ESRC applicant-led: explore awards

Open UKRI funding opportunity · Grant. Open with no closing date. Opportunity page: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/esrc-applicant-led-explore-awards/

Apply for funding to advance knowledge through ambitious, curiosity-driven social science. We are looking for creative, innovative and bold proposals within ESRC’s remit that advance knowledge by pushing disciplinary, methodological or conceptual boundaries. You can propose the approach that best achieves your aims. We will fund individuals or research teams with up to four core members.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for ESRC funding.

The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £2 million. ESRC will fund 80% of the FEC. Projects can last up to five years.

What we're looking for Aim

Curiosity-driven social science generates ideas, perspectives and breakthroughs that advance and reshape understanding, creating the foundations for future social and economic benefit. Explore awards support individuals and small teams with ambitious ideas, recognising the important role they play in generating novel questions and disruptive thinking. We welcome creative, innovative and bold proposals from anywhere within ESRC’s remit that advance knowledge by pushing disciplinary, methodological or conceptual boundaries, or otherwise generate important new understanding.

Scope

We are looking for applications that challenge assumptions, open up new areas of enquiry or new sources or uses of evidence, bring concepts together in unexpected ways, or test novel approaches and methods. Working in this way brings the potential for high reward but also involves uncertainty and risk.

Outcomes may be uncertain, timelines to impact may be long-term, and the risk of failure is inherent in pushing the boundaries of social science. We are looking for ideas that embrace this challenge, take responsible risks that are integral to maximising potential, and actively manage uncertainty in ways that do not…