William T. Grant Foundation, Research Grants on Improving the Use of Research Evidence, Request for Application, Due: Jan 08, 2025

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William T. Grant Foundation, Research Grants on Improving the Use of Research Evidence

• Date Posted: Nov 13, 2024
• Deadline: Jan 08, 2025 - 3:00 pm EST
• Funding Institution(s): The William T. Grant Foundation (WTGF)
• Brief Description: The William T. Grant Foundation supports research that improves the use, usefulness, and impact of research evidence to benefit youth aged 5-25 in the United States. This program funds studies that explore strategies to foster the routine and constructive use of research evidence in decision-making processes across youth-serving systems, including education, child welfare, mental health, and justice. Grants also examine the conditions under which research evidence leads to improved outcomes for young people and provide funding for both major and smaller-scale projects to advance the field.
• Link: https://wtgrantfoundation.org/funding/research-grants-on-improving-use-of-research-evidence

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Assessment of Strategic Fit for NumFOCUS Projects

This opportunity aligns with NumFOCUS's mission and project capabilities in several ways, making it a potential strategic fit:

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Relevance to NumFOCUS Mission

1. Focus on Evidence-Based Research

• NumFOCUS projects promote reproducibility and open science, which are foundational to improving the use, usefulness, and impact of research evidence.
• Tools sponsored by NumFOCUS, such as scikit-learn or pandas, can be instrumental in conducting rigorous data analysis and evidence synthesis to support decision-making.

2. Youth Outcomes Connection

• While NumFOCUS projects do not directly target youth, its tools are widely used in research on education, public health, and social services. These areas directly impact youth outcomes, providing a bridge to align with this grant's focus.

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Opportunities for Strategic Alignment

1. Capacity-Building for Researchers

• NumFOCUS project leads could contribute to building researchers’ capacity to analyze and present evidence in ways that are accessible to decision-makers, aligning with the grant's emphasis on creating tools and strategies for evidence use.

2. Interdisciplinary Collaboration

• This grant encourages interdisciplinary research, which is a natural fit for NumFOCUS’s ecosystem of diverse open-source projects.

3. Developing Tools for Decision-Making

• The grant’s focus on improving the accessibility and applicability of research evidence aligns with NumFOCUS’s mission to support tools that help users translate data into actionable insights.

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Potential Project Ideas

1. Tool Development or Enhancement

• Create or adapt open-source tools to improve the visualization, integration, and communication of research findings for youth-serving systems (e.g., in education or child welfare).
• Develop decision-support frameworks using NumFOCUS tools like scikit-learn to model policy impacts.

2. Secondary Data Analysis Projects

• Leverage NumFOCUS-supported tools for large-scale secondary data analysis to identify strategies for improving evidence use in youth-related sectors.

3. Training and Workshops

• Propose programs to train decision-makers in the use of NumFOCUS tools for analyzing and applying research evidence.

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Funding Potential

Major Research Grants ($100,000–$1,000,000)

• Focus on larger-scale initiatives, such as designing and piloting open-source tools or frameworks for integrating research evidence into policymaking.

Officers’ Research Grants ($25,000–$50,000)

• Support smaller-scale initiatives, such as targeted training sessions or exploratory studies using NumFOCUS tools in real-world settings.

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Challenges

1. Direct Connection to Youth Outcomes

• Proposals would need to explicitly demonstrate how its projects improve outcomes for youth, either directly or through partnerships with organizations focused on education or child welfare.

2. Focus on Decision-Makers

• The proposal would need to show how NumFOCUS tools enable decision-makers in youth-serving systems to make evidence-based choices, requiring practical applications or collaborations.

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Recommendations

1. Partner with Youth-Focused Organizations

• Collaborate with education or child welfare agencies to demonstrate how NumFOCUS tools can bridge the gap between research and practical decision-making.

2. Develop Clear Outcomes

• Align the project with measurable outcomes related to improved research evidence use and its impact on youth.

3. Leverage Open Science Expertise

• Highlight NumFOCUS’s project leadership in open science and reproducibility as a key strength in addressing the program’s focus on rigorous and accessible research.

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Conclusion

This funding opportunity presents a strong strategic fit for NumFOCUS if approached with a clear plan to align its tools and expertise with the program’s emphasis on improving research evidence use for youth-serving systems. By partnering with relevant organizations and emphasizing the practical applications of its projects, NumFOCUS can effectively position itself for this grant.