The Next Era of Tinnitus Research Starts Here

$3 Million to Accelerate Discovery, Translation, and Treatment

ATA is making the largest research investment in its history: $3 million over three years to change what is possible in tinnitus research and care. Our goal is clear: Accelerate breakthrough science, move promising discoveries toward clinical application, and build a future with better treatments and better outcomes for people living with tinnitus.

The 2027 ATA Innovative Research Grants Program is built to fund progress at every critical stage, from the first data that unlock a new idea to foundational discovery, clinical translation, and the development of new therapeutics. Just as importantly, we are investing in the people behind that progress, from emerging investigators to established research teams ready to tackle some of the field’s most important questions.

We are looking for bold ideas, rigorous science, and researchers ready to move the field forward. If your work could change how tinnitus is understood, treated, or managed, we want to help make it possible.

Introducing the 2027 ATA Innovative Research Grants Program

ATA’s 2027 funding portfolio is designed to support high-impact tinnitus research across the full continuum of discovery, from early pilot data and foundational science to clinical translation, therapeutic development, and investment in the next generation of tinnitus researchers and clinicians.

NEW: $1M Tinnitus Therapeutic Grant

In Honor of Kent Taylor’s Legacy and Texas Roadhouse

ATA’s largest research award supports ambitious, milestone-driven projects focused on advancing a promising tinnitus therapeutic toward clinical application. Competitive proposals should demonstrate a strong scientific foundation, a compelling therapeutic strategy, defined development milestones, and a credible path toward translation and meaningful benefit for people living with tinnitus.

  • Award Amount: Up to $1 million over 3 years*

Foundational Research Grant

Supports rigorous, hypothesis-driven research that advances fundamental understanding of tinnitus and creates the scientific foundation for future breakthroughs. Projects may investigate biological, neural, behavioral, genetic, or other mechanisms; identify biomarkers or therapeutic targets; define tinnitus subtypes; or generate discoveries that open new directions for diagnosis, treatment, or prevention.

  • Award Amount: Up to $220,000 over 2 years*

Translational/Clinical Research Grant

Supports research that moves scientific discoveries toward real-world clinical impact. Projects may develop, refine, test, or validate diagnostic and assessment approaches, clinical interventions, therapeutic strategies, outcome measures, care models, or other evidence-based approaches with the potential to improve tinnitus treatment and management.

  • Award Amount: Up to $220,000 over 2 years*

Pilot Data Grant

Supports focused, early-stage studies that generate the preliminary evidence needed to launch or strengthen a larger research program. These awards are designed to help investigators test innovative concepts, establish feasibility, develop methods, generate proof-of-concept data, and build a stronger foundation for future competitive research funding.

  • Award Amount: Up to $27,500 over 1 year*

Graduate Research Fellowship

Invests in the next generation of tinnitus researchers by supporting doctoral students conducting dissertation research focused on tinnitus. Projects may address tinnitus mechanisms, assessment, treatment, management, patient outcomes, or other research questions that advance the field while helping emerging investigators build expertise in tinnitus science.

  • Award Amount: $40,000 over 1 year*

Music Audiology Fellowship

Supports specialized clinical training at the intersection of music, hearing health, and tinnitus care. The fellowship provides audiologists and audiology students with opportunities to develop advanced expertise in serving musicians and other music-exposed populations, strengthening the clinical workforce and expanding access to specialized care.

  • Award Amount: $20,000 over 1 year*

*Eligibility, Indirect Costs & Award Limits

The $1M Tinnitus Therapeutic Grant is open to U.S. and international research teams, provided that the project includes a U.S.-based Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI). Indirect costs of up to 15% of direct costs are permitted and must be included within the $1 million total award limit.

The Foundational Research Grant, Translational/Clinical Research Grant, and Pilot Data Grant are open to U.S. and international researchers. Indirect costs of up to 10% of direct costs are permitted and must be included within the total award limit for each grant.

The Graduate Research Fellowship and Music Audiology Fellowship are limited to U.S.-based applicants. Indirect costs are not permitted for fellowship awards.

All awards are subject to the eligibility requirements, allowable costs, application instructions, review criteria, and additional terms specified in the applicable 2027 Request for Proposals (RFP).

2027 Grant Cycle Opening Soon

Applications for ATA research grants and fellowships will open in fall 2026, with submissions due in spring 2027. Awards will be announced and funding disbursed in late spring 2027.

All applications will be completed and submitted through ProposalCentral.

Stay tuned for full Requests for Proposals (RFPs), eligibility criteria, application requirements, and key deadlines.

Questions?

Contact grants@ata.org for information about eligibility, scientific priorities, application requirements, or the submission process.

A Legacy of Advancing Tinnitus Research

The American Tinnitus Association was founded in 1971 by Dr. Jack Vernon and Charles Unice, bringing together two perspectives that have shaped ATA ever since: the researcher and the patient. Vernon was a pioneering tinnitus researcher. Unice was a healthcare provider living with tinnitus himself. Together, they recognized that meaningful progress would require both rigorous science and a deep understanding of the people that science is meant to serve.

For more than five decades, ATA has carried that vision forward by investing in innovative research across the tinnitus field. To date, ATA has awarded $7.9 million across 149 research projects, supporting investigators in the United States and around the world and advancing work spanning basic science, clinical research, treatment development, and patient care.

In 2026 alone, ATA awarded more than $655,000 to 5 research projects, representing the largest annual research investment in the organization’s history to date.

That founding partnership between lived experience and scientific discovery remains at the heart of ATA’s research mission today.

Our Commitment to Research

ATA’s research strategy is centered on three priorities:

  1. Grow the field by attracting outstanding researchers and providing meaningful funding for high-impact tinnitus science.
  2. Drive innovation by supporting bold, rigorous research that challenges assumptions, explores new approaches, and opens new paths toward treatment.
  3. Build the next generation by investing in early-career investigators, trainees, and clinicians who will shape the future of tinnitus research and care.

Through competitive grants and fellowships, ATA supports research spanning fundamental discovery, clinical translation, therapeutic development, and patient-centered care. Every award is an investment in better answers, better treatments, and ultimately a future in which tinnitus can be effectively prevented, treated, and cured.