NSF and William T. Grant Foundation partner on youth-focused research

The U.S. National Science Foundation and the William T. Grant Foundation are launching a collaborative partnership supporting research that can improve the lives of youth. "Increasing the Use, Usefulness, and Impact of Research About Youth" aims to increase the effectiveness of youth-centered research and its capacity to foster widespread societal benefits.

The partnership invites research proposals that can provide decision-makers and other leaders with discoveries and evidence that are timely and relevant to local and national challenges faced by youth. Multiple types of fundamental research will be supported, including those that can increase the uptake and public value of interventions for youth-related issues such as school violence, mental health and inequality in educational outcomes.

NSF's Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences will manage the effort for NSF through its Science of Science: Discovery, Communication and Impact program.

"Our goal is to advance the use of research to improve the lives of young people," says Science of Science Program Director Mary Feeney. "We are not seeking research proposals that study young people per se but rather how, when and under what conditions such research is effectively used. We want to empower researchers to find new ways to translate and amplify the evidence and methods revealed by social and behavioral science so that youth and communities across the U.S. can benefit from it."

For detailed information, including the research areas supported by each organization and proposal submission instructions, see Dear Colleague Letter: NSF and William T. Grant Foundation Partnership to Increase the Use, Usefulness, and Impact of Research About Youth.