Releases

WADA announces research projects funded through 2024 Social Science Research Grant Program

tennis woman

USD 334,743 for 7 projects covering research in 60+ countries 

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to publish details regarding the research projects approved to receive a total of USD 334,743 funding through the Agency’s 2024 Social Science Research (SSR) Grant Program.  

SSR grants totaling USD 184,743 were approved to fund six stand-alone projects, which will undertake research in more than 60 countries across every region of the world. The six projects are being led by researchers based in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.  

The remaining USD 150,000 of approved grant funding has been allocated to a multinational project that was originally submitted as five distinct research proposals. Operating across four continents, the project will survey athletes regarding their perceptions towards doping in sport with the aim of identifying global trends. 

The majority of research funding has been allocated to traditionally under-represented regions, in line with one of the core priorities in the Social Science Research strategy 2020-2024.  

Approval of these projects followed a robust review process led by WADA’s SSR Expert Advisory Group, which included a technical analysis of each project and recommendations from an external peer review process. The analysis and funding recommendations were presented to the Agency’s Education Committee, who then made final recommendations to the Executive Committee (ExCo) at their March meeting. Following ExCo approval and completion of ethics reviews, the agreements have advanced to the stage that the Agency is able to provide further project details.  

WADA’s SSR Grant Program is informed by the Agency’s 2020-2024 SSR Strategy, which focuses on advancing the SSR agenda. The funded projects are aligned with our 2024 Social Science Research priorities, which are outlined below:  

  • Athlete pathway and athlete experience 
  • Clean sport behaviors 
  • The role and influence of athlete support personnel 
  • Experience of athlete support personnel in clean sport 
  • Effectiveness of anti-doping/clean sport 
  • WADA doping prevention model 
  • Non-sport influences 
  • Sport policy 
  • Anti-doping policy impact 

WADA’s website has a page dedicated to WADA-funded SSR projects, which is being updated to better enable stakeholders to search for both ongoing and completed research projects by topic. For further information regarding WADA’s SSR Strategy or the SSR Grants Program, please visit the Social Science Research section on WADA’s website or contact WADA’s Education Department at social.scienceresearch@wada-ama.org. 

Please note that WADA’s Call for Proposals for its 2025 SSR Grant Program will be launched the week of 16 September 2024, and a webinar will be held on 2 October at 08:00 EST (in English) to support prospective applicants navigate the application process.  

Registration details will be shared in the coming weeks.