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The New York City-based William T. Grant Foundation is accepting applications for its Research Grants on Improving the Use of Research Evidence program. Through the program, the foundation seeks high-quality field-initiated studies that identify, build, and test strategies to ensure that research evidence is used in ways that benefit youth. The foundation welcomes ideas initiated by social scientists across a range of disciplines and diverse methodologies with the potential to advance researchers' own disciplinary work and scholarship and reveal insights about ways to improve the use of research evidence. The foundation is particularly interested in research on improving the use of research evidence by state and local decision makers, mid-level managers, and intermediaries, and in research dedicated to the following lines of inquiry: identifying or testing strategies to improve the use of existing research; identifying or testing strategies for producing more useful research evidence; and testing the assumption that using high-quality research improves decision making and youth outcomes. 

Purpose of Program: The Institute's purpose in awarding these grants is to provide national leadership in expanding fundamental knowledge and understanding of (1) developmental and school readiness outcomes for infants and toddlers with or at risk for a disability, and (2) education outcomes for all students from early childhood education through postsecondary and adult education. The Institute's research grant programs are designed to provide interested individuals and the general public with reliable and valid information about education practices that support learning and improve academic achievement and access to education opportunities for all students. These interested individuals include parents, educators, students, researchers, and policymakers. In carrying out its grant programs, the Institute provides support for programs of research in areas of demonstrated national need. Competitions in This Notice: The Institute will conduct 10 research competitions in FY 2018 through two of its centers: The Institute's National Center for Education Research (NCER) will hold five competitions: One competition for education research; one competition for education research and development centers; one competition for partnerships and collaborations focused on problems of practice or policy; and two competitions for low-cost, short-duration evaluation of education interventions. The Institute's National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) will hold five competitions: One competition for special education research; one competition for research training programs in special education; two competitions for low-cost, short-duration evaluation of special education interventions; and one competition for research networks focused on critical problems of policy and practice in special education.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) plans to award a cooperative agreement to operate Research Connections. Research Connections is a web-based, interactive database of research documents and public use data sets for conducting secondary analyses on topics related to early care and education. Research Connections houses an increasingly comprehensive collection of research reports, syntheses, and other critical information related to child care and early education, and in particular, children in low-income families; provides researchers access to data from major child care, Head Start, and early education research and evaluation studies; provides technical assistance to researchers and policy makers; provides collaboration and outreach that can strengthen dissemination and use of research by both the research and the policy maker communities, and provides support to the Child Care Policy Research Consortium.

ACF is funding a cooperative agreement to sponsor the Child Development Research Fellowship that gives child development professionals from the academic research community the opportunity to experience policy research relevant to programs serving low income children and families. The goal of the fellowship program is to expose researchers to policy environments, particularly at the federal level, whereby they gain skills and expertise for policy-relevant research. The program is intended to stimulate the fellows' knowledge of child development research and evaluation, particularly regarding services for low income children and families, and to inform their process of developing long-term, policy-relevant research and evaluation agendas. The public will benefit from the increased availability of researchers highly skilled and experienced in policy- and program-relevant research and evaluation. Fellows will engage on a full-time basis for a period of one year (with a possible second or third year at the discretion of the grantee and depending on funding availability). Fellows will be exposed to the broader child development policy environment, particularly at the federal level, and to the policy research community through activities organized and conducted by the grantee. The cooperative agreement will require active partnership between the successful applicant and OPRE.

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the U5D MCH Pediatric Research Network (PedsRN) Program. The purpose of this program is to establish and maintain an interdisciplinary, national, multi-site research platform for scientific collaboration and infrastructure building. The Research Network will provide national leadership for applied and translational practice-based pediatric research and interventions to advance the evidence base for pediatric practice. PedsRN will accomplish this by supporting: collaborative practice-based research aimed at enhancing primary care practice, the development of evidence-based guidelines based on network research findings, and dissemination of findings in order to accelerate the translation of research into practice. The Research Network will identify effective practices to promote children's health in primary care settings. This will be accomplished through the establishment and ongoing development of a national network of primary care and child health professionals. These health care professionals will collaborate in the development and implementation of research designed to increase knowledge of pediatric care.

