Yes. We have something even better than a sitemap. We have a complete guide to our site because we want you to understand how we put our website together. You can read it online at here or you can access a printer-friendly version here.

NIDRR stands for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.

Created in 1978, The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) is a national leader in sponsoring research. NIDRR is located in Washington, D.C., and is one of three components of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) at the U.S. Department of Education. NIDRR operates in concert with the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and the Office of Special Education Programs.(OSEP).

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), a component of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), is the main federal agency that supports applied research, training and development to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities. Accomplishing NIDRR's mission is a first step on the journey toward improving the lives of individuals with disabilities. NIDRR taff and its grantees are therefore committed to:

• Generating new knowledge and promoting its effective use in improving the ability of persons with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in the community, and


• Expanding society's capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for its citizens with disabilities.

Yes, NIDRR is required to develop a five-year plan by 29 U.S.C. Section 762(h) The latest five-year plan is published in the Federal Register and available for comment until June 18, 2012 You can also learn more about the long-range plan by participating in an upcoming webinar hosted by NIDRR management on the topic.

Yes. We have created a page just for that purpose. To view it click here.

Through its programs or funding mechansims, NIDRR awards federal money to eligible applicants (e.g., institutions of higher education, non-profit organiations, for-profit organiations, etc.)who submit proposals on various applied disability and rehabilitation research and development topics. These proposals are usually written in response to Notices Inviting Applications (NIAs) that highlight NIDRR's funding priority areas and requirements for submitting proposals. These NIA's are published in the federal goernment's daily journal known as the Federal Register. For a list of recent NIA and other NIDRR-related documents appearing in the Federal Register since January 01, 2011, click here.

Proposals received by NIDRR go through a competitive peer review process. Only the winning proposals get the government money. After the money is awarded, specific NIDRR staff are assigned a caseload of grantees that relate to their training and expertise. These NIDRR staff, known as Project Officers, monitor the work of funded grantees to ensure that they are "doing what they said they could do" in their proposal. NIDRR Project Officers also ensure that funded grantees are complying with all applicable federal laws and regulations.To facilitate these on-going monitoring efforts, Project Officers use a variety of monitoring tools and strategies which include but are not limited to: regular teleconferences, email correspondence, review of Annual Performance Reports (APRs) submitted to our Annual Web-Based Reporting System, and formative and summative reviews. For more information on how we measure the performance of our grantees, go to our performance page.

You may have heard our new Director, Dr. Charlie Lakin, has developed a new slogan for recruiting peer reviewers: "Donate your brain to science and become a peer reviewer for NIDRR" When people hear it, they next question they ask is what does really mean and what can I expect if I decide to become a peer reviewer for NIDRR? We have prepared an answer to that question and it is available here.

We get that question a lot. Unfortunately NIDRR does not give out money to individuals who want to use it to achieve a specific goal or purpose. We award grant money to colleges and universities, non-profit and for-profit organizations, and qualified scholars who earn the money by submitting a winning research or development proposal that is reviewed by a panel of experts.

While we cannot help you directly with your efforts to obtain money for a specific purpose, we can refer you to several organizations that may be able to help you identify additional resources.

Two of these are organizations are:

• Reference Services Press, a publisher of books and directories on financial aid, and
  
  
• The Foundation Center, a non library on philantrophic giving with trained funding reference librarians

Yes, we have created a short guide just for that purpose. You can view it by clicking here

You may also find the links on NIDRR's Applicant Information Center Page helpful.

Yes. We created a page just for that purpose. Click here to view it. We hope you find it helpful.

Yes. Check out our Programs FAQ Homepage.

NARIC stands for the National Rehabilitation Information Center and operates under contract to NIDRR to serve as the central repository or library for NIDRR information. Listed below are just some of the things that NARIC can do for you:

• If you want to view a multimedia collection of audios and videos produced by NIDRR grantees check out NARIC's Multimedia Collection.



• If you want to read a blog about, you may want to check out NARIC's Collection Spotlight: Hidden Gems From the NARIC Collection.



• If you use Facebook or Twitter, check out NARIC's Facebook and Twitter pages.



• If you want to read up on the latest disability-related events, check out NARIC's Calendar of Events.



• If you want to read up on the latest rehabilitation research abstracts,and order documents, you may want to check out REHABDATA, the permiere searchable database of disability and rehabilitation literature maintained by NARIC.



• If you want to you want to tools produced by NIDRR grantees check out The NIDRR Tools Collection.



• If you want to you want to receive research updates on a particular topic in your email, subscribe to REHABDATA Connection.



• If you want to learn about research or development grants funded by NIDRR, or contact them for more information, check out the NIDRR Online Project Directory.



• If you want to you want to find contact information for a national disability organization or browse other disability resources, check out the NARIC Knowledgebase.



• If you want a tutorial on how to search the above databases, click here.



• If you don't have time to read the NARIC database tutorial but want to perform a quick search of the rehabilitation literature (REHABDATA) database, there are several ways to do it.



• If you wish you a disability desktop reference set at your fingertips, check out NARIC's Online Ready References.



• If you want to learn more, or need help from a NARIC Information Specialist, check out NARIC's Ask Me service.

Yes, it is called ABLEDATA and it is funded by NIDRR under a contractual agreement. If you need to talk to someone about your search for the right device or product to meet you needs, check out ABLEDATA's Contact page.

Knowledge Translation is a term that has been popularized by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR). Learn what KT is from a staff member at CIHR by reading Knowledge Translation at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research: A Primer.

You can learn more about it by emailing NIDRR staff member, Pimjai Sudsawad at: pimjai.sudsawad@ed.gov.

You can also talk with staff from NIDRR's newly and currently-funded Knowledge Translation Grantees.