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 Expression of Interest (EOI) submission is now closed.
Previous Result
Grant Call 2018
Socio-Materials that Matter for Traversing the Boundaries of School and Work
Dr Chue Shien, Nanyang Technological University
• Delineate the social and material affordances that matter for effective internship learning • Explore changing identities of undergraduate students as they cross between boundaries of institutions and the workplace • Design a tool-kit for preparing young adults for learning at the workplace • Provide recommendations on strengthening existing support for continuous learning
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 2018
Orchestration of Microlearning to Support Singapore's Workforce in their Lifelong Learning Journey: Learner, Design and Performance
Professor Looi Chee Kit, Nanyang Technological University
The aim of this research project is to explore microlearning at the learner, course design and system levels. The goals are two-fold: (i) provide empirical findings with Singapore as the context of study, and (ii) catalyze more research on microlearning in Singapore. The research will produce empirical knowledge and will be useful to inform the policy, design and implementation of microlearning.
Grant Call 2018
Workplace Learning in Disruptive Innovators: A Knowledge Management Perspective
Associate Professor Alton Chua, Nanyang Technological University
The purpose of this proposed research is to study workplace learning in disruptive innovators in Singapore through a knowledge management perspective.
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.
