The Workforce Development Applied Research Fund (WDARF), a national-level research fund offered by the SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), aims to foster high quality and rigorous applied research in skills, workforce development and lifelong learning to support the SkillsFuture Singapore's key thrusts and national-level policies. It encourages inter-disciplinary research and seeks to strengthen research capabilities, through leveraging both local and international expertise. The WDARF Grant Call is administered by the Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) on behalf of the SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG). The grant is awarded through an open, competitive bidding approach, where submitted proposals go through a technical expert review and evaluation, before they are presented to a Research Committee for approval.
Workforce Development Applied Research Fund (WDARF) 2026 Grant Call
The WDARF 2026 Grant Call will be opened for Expression of Interest (EOI) submission from 02 June 2026 to 13 July 2026.
Previous Result
Grant Call 2018
Work, Well-being, and Resilience: Understanding Singapore’s Mature Workforce
Associate Professor Kang Soon Hock, Singapore University of Social Sciences
This project seeks to investigate the factors that influence work-related decisions, lifelong learning decisions and activities, and the well-being of mature workers aged between 45 and 75. The outcomes include developing a corporate model in matching work motivators of the matured worker to the corporate structure that will enable the former to perform their jobs and maintain their employability, and as a resource to the policy agenda on the integration and retention of mature workers in the Singapore workforce.
Grant Call 2022
Microlearning, Gamification and Chatbot for Collaborative and Personalized Adult Learning (MaGiC²PAL )
Dr Miao Huang, Temasek Polytechnic
MaGiC²PAL project harnesses the promises of three modes of digital learning: microlearning courses (MLC), gamification, and Chatbot tutoring, to create a blend of online learning and blended learning (OBL) that enhances collaborative and personalized blended learning experiences. By combining these innovative approaches, we can provide diverse and tailored learning opportunities that support the needs of adult learners.
Grant Call 2023
Modelling Self-Regulated Online Learning: Video- and Game-Based Learning
Associate Professor Goh Yang Miang, National University of Singapore
This project aims to answer the following research questions:
1. How can learning analytics be used to identify online learners’ SRL subprocesses during video-based learning (VBL) and DGBL?
2. What patterns of SRL subprocesses do online learners undergo during VBL and DGBL?
3. How do the patterns of SRL subprocesses differ between high- and low-performers?
Deliverables:
a. Open-source dataset and machine learning model
b. Intervention strategies for low performers
Grant Call 2018
Regulatory Focus and SSG Career Development Course Use: A Brief Online Intervention
Assistant Professor Jia Lile, National University of Singapore
This project aims to enhance the impact and effectiveness of available career development resources and predict more accurately how individual citizens’ motivational styles predispose them to preferring certain kinds of resources over others. It will support the development of scalable online technologies that can help Singaporeans find, select, and benefit from SSG career development programmes and resources.
Grant Call 2017
Leveraging Leadership to Sustain the Dynamic Professional Development and Identities of Preschool Teachers: The Case for Knowledge Building Community
Professor David Hung, National Institute of Education (NIE) at the Nanyang Technological University
The research seeks to create a sustainable professional development (PD) model that embeds the design of collaboration, ownership of learning, and leadership into the professional development experiences of preschool teachers. Building upon a Knowledge Building Community (KBC) could potentially support an informal, organically-evolving and self-sustaining network for professional development, while addressing the lack of sustained professional practices. The study hopes to address preschool teachers’ epistemic beliefs (i.e. beliefs about the ways in which people learn, the assumptions that learners hold about the nature of knowledge, and the process of knowledge acquisition) through the KBC which integrates ICT learning.
