ESRC New Investigator Grants

ESRC New Investigator Grants is sponsored by ESRC. This scheme is for early career researchers who have yet to make the transition to an independent researcher.

ESRC new investigator grant – UKRI Funding opportunity: ESRC new investigator grant Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Award range: £100,000 - £300,000 4 May 2023 4:00pm UK time We award new investigator grants to support new researchers at the start of their careers, based at research organisations eligible for UKRI funding, to become independent researchers through gaining experience of managing and leading research projects and teams.

In addition, they will provide applicants with an opportunity not only to support their own skill development, but also the skill development of research staff employed on the grant. Grants range from £100,000 to £300,000 for a period of up to five years. Funding is based on the full economic costs of the research, with ESRC providing 80% of the cost and the research organisation covering the balance.

Proposals can cover any research area, but the social sciences must represent more than 50% of the research focus and effort.

You can apply for funding if: you are an early career researcher you are the principal investigator you are an established member of an approved research organisation, or have an agreement with a recognised research organisation to work there and have access to appropriate research facilities for the duration of the grant.

You cannot apply for funding if: you are not an early career researcher you are a current or former principal investigator on ESRC or other UKRI grants, except ESRC postdoctoral fellowships. Funding is available for individuals based at approved universities and independent research organisations in the UK. Co-investigators from business, third sector or government can be included in the proposal.

We encourage active collaboration between UK researchers and those in other countries, and co-investigators based in overseas research organisations can be included through our international co-investigators policy .

ESRC funds research within the social sciences, including: area and development studies economic and social history management and business studies political science and international relations science and technology studies social statistics, computing and methods New investigator grants will support new researchers and academics at the start of their careers to become independent researchers through gaining experience of managing and leading research projects and teams.

In addition, they will provide applicants with an opportunity not only to support their own skill development, but also the skill development of research staff employed on the grant. Proposals could be for a range of activities such as standard research projects, surveys and other infrastructure projects and methodological developments.

We welcome proposals across the full disciplinary range of the social sciences and extending to the wider sciences, but the social sciences must represent at least 50% of the research focus and effort. You can no longer apply to this funding opportunity through the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system. Please visit ESRC responsive mode: new investigator grants round one for details of how to apply via the Funding Service.

How we will assess your application Your application will be assessed against the following criteria: originality and potential contribution to knowledge research design and methods outputs, dissemination and impact the applicant and their skill development programme. The proposal will be sent to a minimum of three reviewers primarily drawn from ESRC’s peer review college.

We may include reviewers from outside the college if college members lack necessary knowledge and expertise for a particular application, and ask for comments from non-academic research users, such as businesses or charities. We encourage you to nominate two academic and two non-academic or user reviewers to respond to peer review comments.

The application, reviewers’ comments and your responses will be considered by a grant assessment panel, which will agree a prioritised list of proposals that it recommends for funding. The list will then be considered by ESRC’s grants delivery group, which makes the final funding decisions. For further queries please email esrcenquiries@esrc.

ukri. org . For help with the Je-S application please email jeshelp@je-s.

ukri. org . ESRC research funding guide This is the website for UKRI: our seven research councils, Research England and Innovate UK.

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