About Economic and Social Research Council – ESRC

ESRC are the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. ESRC support independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. Our total budget for 2011/12 is £203 million. At any one time ESRC support over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.

Funding opportunities

ESRC provide a range of funding opportunities, including schemes, competitions and initiatives. ESRC funding opportunities enable individuals and groups to pursue world-class research in academic institutions and independent research centres.
ESRC have made some changes to the way that ESRC process grants and our range of funding opportunities. You should familiarise yourself with these changes before you start to prepare your application for a funding opportunity.

Funding for Research schemes

Funding for research schemes include research grants, fellowships, seminars and centres.
ESRC have made some changes to the way that we process grants and our range of funding schemes. You should familiarise yourself with these changes before you start to prepare an application.

Funding through Research grants

If you have an excellent idea for a research project, the best way to seek funding for it is through the research grants open call. Awards ranging from £200,000 to £2 million (100 per cent full Economic Cost (fEC)) can be made to eligible institutions to enable individuals or research teams to undertake anything from a standard research project through to a large-scale survey and other infrastructure or methodological development.
There is considerable flexibility when it comes to subject area, too. As long as you always make sure that your suggested topic falls within ESRC's remit, you are free to concentrate on any research area.
Applications for funding may be submitted under the scheme at any time – there are no fixed closing dates. Please see the FAQs on the application process (PDF, 206Kb) for guidance on how long you should allow from submission to decision. This gives us the flexibility to respond rapidly to the latest developments in the academic world and society. Funding applications must be submitted using the Joint Electronic Submission System (Je-S).
The content and quality of the funding application you submit to the ESRC will determine whether or not you are successful. Therefore it is vital that you have a full understanding of what is required, as well as knowing the various stages of the funding application process, so that you maximise your chances of gaining an award. ESRC offer guidance on how to write a good application for funding.

International collaboration and funding
ESRC welcome the inclusion of international co-investigators on ESRC proposals.
ESRC also have bilateral agreements with funding agencies in several countries.

Further information
Research Directorate
Email: rtdenquiries@esrc.ac.uk 
Telephone: 01793 413066

Visit here for available funding through research grants

Funding through Fellowships

ESRC professorial fellowships

ESRC are pleased to invite applications under the ninth round of the ESRC Professorial Fellowship Scheme. The funding scheme is designed to support leading social scientists working in the UK, by providing them with the freedom to pursue their own innovative and creative research agendas. Fellows will have:

• an outstanding track record of research
• be acknowledged scholarly leaders in their field at the international level.
• It is expected that the Fellows will:
• seek to make a significant contribution to the development of social science
• act as a champion for the social sciences, promoting their vital role in addressing current and future issues for modern society and the economy.

The funding scheme is an open call and we wish to receive excellent applications addressing research questions in all areas of the social sciences, as well as at the boundaries between the social sciences and other areas of scientific enquiry. Fellows will be granted a greater degree of independence in terms of the focus and direction of their programme of work than that usually offered under conventional funding mechanisms. However, we would particularly welcome applications which address some of the key underlying questions within our strategic priorities and which will enhance our theoretical understanding of these areas. Please note that the areas are given as guidance only and all applications will be considered on merit with only those of the highest scientific quality being recommended for funding.
Funding support will be provided for the Fellow through the payment of salary costs. Funding support may also be provided for additional research assistance costs, and the provision of support for a PhD studentship, linked to the Fellow's award. Studentships can only be held in Research Organisations that have been given ESRC accreditation as Doctoral Training Centres. Fellowships will last for a maximum of three years and Fellows can apply for up to a maximum of 60 per cent of their time. ESRC will provide 80 per cent of the full economic cost of the Fellowship. We expect to fund at least four new fellowships from this funding competition.

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Funding in Knowledge exchange opportunities

The funding scheme provides the opportunity to apply for funding for knowledge exchange activities at any stage of the research lifecycle, and is aimed at maximising the impact of social science research outside academia.
The flexibility built into the funding scheme is intended to encourage applicants to think creatively about knowledge exchange, and funding applications are welcomed for either a single activity or a combination of activities; be it setting up a network to help inform the development of a research proposal, arranging an academic placement with a voluntary or business organisation, or developing tools such as podcasts and videos aimed at communicating the results of research to non-academic audiences.
Please note, from the next KE call the Knowledge Exchange Opportunities and Follow on Fund Schemes will be amalgamated into a single funding opportunity (funded at 80 per cent fEC). Applications can still follow on from previous research, however an important change will be the requirement for all applications to involve co- funding from user stakeholders.