Established in 1962, the Spencer Foundation is dedicated to the belief that research is necessary to the improvement of education. To that end, the foundation supports high-quality investigations of education through its research programs and the strengthening and renewing of the educational research community through its fellowship and training programs and related activities. Through its Small Research Grants Program, the foundation is accepting research proposals for education research projects. In keeping with the foundation's mission, the program aims to fund academic work that will contribute to the improvement of education, broadly conceived. Examples of previously funded projects include an experimental study of how college students use visual representations in solving math problems; a study exploring the process of racial and rural identity formation among African-American high-school students who attend de facto segregated schools in the rural South; and a mixed-methods study focused on the different types of knowledge novice and experienced teachers draw on in teaching reading comprehension. The program awards grants of up to $50,000. To be eligible, principal investigators and co-PIs must have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession. In addition, the PI must be affiliated with a college, university, school district, nonprofit research facility, or nonprofit cultural institution that is willing to serve as the fiscal agent if a grant is awarded.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) plans to solicit applications for Child Care Policy Research Partnership grants. These four-year cooperative agreements will be conducted through partnerships between CCDF Lead Agencies in states, territories, or tribes and researchers from institutions of higher education, research organizations, and other eligible organizations. Applications are invited from CCDF Lead Agencies, institutions of higher education, research organizations, and other organizations with proven expertise conducting policy research. The work supported by this grant program should be collaborative from start to finish. Specifically, the CCDF Lead Agency and their research partners need to work together throughout all phases of the project. Child Care Policy Research Partnership grantees will be expected to pursue research questions of national and state relevance. Therefore, grantees are encouraged to include other local and state child care stakeholders. These projects are intended to add to our knowledge about the efficacy of child care subsidy policies and quality improvement initiatives that support employment and self-sufficiency outcomes for parents, increase low-income families' access to high quality child care programs, and promote positive learning and school readiness outcomes for children. Examples of priority questions include, but are not limited to: effects of policy changes since the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014, supports for family child care providers, consumer education, licensing and monitoring, and efforts to build the supply of high-quality care. Funding is subject to availability of funds and the best interests of the federal government.

The Research Networks Focused on Critical Problems of Education Policy and Practice Program is designed to direct resources and attention to education problems or issues that are a high priority for the Nation, and to create a structure and process for researchers who are working on these issues to share ideas, build new knowledge, and strengthen their research and dissemination capacity. Under this announcement, the Institute of Education Sciences (Institute) intends to award one grant under this program to fund the Lead of a CTE Network, which is to carry out the requirements under section 114(d)(4) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act to establish a national research center to carry out scientifically based research on career and technical education programs. The CTE Network will conduct research on CTE through projects funded by other Institute grant competitions. The goal of the CTE Network is to support and expand the causal research base on CTE at the secondary and/or postsecondary level specifically through research on whether and how CTE practices, programs, and policies affect student education outcomes.

The St. Baldrick's Foundation works hard to be sure that every dollar makes the biggest impact possible in childhood cancer research. The Foundation has held several Research Priorities Summits with many of the country's leading pediatric oncology researchers participating to advise the staff and board of directors on funding priorities. The St. Baldrick's team and Scientific Advisors meet regularly to be sure St. Baldrick's funds make the greatest impact on pediatric cancer research. Current funding priorities are divided into four categories: * New discovery research * Translational research and early phase clinical trials * Phase III clinical trials & infrastructure support of participating institutions (primarily the fall grant cycle) * Education of new pediatric oncology researchers In addition to research to understand the biology of childhood cancers and discover leads to more effective treatments, topics of interest include, but are not limited to: * Adolescents & young adults * Survivorship, outcomes, and quality of life * Supportive care * Epidemiology and pediatric cancer predispositions * Precision medicine * Alternative & complementary therapies

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) invites center applications for the Learning Disabilities Research Centers Program, hereafter termed 'LDRCs'. The LDRCs will focus on generating new scientific knowledge to inform our understanding of learning disabilities (LDs) and comorbid conditions through synergistic, integrated, team-based transdisciplinary science. This funding opportunity announcement invites both foundational and translational, transdisciplinary research addressing the definition, classification, etiology, diagnosis, epidemiology, early identification, prevention-based approaches, and remediation of children, adolescents, or adults identified with or at risk for LDs in component oral language abilities, reading, written expression abilities, mathematics and relationships among these LDs and other disabilities and co-occurring or comorbid conditions. The P50 mechanism allows for richly integrative, multi-method approaches to examine research topics focusing on learning disabilities that are not feasible through standard research mechanisms. The LDRCs provide a unique platform to engage with external research and community members and provide career enhancing opportunities for early career investigators expanding their reach and impact.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) invites center applications for the Learning Disabilities Research Centers Program, hereafter termed 'LDRCs'. The LDRCs will focus on generating new scientific knowledge to inform our understanding of learning disabilities (LDs) and comorbid conditions through synergistic, integrated, team-based transdisciplinary science. This funding opportunity announcement invites both foundational and translational, transdisciplinary research addressing the definition, classification, etiology, diagnosis, epidemiology, early identification, prevention-based approaches, and remediation of children, adolescents, or adults identified with or at risk for LDs in component oral language abilities, reading, written expression abilities, mathematics and relationships among these LDs and other disabilities and co-occurring or comorbid conditions. The P50 mechanism allows for richly integrative, multi-method approaches to examine research topics focusing on learning disabilities that are not feasible through standard research mechanisms. The LDRCs provide a unique platform to engage with external research and community members and provide career enhancing opportunities for early career investigators expanding their reach and impact.

