Federal Funding Opportunities for Social Work Researchers across All Career Levels

The purpose of this workshop is to inform social work researchers at all career levels on research funding opportunities available at ACLs National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). NIDILRR funds all stages of research to include exploration and discovery, intervention development, intervention efficacy, and scale up evaluations. Important to NIDILRR research requires the inclusion of populations that will be affected to be intimately involved in the identification, design, and conduct phases of research.

NIDILRR funding supports research, demonstration projects, training and related activities designed to maximize the full inclusion and integration into society, employment/education, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency of individuals of all ages with serious mental health problems, physical, cognitive, intellectual, developmental, neurological, sensory, or aging into disability. NIDILRR Project Officers will share information about 1) NIDILRR funding mechanisms, including those specific to HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions, 2) how to develop a successful NIDILRR research proposal, 3) NIDILRRs unique peer review process, 4) criteria used in scoring applications, 5) areas of research that are of interest to NIDILRR (e.g.: equity, intersectionality).

In addition, resources will be shared such as where to sign up for automatic forecast and funding alerts, locating information on past funded research projects in topic areas of interest, and becoming a peer reviewer. The workshop will conclude with a dialogue between participants and project officers for questions and answers.

NIDILRRs funding mechanisms of most interest to social work researchers and schools of social work include: Advanced Rehabilitation Research and Training Program (ARRT) - Increases capacity for high-quality disability and rehabilitation research by supporting grants to institutions to provide advanced research training to individuals with doctorates or similar advanced degrees. Switzer Research Fellowship Program - Provides grants for individuals to perform research on rehabilitation, independent living, and other experiences of people with disabilities. Field-Initiated Projects Program Rehabilitation Research (FIP) - Investigator-initiated research with projects to generate new knowledge. Disability and Rehabilitation Research Program (DRRP) - Funds knowledge translation, building capacity for minority research entities, individual research projects, and other work. Rehabilitation Research and Training Center Program (RRTC) - Conduct advanced research, training, and information sharing on topic areas for improving rehabilitation methodology and service delivery systems; improving health and function; and promoting employment, independent living, family support and economic and social self-sufficiency for people with disabilities.

NIDILRRs Section 21 program focuses on research capacity building for minority entities, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities and institutions, serving primarily Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native students, and non-minority entities with an interest in improving understanding about the needs and outcomes of individuals with disabilities from minority populations. NIDILRR's Section 21 program includes grants from across NIDILRR's other grant funding mechanisms, i.e., Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers, Advanced Rehabilitation Research and Training centers, Field-Initiated Projects.