NEWS

WADA seeking proposals for Social Science Target Research Grant Program

By Masa Takaya | 22 Feb, 2011

The ITU Anti-doping Department would like athletes and coaches to be aware of the following news item from the World Anti-Doping Agency. “The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is calling for proposals for its 2011 Social Science Target Research Program. WADA works towards a vision of the world that values and fosters a doping-free culture in sport, and education is one of the Agency’s key activities.

One task of WADA’s Education Committee is to identify areas of social science research in the field of anti-doping in need of particular attention and encourage research to obtain information which will inform more efficient doping prevention strategies. For this purpose, WADA invites applications for its 2011 Social Science Target Research Grant Program no later than March 28, 2011 on the following topic:

“Team dynamics and doping in sport: A risk or a protective factor?”

Literature (e.g. Gilley, 2009; Ohl, 2009; Tzorbatzoudis, 2009; Sas-Nowosielski, 2006) shows that a strong anti-doping environment will protect the athlete from doping, while an environment that fosters doping behavior (e.g. promoting competition within the team, treating athletes differently according to their results, etc.) will put the athlete at risk. While this dynamic has been verified for “individual” sports, it has yet been weighed against other pressures a team-sport athlete can face.

An athlete in a team sport (as defined in the World Anti-Doping Code – “A sport in which the substitution of players is permitted during a competition”) may face a number of pressures with regards to doping, including pressure associated with results, pressure associated with accountability to teammates, and team pressure.

Click here for more information on WADA’s Social Science Target Research Program and on the application process. Applications must be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

All projects responding to the terms and conditions of this call for proposals will be evaluated by external peer-reviewers, whose recommendations will be reviewed by WADA’s Education Committee. Applicants will be notified of the results at the end of June 2011.
Please note that the maximum funding available for this project is US$ 50,000.”

If you have any questions about ITU’s Anti-doping programme, please contact the ITU Anti-doping Director, Leslie Buchanan at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)