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 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) 2025 Grant Call
The WDARF 2025 Grant Call is now open. We are now accepting submission for Expression of Interest (EOI) from now till 18 July.
Previous Result
Grant Call 2022
Purposeful Longevity: Fostering Better Work and Life of Ageing Individuals
Dr Lee Zee Wan, National University of Singapore
This study examines ways to improve the employability of older adults and promote purposeful longevity; and evaluate which continuing education and training (CET) can effectively increase their labour market outcomes, given the rapidly-changing labour market.
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
Aligning the Polytechnic Provision of CET with SkillsFuture: Meeting Learners' and Employers' Needs
Professor Stephen Billett (Griffith University) and Dr Anthony Leow, Republic Polytechnic
Against the backdrop of the SkillsFuture national movement to promote skills mastery and lifelong learning, the research seeks to identify and address gaps in existing educational provisions and capacities of teachers in the post-secondary education institutions (PSEIs) for employability-related continuing education and training (CET) across the Singaporean workforce. It also investigates CET educators’ viewpoints and their teaching practices by examining (i) their perspectives regarding the facilitators and barriers to CET teaching and learning, and (ii) how their professional development in the CET terrain can be realised. By investigating the CET experience from aspects of both students and CET educators in the teaching-learning partnership, the study can potentially illuminate the personal, professional and organisational dimensions of the CET experience.
Grant Call 2017
A Blended Learning Course through Academic Practice Partnership to Enhance Workplace Clinical Teaching and Learning
Associate Professor Liaw Sok Ying, National University of Singapore
The research seeks to inform professional development of clinical nurses who are critical in facilitating nursing students’ learning at work in the clinical setting. The study will explore the experiences of clinical nurses and academic educators in supporting workplace clinical teaching and learning, and examine the effects of a blended learning course to enhance workplace clinical teaching and learning. The outcomes can therefore contribute to developing a successful partnership model of best practices between healthcare workplace and academic institutions.
Grant Call 2020
Socio-cultural factors shaping Singaporean Malay-Muslim workers’ decisions regarding employment and training
Dr Mohamad Shamsuri Juhari, National University of Singapore
The project will focus on the socio-cultural dynamics which serve to motivate or inhibit Singaporean Malay/Muslim Community (MMC) workers from actively seeking pathways to enhance their career and work life. It aims to identify and examine specific socio-cultural factors that serve to frame the decision-making processes of working-age adults from the MM community with regards to enhancing their individual career and work life. The project also seeks to recommend solutions to address the challenges posed by these factors.
