase equipment, or pay overhead or travel costs; we do pay reasonable and customary consulting rates for specialized technical support on behalf of the project, and we do provide Web hosting for the results.

While there is no fixed formula for calculating assistance, grants typically provide between one week and one month of support. Pre-award assistance, not charged to the grant, will be provided to help establish an appropriate level of support, and to ensure the most efficient use of consulting time.

GUIDELINES FOR APPROVAL All funding requests are evaluated by CRCL's Board of Directors, using these guidelines: Quality of the resources  Are these materials of the caliber required to support international research? Quality of the researcher  Is the principle investigator qualifed to pursue this project? Likelihood of success  Are the project's resources and personnel sufficient to ensure its goals will be met? Consistency with the CRCL mission  Does the project further CRCL's purpose as a nonprofit organization? Recognition of need  Do the applicant's statements of support indicate that the project fills a genuine need? Goodness of fit  Is CRCL Inc. uniquely suited to assisting this project?