CLD Early Career Research Award

To promote and recognize research, the Council for Learning Disabilities annually presents an award for an outstanding manuscript-length paper on learning disabilities based on a doctoral dissertation completed within the last five (5) years.  Submissions for the 2026 Early Career Research Award are due by June 15, 2026.  The award will be presented at the 2026 International Conference on Learning Disabilities in Fort Worth, Texas.
Award:  The recipient will receive a $1,000 honorarium, plaque, and free conference registration.  The award winner must be able to attend the CLD 2026 conference to present their research and will be invited to submit their paper to Learning Disability Quarterly.
Submissions:  To be eligible, the manuscript must be based on a doctoral dissertation completed within the last five years.  The manuscript may be submitted for publication (e.g., under review), but manuscripts that have already been accepted or published are not eligible for consideration.

Submissions cannot be made by a second party on behalf of the author.  Each submission should include:
1)  Cover letter clearly indicating author’s name and contact information, dissertation title and keywords, degree-granting institution, major advisor, and year degree conferred.
2)  Anonymized copy of manuscript not to exceed 40 pages, including title page, abstract, tables, figures, and references.  The manuscript should be submitted in Word or PDF format.

Incomplete submissions or manuscripts that exceed the page limit will not be reviewed.

The required materials should be submitted by the author to:
Dr. Anna Gibbs, CLD Research Committee Co-Chair
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
agibbs14@utk.edu

Timeline:  The deadline for submission of papers is June 15, 2026. Submissions received after this date will not be reviewed. The award winner will be notified by July 20, 2026.

CLD Early Career Researcher Award Winners

For additional information, contact  Anna Gibbs, Research Committee Co-Chair.