The SFP research priority setting process

Abstract

Officially formed in 2005, the Society of Family Planning (SFP) celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year. In honor of the organization's history, this article will report on a recent research priority-setting exercise, as well as next steps in an ongoing effort to fund studies best designed to make a significant impact on the field of family planning. SFP, a North American academic society, and the associated SFP Research Fund provide research grants focused exclusively on family planning, including contraception and abortion. Thanks to generous contributions to SFP, the grants program began in 2007, a mere 2 years after the organization's founding. Since releasing the first request for proposal (RFP), the board of directors in the early years set specific priorities for funding. However, feedback from grantees and other constituents provided during a 2011 external evaluation (led by Dr. Judith Seltzer) suggested that funding priorities should address broad research questions. The ensuing board-level discussion resulted in a consensus that to allow researchers to pursue the topics that resonated with them and to avoid limiting creativity, the Research Fund should refrain from articulating overly specific priorities. Ultimately, the discussion culminated in a decision to set a single priority, namely, to fund the best science in family planning as long as the topic of study fit with the organization's mission. Over time, however, our collective thinking about research priorities evolved. We agreed that setting priorities designed to solicit applications that fill gaps in evidence, and funding proposals likely to affect policy or clinical practice, would be beneficial to individual researchers, to the SFP