The Research on Education and Learning (REAL) program represents the substantive foci of three previous EHR programs: Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering (REESE), Research in Disabilities Education (RDE), and Research on Gender in Science and Engineering (GSE). What is distinctive about the new REAL program is the emphasis placed on the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to (a) understand, (b) build theory to explain, and (c) suggest interventions (and innovations) to address persistent challenges in STEM interest, education, learning, and participation. The program supports advances in research on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning and education by fostering efforts to explore all aspects of education research from foundational knowledge to improvements in STEM learning and learning contexts, both formal and informal, from childhood through adulthood, for all groups, and from the earliest developmental stages of life through participation in the workforce, resulting in increased public understanding of science and engineering. The REAL program will fund research on, human learning in STEM; learning in STEM learning environments, and broadening participation research.

Established in 1962, the Spencer Foundation is dedicated to the belief that research is necessary to the improvement of education. To that end, the foundation supports high-quality investigations of education through its research programs and to the strengthening and renewal of the educational research community through its fellowship/training programs and related activities. To that end, the foundation is accepting proposals through its Small Research Grants Program from education research projects. In keeping with the foundation's mission, the program aims to fund academic work that will contribute to the improvement of education, broadly conceived. Examples of previously funded projects include an experimental study of how college students use visual representations in solving math problems; a study exploring the process of racial and rural identity formation among African-American high-school students who attend de facto segregated schools in the rural South; and a mixed-methods study focused on the different types of knowledge novice and experienced teachers draw on in teaching reading comprehension. To be eligible, principal investigators and co-PIs must have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession. In addition, the PI must be affiliated with a college, university, school district, nonprofit research facility, or nonprofit cultural institution that is willing to serve as the fiscal agent should a grant be awarded.

The purpose of NIDILRR's ARRT program, which is funded through the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program, is to provide advanced research training and experience to individuals with doctorates, or similar advanced degrees, who have clinical or other relevant experience. ARRT projects train rehabilitation researchers, including researchers with disabilities, with particular attention to research areas that support the implementation and objectives of the Rehabilitation Act, and that improve the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act. ARRT projects must provide advanced research training to eligible individuals to enhance their capacity to conduct high-quality multidisciplinary disability and rehabilitation research to improve outcomes for individuals with disabilities in NIDILRR's major domain of health and function.

REISSUE of PAR-18-733 The NIH Common Fund has established the Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program (Kids First) to develop a pediatric research data resource populated by genome sequence and phenotype data that will be of high value for the communities of investigators who study the genetics of childhood cancers and/or structural birth defects. The overall goal of the Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Data Resource is to help researchers understand the underlying mechanisms of these conditions, leading to more refined diagnostic capabilities and ultimately more targeted therapies, as well as to develop an integrated pediatric research data resource by obtaining and aggregating genome sequence and phenotype data for as many relevant structural birth defects and pediatric cancer cohorts as possible and to advance research in this area through the broad sharing of these data with the research community. This FOA is intended to promote meritorious small research projects focused on the development and analyses of childhood cancer and/or structural birth defects datasets that are part of the Kids First Data Resource or could be included in the Kids First Data Resource. Development of statistical methodology appropriate for analyzing genome-wide data relevant to childhood cancer and/or structural birth defects may also be proposed.

