SOLID Exceed – Project Description

Welcome to the official website of SOLID!

SOLID – short for “Social work and strengthening NGOs in development cooperation to treat drug addiction” – is an international research project funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for the period between the years 2020 – 2024. This project consists of educational and research exchange among five research institutions from Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and the Public’s Republic China, and is part of the DAAD’s Excellence Network. Coordinated from Frankfurt Institute for Addiction Research, the project aims to bring together five research institutes to fund early-career researchers in each country on social studies of illicit drug use. In addition, the project aims to address one of the most pressing issues in Central Asia and PR China, that of the underdeveloped role of social work in helping people who use drugs and suffer from associated health concerns. SOLID comprises epidemiological as well as comparative methodological approaches and follows United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals of:

health and wellbeing,

quality education,

gender equality,

reduced inequalities,

peace, justice and strong institutions
as the overall framework.

At the moment, there are 14 doctoral and 5 post-doctoral researchers funded by the project to develop their independent research agendas within three key research areas:

Social work, drug treatment with special focus on opioid substitution treatment including psychosocial support and counseling
Social work and infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis-C, COVID-19
Social work in prisons and with people with imprisonment experiences due to illicit drug use, sale, or possession

On this website, you will find various resources, the latest updates about the project, recent publications, as well as an e-learning platform where we will continuously host webinars and online lectures for both the project members as well as everyone interested.