Grant Writing and Submission: Balancing Social Work Values and Rigor

As social work research has advanced in its contributions to the scientific literature as well as policy and clinical practice, the pursuit of external funding has become a normative expectation. Yet training and support in grant-writing remain scarce and faculty development to assist in external funding is uneven across schools. The current climate for obtaining such funding is challenging, but opportunities are still available from public and private sources.

For social work researchers, social justice values must be balanced with the requirements of funders whose priorities may lie elsewhere. Balancing scientific rigor and social relevance requires paying attention to social theories and study implications as well as up-to-date methods.

This workshop is designed to help fill this knowledge and skills gap by providing instruction from four presenters who have complementary sources of expertise and experience: two program officers at the
National Institute for Mental Health (one overseeing services research and the other career awards), a senior researcher/mentor; and, an early career researcher (the latter having success in procuring small and large research grants). The focus will be on writing successful funding proposals ranging from dissertations to small-scale pilot studies to larger projects and training mechanisms. Qualitative, quantitative and mixed method proposals will be covered. The ultimate goal is to enhance research capacity for SSWR conference attendees interested in obtaining funding for their research.