Institutional Challenge Grant

Overview

<p>The Institutional Challenge Grant encourages university-based research institutes, schools, and centers to build sustained research-practice partnerships with public agencies or nonprofit organizations in order to reduce inequality in youth outcomes. To do so, research institutions will need to shift their policies and practices to value collaborative research. They will also need to build the capacity of researchers to produce relevant work and the capacity of agency and nonprofit partners to use research.</p> <p>Applications are welcome from partnerships in youth-serving areas such as education, justice, child welfare, mental health, immigration, and workforce development. We especially encourage proposals from teams with African American, Latinx, Native American, and Asian American members in leadership roles. The partnership leadership team includes the principal investigator from the research institution and the lead from the public agency or nonprofit organization.</p> <p>The award supports research institutions to build sustained research-practice partnerships with public agencies or nonprofit organizations in order to reduce inequality in youth outcomes. Research institutions will need to address four important goals:</p> <ol> <li>Build a sustained institutional partnership with a public agency or nonprofit organization that serves young people ages 5-25 in the United States.</li> <li>Pursue a joint research agenda to reduce inequality in youth outcomes.</li> <li>Create institutional change within the research institution to value the partnership and its work.</li> <li>Develop the capacity of the partners to collaborate on producing and using research evidence.</li> </ol> <p>Recipients of the award will have the opportunity to apply for a funded two-year continuation grant in order to solidify the partnership and institutional changes. At the end of the five years, we expect the following results:</p> <ul> <li>The research institution has established a set of strategies that facilitate sustained research collaborations with public agencies or private nonprofit organizations.</li> <li>The public agency or private nonprofit organization has increased its capacity to use research evidence.</li> <li>Participating researchers have improved partnership skills.</li> <li>The research generated has been used in decision making and is likely to lead to improved outcomes for youth.</li> </ul>