The Foundation's mission is to support research to improve the lives of young people ages 5-25 in the United States. One way that they pursue this mission is by investing in high-quality field-initiated studies on improving the use of research evidence in ways that benefit youth.
Toward this end, the foudnation seek studies that identify, build, and test strategies to enhance the use of research evidence in ways that benefit youth. They are particularly interested in research on improving the use of research evidence by state and local decision-makers, mid-level managers, and intermediaries. Some investigators will focus on the strategies, relationships, and other supports needed for policy and practice organizations to use research more routinely and constructively. Others may investigate structures and incentives within the research community to encourage deep engagement with decision-makers. Still other researchers may examine activities that help findings inform policy ideas, shape practice responses, and improve systems.
The Foundation does not have a preference for a particular research design or method. They begin application reviews by looking at the research questions or hypotheses. Then they evaluate whether the proposed research designs and methods will provide strong empirical evidence on those questions. They support studies from a range of disciplines, fields, and methods, and we encourage investigations into various systems, including justice, housing, child welfare, mental health, and education. The strongest proposals incorporate data from multiple sources and often involve multi-disciplinary teams.
The Foundation supports two types of awards:
Major research grants:
Major research grants on improving the use of research evidence range between $100,000 and $1,000,000 and cover two to four years of support. Projects involving secondary data analysis are at the lower end of the budget range, whereas projects involving new data collection and sample recruitment can be at the higher end. Proposals to launch experiments in which settings (e.g., classrooms, schools, youth programs) are randomly assigned to conditions sometimes have awards at the higher end.
Officers' research grants
Officers' research grants on improving the use of research evidence are a separate funding mechanism for smaller projects with budgets ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. Some are stand-alone projects; others build off larger projects. The budget should be appropriate for the activities proposed. Projects involving secondary data analysis are typically at the lower end of the budget range, whereas projects involving new data collection and sample recruitment can be at the higher end.
They welcome investigations about research use in various systems, including justice, child welfare, mental health, and education. Research teams have drawn on existing conceptual and empirical work from political science, communication science, knowledge mobilization, implementation science, organizational psychology and other areas related to the use of research for improvement, impact, and change in research, policy, and practice institutions
Across all of their programs, the foundation strives to support a diverse group of researchers in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and seniority, and we encourage research projects led by African American, Latinx, Native American, and Asian Pacific American researchers.
No history is available.
The foundation does not support or make contributions to building funds, fundraising drives, endowment funds, general operating budgets, or scholarships.
Projects involving secondary data analysis are at the lower end of the budget range, whereas projects involving new data collection and sample recruitment can be at the higher end. Proposals to launch experiments in which settings (e.g., classrooms, schools, youth programs) are randomly assigned to conditions sometimes have awards at the higher end.
In addition to financial support, the Foundation invests significant time and resources in capacity-building for research grantees. They provide opportunities for connections with other scholars, policymakers, and practitioners, and we organize learning communities for grantees in each focus area. Such meetings allow grantees to discuss challenges, seek advice from peers and colleagues, and collaborate across projects. To strengthen its grantees' capacities to conduct and implement strong qualitative and mixed-methods work, the Foundation provides access to a consultation service.