Funding to generate time-critical research to support policymakers and practitioners delivering frontline services in the UK. Researchers must work with public sector partners to respond to emerging and urgent evidence needs and deliver impactful outputs within six months.*
Applications are encouraged from:
- diverse groups of researchers
- those who have not previously held ESRC grants
- individuals at any career stage, subject to ESRC eligibility
Please note what cannot be funded through this opportunity:
- activity that should have been anticipated or funded through standard ESRC funding routes, for example, research grants, research centres or research institutes
- activity that could be funded through other more appropriate UKRI routes, for example, ESRC Impact Accelerator Accounts
- non-urgent activity or activity that cannot be delivered within the award period or utilised within six months
- activity that does not explicitly address the stated and emergent evidence need of the project partner
ELIGIBILITY
Proposals can cover any aspect of ESRC’s remit, providing at least 51% of the application is based in the social sciences.
Applications which do not include collaborators from the public sector are not eligible for this funding opportunity. Collaborators will be expected to be listed as project partners, unless they are eligible to hold ESRC funding.
Partnerships must be confirmed at the time of application, fully aligned in terms of activity objectives, and able to begin the collaboration immediately from the start of an award.
VALUE AND DURATION
The FEC of your project can be between £50,000 and £100,000.
Awards can be held for up to six months.
Funded activities may include but are not limited to:
- research
- analysis
- evidence synthesis
- rapid evidence reviews
- urgent data collection
KEY DATES
Call opens: TBC April 2026
Deadline: TBC
Project start date: within one month of funding confirmation
*To facilitate this, the pilot will be open to applications on a responsive basis and use a streamlined decision process, allowing proposals to be assessed, funded and start delivering within weeks.
Information currently available is available on the announcement webpage and in the below document.