Economic and Social Research Council
ESRC
Funds social and economic research — sociology, economics, politics, psychology, education, criminology and data-intensive social science. Also supports the UK longitudinal studies, doctoral training partnerships and social data infrastructure.
- Kind of funder
- Research council
- Where it funds
- UK-wide
- Indicative award size
- £50k – £3m
- Approx. annual research spend
- £250m
- Who can apply
- Universities, Research institutes, Charities & NGOs, Public sector
- Career stages
- PhD / doctoral, Postdoctoral, Early career, Established researcher
Research areas
Named schemes (5)
Economic research on the returns to R&D investment ↗
Apply for funding to support research that can help develop new measurements of the return on investments in research and development (R&D). You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding.
Open19 Nov 2026up to £308k per award£2.5m total fundpulled from UKRI 2026-09-11ESRC Research Grant (open call) ↗
Open competition for social science research from £350k to £1m, with no thematic restriction and no fixed deadline.
Rolling / recurringCheck funder site for current round£350k – £1m per awardchecked 2026-05-01Pre-announcement: ESRC applicant-led: challenge awards ↗
Apply for funding to bring people, expertise and ideas together in ambitious, larger-scale programmes. Challenge awards tackle major research, economic and societal challenges, generating impactful knowledge and innovation. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for ESRC funding.
UpcomingCheck funder site for current roundpulled from UKRI 2026-09-11Pre-announcement: ESRC applicant-led: explore awards ↗
Apply for funding to advance knowledge through ambitious, curiosity-driven social science. Explore awards support individuals or small teams to pursue bold, novel ideas within ESRC’s remit that advance knowledge. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for ESRC funding.
UpcomingCheck funder site for current roundpulled from UKRI 2026-09-11Pre-announcement: ESRC applicant-led: grow awards ↗
Apply for funding to make a step-change in your career. Grow awards support individual researchers at key career points to develop capabilities or pivot direction, strengthening the UK’s social science research base. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for ESRC funding.
UpcomingCheck funder site for current roundpulled from UKRI 2026-09-11