William T. Grant Foundation 2015 Annual Report

In 2015, we embarked on a new direction in one of our two major focus areas, shifting our attention from understanding how and under what conditions research is used tounderstanding how to create those conditions. In the first six years of our work supporting studies of the use of research evidence, grantees deepened our understanding of the problem of research use and offered fresh ideas about how to improve its use--particularly with regard to the role of intermediaries in brokering research evidence and the importance of trusting relationships between researchers, decision makers, and practitioners in its uptake. The next phase of this work will build on this knowledge and advance understanding of how to improve the use of research evidence in policy and practice