Scientific Research

What's new?

Innovative research helps address emerging challenges and identify new trends in doping, new drugs, new delivery mechanisms and new methods of detection

Program Details

We promote and fund scientific research projects on these and other topics:

  • Development or optimization of analytical tools for the detection of doping substances or methods

  • Growth of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP)
  • Pharmacology of prohibited substances or drug combinations

We prioritize projects with direct and imminent applicability (including human studies where relevant) in our efforts towards clean sport. Therefore, we rarely fund basic research projects. We encourage applicants to submit translational research beyond the discovery stage, and the proposed projects should aim for concrete deliverables by the end of the funding period.

Funded Scientific Research Projects

Since 2001, WADA has funded projects in the following areas:

  1. Compounds/Methods enhancing growth
  2. Compounds/Methods enhancing oxygen delivery
  3. Exogenous and endogenous anabolic steroids
  4. Detection of prohibited substances/methods: classic methodologies e.g. chromatographic, immunological and biochemical
  5. Gene and cellular technologies applied to sports
  6. Identification and detection of substances with doping potential
  7. Pharmacology of prohibited substances

2024 Call for Proposals

Consult the scientific research topics and details about the granting process in the 2024 Call for proposals. Applications have to be submitted through WADA Grants

From 2024, Expressions of Interest (EOIs) will be accepted all year-round. In this first year of the new system, EOIs will be reviewed in two cycles, aligned with WADA’s Executive Committee meetings. Important deadlines are shown below. 

Cycle 

Granting Year 

EOI submitted by 

EOI Decision 

Full Application submission 

Decision notice expected by 

#1 

2024 

29 February 2024 

late April 2024 

31 May 2024 

October 2024 

#2 

2024 

30 June 2024 

late August 2024 

30 September 2024 

January 2025 

Members of WADA’s Science & Medicine Department hosted a webinar in November to provide a detailed explanation of the new process. 

For further information, please contact our Science & Medicine Department. 

Contact the department via email

Special Topics for Scientific Research Funding

To complement the annual call for proposals, WADA invites researchers to submit expressions of interest (EOI) throughout the year using the WADA Grants platform.

Open topics are listed here, with links to more detailed requests for applications where relevant. 

Please take note that there are no open Special Topics at the moment

WADA is committed to funding research projects and adding to the knowledge base by publishing in peer reviewed journals.