William T. Grant Foundation: Understanding the Acquisition, Interpretation, and Use of Research Evidence in Policy and Practice

I received this recently from the W.T. Grant Foundation.

The William T. Grant Foundation has a longstanding interest in supporting research that can inform policy and practice that affect youth and we recognize that divides still exist between the research, policy, and practice communities. Thus, we fund studies that explore the acquisition, interpretation, and use of research evidence in policy and practice.


Relatively little research attention has been devoted to understanding the user side--that is, studying what affects policymakers' and practitioners' acquisition, interpretation, and use of research evidence. The foundation believes studies of this topic will increase the understanding of how to improve the production and subsequent use of research for and in policy and practice.

Areas of focus could include
- education,
- justice,
- child welfare,
- health,
- family support,
- employment, and
- youth programs.

The foundation will consider applications for newly initiated studies and add-on studies to existing projects. Add-on studies must address research questions not covered by prior funding from us or other funders, but can cover secondary analyses of existing data or collection and analyses of new data. Through this RFP, the foundation will support empirical, theory-building studies of what affects policymakers' and practitioners' acquisition, interpretation, and use of research evidence.

Additional details are available at http://www.wtgrantfoundation.org/funding_opportunities/research_grants/use-of-research-evidence