Research Grants

Funding opportunities, application details, and past recipients

AOS provides funding and guidance to create opportunities for surgeons and scientists to explore new directions and stimulate them to develop their academic careers, all in the goal of furthering improvements in patient care.

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AOS Research Fund

Awards

Impact

Research Advisory Board

AOS Research Fund

The purpose of the American Otological Society (AOS) Research Fund is to encourage and support academic research in sciences related to the ear. All of the AOS grant awards may involve research on any topic related to ear disorders. The research need not be directly on an otological disease but may explore normal functions of the cochlea, labyrinth, or central auditory or vestibular systems. However, the applicant must describe how the proposed research will benefit our understanding, diagnosis or treatment of otological disorders. AOS is highly supportive of junior investigators, providing competitive funding for exploratory or promising research that may be too novel to merit grants from other sources.

Clinician-Scientist Award

Offers $80,000 each funding period for a maximum of three years to early-career otologists and neurotologists pursuing mentored research that bridges clinical practice and scientific discovery.

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Research Grant Award

Provides up to $55,000 for one year to support innovative, hypothesis-driven research that advances understanding and treatment of hearing and balance disorders.

Clinical Investigation

Designed to support clinical project development, this grant awards up to $66,000 for one year to help investigators generate preliminary data toward an NIH R21 or R01-style trial.

Research Training Fellowship

This full-time fellowship provides funding (e.g., $44,000/year) for residents, fellows, medical or graduate students to pursue mentored research in hearing, balance, or related fields.

Multi-Centered Clinical Cooperative Seed Grant

Launching in 2026, this seed grant aims to support multi-site clinical studies that build collaborative infrastructure and preliminary coordination for larger clinical trials in otology and neurotology.

Important Dates

Letter of Intent Deadline: November 1, 2026
Invitations to Submit a Full Application: First week of December 2026
Full Application Deadline: January 31, 2027

Impact

Learn more about how AOS research is changing hearing and balance health.

Celebrating Innovation in Otology and Neurotology

See where past AOS grantees are today—click any thumbnail below to view their featured research posters.

The AOS Clinician-Scientist Award was a cornerstone of my early success, funding work that helps tailor rehabilitation and improve outcomes for individual cochlear implant patients.

The AOS Clinician-Scientist Award launched my career by supporting auditory neuropathy models and gene delivery research with potential to restore hearing or improve cochlear implant outcomes.

The AOS Award helped me secure K23 funding, boosted my confidence, and supported research that explained MRI-induced vertigo and developed new imaging for previously invisible inner ear disease.

The AOS Award gave me early confidence and helped fund research expanding our understanding of how vestibular loss affects brain circuits tied to memory and navigation in older adults.

The AOS Clinician-Scientist Award was a cornerstone of my early success, funding work that helps tailor rehabilitation and improve outcomes for individual cochlear implant patients.

The AOS Clinician-Scientist Award launched my career by supporting auditory neuropathy models and gene delivery research with potential to restore hearing or improve cochlear implant outcomes.

The AOS Award helped me secure K23 funding, boosted my confidence, and supported research that explained MRI-induced vertigo and developed new imaging for previously invisible inner ear disease.

The AOS Award gave me early confidence and helped fund research expanding our understanding of how vestibular loss affects brain circuits tied to memory and navigation in older adults.

Research Advisory Board

The Research Advisory Board (RAB) is comprised of seven AOS members, each serving a 7-year term and three consultants, each serving a 5-year term. These individuals are among the most highly respected researchers in our field. The expertise and dedication of the RAB are critical to the success of the mission of the AOS Research Foundation.