Paper presented at 2008 JSWEC Conference. In this paper I shall provide an update on the recently funded ESRC RDI 2 project entitled 'Increasing the Competence and Confidence of Social Work Researchers II: An Action-learning Programme to Develop Research Capacity'. This project builds on the successful ESRC Researcher Development Initiative Phase I Project in 2006 aimed at increasing the research capacity of social work researchers. It was made on behalf of JUCSWEC in collaboration with SCIE,the Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education (SIESWE), and the Social Work and Policy (SWAP) HEA subject centre. The pioneering work on the application of scoping studies and systematic reviews to social work and social care by SCIE is being used as one of three platforms to launch this intensive development programme over two years. The second platform explores the value of mixing methods specifically to build the evidence base for the discipline. The third platform focuses on quasi-experimentation and instrument design, specifically aimed at social work research. SCIE and other research organisations are providing a number of 'placements', offering participants the experience of learning first-hand about systematic reviews. An innovation is the use of action-learning sets to support participants transform fledgling ideas into fully designed and costed proposals, ready for submission to funding bodies (especially the ESRC). Participants have already been invited to apply to join one of a number of action learning sets over the two years. They will also be offered regular support through the use of a buddy system, and a list of mentors to include experienced social work researchers with a record of securing and managing high-quality, externally-funded research. Lectures, seminars and workshops will be video- and audio-recorded using technology capable of producing downloadable files for subsequent transmission to laptops, Mac/PCs, iPods and MP3 formats.