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) plans to solicit applications for Early Care and Education Research Scholars: Head Start Dissertation Grants. Funds aim to support dissertation research by advanced graduate students who are working in partnership with Head Start programs and with faculty mentors. These grants focus on building capacity in the research field by addressing questions relevant to early childhood programs that serve low-income children and families, as well as on fostering mentoring relationships between faculty members and doctoral students. OPRE is looking for research that addresses questions that directly inform local, state, or federal policies and should be relevant to multiple early care and education settings. Applicants should consider pursuing data collection across contexts, including child care, pre-k, home-visiting programs, Head Start, Early Head Start, and/or others. Applicants are expected to demonstrate an established partnership with their early care and education program partners that should be apparent throughout the research plan, from development and refinement of the research questions through the proposed data collection, interpretation, and dissemination of findings.

Purpose of Program: The Institute's purpose in awarding these grants is to provide national leadership in expanding fundamental knowledge and understanding of (1) developmental and school readiness outcomes for infants and toddlers with or at risk for a disability, and (2) education outcomes for all students from early childhood education through postsecondary and adult education. The Institute's research grant programs are designed to provide interested individuals and the general public with reliable and valid information about education practices that support learning and improve academic achievement and access to education opportunities for all students. These interested individuals include parents, educators, students, researchers, and policymakers. In carrying out its grant programs, the Institute provides support for programs of research in areas of demonstrated national need. Competitions in This Notice: The Institute will conduct 10 research competitions in FY 2018 through two of its centers: The Institute's National Center for Education Research (NCER) will hold five competitions: One competition for education research; one competition for education research and development centers; one competition for partnerships and collaborations focused on problems of practice or policy; and two competitions for low-cost, short-duration evaluation of education interventions.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to seek applications for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (IDDRCs). This FOA invites applications for research center grants designed to advance the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and amelioration of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This FOA seeks applications from institutions that meet the qualifications for a multi-disciplinary program of IDD research that will include: 1) Cores that facilitate interdisciplinary and translational research in IDD and its dissemination, and that support IDD-related projects funded by other sources; and 2) at least one specific research project related to one of several focus themes identified as an area of research need in IDD. Funds for the majority of outside research projects using these core facilities come from independent sources including Federal, State, and private organizations.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), through the Fertility and Infertility (FI) Branch, provides funding for a limited number of research centers in the reproductive sciences.  These centers provide an arena for multidisciplinary interactions among basic and clinical scientists interested in establishing high quality translational research programs in this scientific area.  The centers also serve as national resources for the training and career development of young scientists electing to pursue biomedical research careers in reproduction and infertility.  Finally, center investigators develop and participate in community outreach and education efforts to increase awareness and convey the importance and implications of their research activities to the general public.  Accordingly, the purpose of this FOA is to announce the re-competition of the National Centers for Translational Research in Reproduction and Infertility (NCTRI).  The NCTRI will be administered through the Specialized Research Center (P50) award mechanism.  These centers will form a national network that facilitates and accelerates bidirectional knowledge transfer between the laboratory and clinic with the goal of improving human reproductive health through research excellence and innovation.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), will solicit applications for Family Strengthening Research Scholars grants to support dissertation research on healthy marriage/responsible fatherhood policy issues. These grants are meant to build capacity in the research field to focus research on questions that have direct implications for healthy marriage/responsible fatherhood policy decision-making and program administration, and to foster mentoring relationships between faculty members and high-quality doctoral students. These grants are intended to address issues of significance to inform policy decisions and solutions, particularly for underserved/understudied populations (e.g., low-income families, minority populations), utilize rigorous research methodology (both primary data collection and secondary data analysis), and help inform the development of future intervention research.

The mission of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative is to improve the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders by funding, catalyzing, and driving research of the greatest quality. The program is seeking applications for SFARI awards from individuals who will conduct bold, imaginative, rigorous, and relevant research. Applications are invited for two categories of grants, including SFARI Pilot Awards and SFARI Pilot Awards. 1) SFARI Pilot Awards: These grants are intended for innovative, high-impact proposals requesting support for small-scale projects or early-stage experiments that will build on preliminary data or a prior track record and lead to competitive applications for funding by SFARI or other organizations. Investigators new to the field of autism are encouraged to apply. The maximum budget is $330,000 (including indirect costs) over two years. 2) SFARI Research Awards: Grants awarded through this category are designed for investigators with demonstrated expertise conducting compelling high-impact research on an experimental hypothesis for which, in most cases, preliminary data have already been gathered. The foundation also will consider projects focused on a central hypothesis where success depends on close collaboration between two or more labs. The initiative expects to fund proposals for a maximum of $975,000 over to three years. All applicants and key collaborators must hold a Ph.D., M.D., or equivalent degree and have a faculty position or equivalent at a college, university, medical school, or other research facility.