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
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 (meaning not part of the core team), 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.
You have wide scope and freedom to propose the research activities that will most robustly address the identified evidence need and meet the project objectives. Funded activities may include but are not limited to:
- research
- analysis
- evidence synthesis
- rapid evidence reviews
- urgent data collection
- urgent analysis of existing data resources
Please note what cannot be funded through this opportunity:
- activity that should have been anticipated or funded through standard ESRC funding routes such as research grants
- activity that could be funded through other more appropriate UKRI routes such as ESRC Impact Accelerator Accounts
- activity that should or could have been funded through the partner organisation’s own existing resources or budget
- non-urgent activity or activity that cannot be delivered within the award period or utilised within six months
- urgent responses arising from previous inaction (e.g. evidence needs that have been known for some time but only considered at a late stage, are not eligible as they could have been submitted to a regular grant funding opportunity)
- activity that compensates for long-standing or intentional limitations in partner capacity or capability or where there will be insufficient capacity or capability within the partner organisation to utilise the results
- activity that does not explicitly address the stated and emergent evidence need of the project partner or includes limited scope for generalisability and impact at scale
- follow-on activity from a previous or existing collaborative project with the project partner; this includes the continuation, extension or repackaging of existing collaborations unless a demonstrably new and time-critical evidence need has arisen
KEY DATES
This funding opportunity is using a two-stage application process: an initial outline application, with shortlisted applications then invited to submit a full application. ESRC’s aim is to provide a decision on whether you will be invited to submit a full application within 10 working days.
Deadline: 8 October 2026 (however, you should apply when your application is ready for submission and not wait for the closing date)
Project start date: within one month of funding confirmation
Full details can be found in the below guidance document and on the opportunity webpage.