These past few weeks, like many people around the world, I have been watching the broadcasts of Olympic events from Tokyo. During this same period of time, I have been reviewing the applications for the 2021 TIRF Doctoral Dissertation Grants (DDGs).

It occurred to me that there are many similarities between TIRF’s DDG competition and the Olympics. For instance, both of these competitions are international events and competitors are welcome from every country.

Likewise, the preparation to compete takes years of individual and team effort. Like Olympic athletes, successful DDG recipients have gone through years of training – primary and secondary school, tertiary education, and finally post-graduate studies. In order to apply, candidates must have been advanced to candidacy at their home institutions. That is, they must have finished any required coursework, passed qualifying exams, and had their doctoral research plan approved.

Throughout their education, DDG applicants are guided, coached, encouraged, and taught by professionals in the applicants’ disciplines. When the grant proposals are submitted, qualified judges assess the application. This process can be compared to trying out for a spot on the Olympic team for the applicant’s own discipline.

The wide range of topics in the applicants’ proposals leads me to another comparison. Olympians specialize in particular sports – swimming, gymnastics, track and field, and so on. The athletes have their own areas of expertise – analogous to how DDG applicants study specific areas of our field and then must relate their research to TIRF’s various Research Topics:

Language Planning and Policy

Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Preparation

Language Assessment

Dr. Steven Talmy

Years ago, TIRF’s founders – themselves all experts on English language teaching and learning – noted that, sadly, many qualified doctoral students are unable to complete their dissertation research. For this reason, in the early 2000s the first TIRF Trustees started the DDG program to support graduate students in the final stages of their work. The first Doctoral Dissertation Grant was awarded to Dr. Steven Talmy, now a professor at the University of British Columbia.

Since that time, TIRF has awarded 155 Doctoral Dissertation Grants to junior scholars from nearly 30 countries. Of course, some of the larger countries have more applicants, and therefore a greater number of grantees. But in recent years, TIRF has seen numerous DDG proposals from individuals in countries from which we had not previously received applications. Some examples of these countries include Chile, Ghana, Guatemala, Malaysia, Rwanda, and Uganda. 

TIRF’s DDG Recipients’ Hometowns

There is another important similarity between the TIRF DDG program at the Olympics: Both entail substantial work and coordination from their organizing committees. Each year, approximately 30 volunteers are involved in the DDG proposal vetting process. Likewise, the athletes undergo a great deal of training and a number of qualifying trials to make the final team that competes at the Olympics.

Another parallel is that the Olympics and the TIRF DDG program both require funding. Without sponsors, the athletes would likely find it difficult to travel to the Olympic destinations, stay in the Olympic Village, afford their uniforms, and meet their training expenses. According to the website of the ISPO (the Internationale Fachmesse für Sportartikel und Sportmode), two to three billion dollars are raised from major sponsors in the four-year cycle leading up to the Olympic games.

TIRF also depends on people and organizations – both corporate sponsors and individual donors. I don’t expect we will ever raise billions of dollars in a four-year period, but would it be unreasonable to aim for a million dollars? That would be only USD 250,000 in one calendar year. In order to achieve that goal, we’d need to raise an additional USD 125,000 each year beyond our current yield. While our emerging professional services will help us meet the quarter-million-dollar annual target, we will still need new donors and new partnerships to reach our goals. Imagine what we could do with the funding for the DDG program and others we’d like to establish!

Dr. MaryAnn Christison

In closing, I want to express my thanks to Dr. MaryAnn Christison, the Chairperson of TIRF’s Research Advisory Committee, and to Ryan Damerow, the Foundation’s Chief Operating Officer. They manage the entire process of publicizing the competition, soliciting proposals, recruiting reviewers, and distributing the proposals to subject-matter and research-methods experts for adjudication. Let me also acknowledge the work of the reviewers, who carefully read and evaluate the proposals on a strict timeline. I should also note the work involved for the applicants themselves and for their doctoral supervisors, who must officially attest to the candidates’ abilities before the proposals are reviewed.

As you can see, there is much more in common between TIRF and the Olympics than you may have imagined. The Olympics will soon be over, but in the months ahead, we’ll be launching TIRF’s year-end appeal, and I hope I can count on you for your support. If the financial targets mentioned above could be met, we’d be able to revive and broaden the scope of our Masters Research Grants program and expand the DDG program. Opportunities will abound – not just for TIRF, but especially for those whom we serve.

Best wishes,