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Funding for Research seminars

Seminar groups are multi-institutional groups of academic researchers, postgraduate students and non-academic users who meet regularly to exchange information and ideas with the aim of advancing research within their fields.
Where appropriate, seminar group members should be drawn from the public sector, commercial private sector, third sector and other relevant organisations as well as from academic institutions. ESRC would particularly encourage seminar groups designed to bring together leading researchers from across disciplines to identify new research agendas or capacity building priorities.
These grants are non-fEC and are limited to £15,000. This covers:

• travel and expenses for speakers and participants
• administrative costs
• stationery, postage, copying and telephone costs
• hire of rooms and facilities.

An additional funding £3,000 can be made available when applicants have made a strong case for the inclusion of international academics or the holding of events abroad.
Funding is available for UK Research Organisations eligible for Research Council funding to undertake these research seminars. Further information regarding eligibility can be found on the RCUK website.
A list funding of research seminar grants previously awarded is available on this website. A list of successful grants will also be made available once all funding applicants have been notified of decisions.

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Centres and Large Grants competition

ESRC are pleased to announce the first call for outline proposals for our newly integrated Centres and Large Grant Competition. This funding competition is for experienced researchers requiring longer term or extended support for research groups, inter-institutional research networks, linked-project programmes, medium-to-large surveys, other infrastructure or methodological developments, or any related larger scale projects. The funding competition is for applications ranging from £2 million to £5 million (at 100 per cent full economic cost).

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Funding for Future Research Leaders

ESRC are pleased to announce the first call for proposals for our new early careers scheme, funding for Future Research Leaders. This funding scheme will support outstanding early career researchers to carry out excellent research and to develop all aspects of their research and knowledge exchange skills.
The funding scheme is open to high-quality candidates from anywhere in the world who have a maximum of four years' postdoctoral experience and the support of an eligible UK research organisation.

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Funding through ESRC Doctoral Training Centres

ESRC funding support postgraduate training to help ensure the flow of highly qualified people into research careers.
ESRC fund over 600 studentships a year through our national network of 21 Doctoral Training Centres (DTCs). Our DTCs cover the full range of social science disciplines as well as areas of interdisciplinary research. The DTCs were accredited as ESRC training providers following a competitive peer review process and they have provided clear evidence that they can deliver the highest quality training provision. Potential funding applicants should apply directly to our DTCs.

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International funding

ESRC is committed to raising awareness of UK social science internationally, and enabling UK social scientists to collaborate with the best researchers across the globe. Here you will find links to all the available opportunities to research overseas, to welcome overseas collaborators to your institution, or get involved in international research networks.
Interested to the funding? Before you apply, you might want to check what disciplines we fund in our research remit. Depending on the nature of the research some proposals might be strengthened by aligning with our Strategic Plan.

Funding opportunities
You can access details of all ESRC-funded international opportunities by theme or by region.
Our funding statistics provide further information about the funding we provide.

International funding policy and strategy
Working internationally is a key priority of the ESRC's Strategic Plan.
Learn about the International Network and its priorities.
We have signed up to the EUROHORCs Money Follows Researcher Scheme. This allows researchers funded by an RCUK grant to continue their funded research when they move to another participating European country, thus promoting researcher mobility in Europe.
The ESRC hosts the UK National Contact Points for both the Socio-Economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH) and Science in Society (SiS) programmes of Framework Programme 7.
  ESRC have a bilateral agreement with FAPESP in Brazil

International funding for research resources
Research resources form the foundation upon which research is conducted. Traditionally research resources were predominately focused within national boundaries, but with ever growing globalisation and interdependence there is a clear need to share data, expertise in research methods, and develop tools and techniques for successful undertaking of cross-national research. Acknowledging this need and in funding support of more internationally focused research, the ESRC has been developing a number of initiatives bringing together social scientists from the UK and overseas aiming to promote international co-operation and to advance research resource infrastructure through data sharing and collaborative analysis. One such initiative is the Collaborative Analysis of Microdata Resources – Pathfinder Research Projects.

Research Councils UK international offices
The Research Councils have had an overseas presence since the opening of the UK Research Office (UKRO) in Brussels in 1984. There are now also RCUK international offices in the US, China and India.

Further information
For all general enquiries about international funding opportunities, please contact:
Email: international@esrc.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1793 413105

Visit here for available International Funding
Visit ESRC official site

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