All applications are made through the Funding Service. This guidance is for Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) applicants, you can also find general advice on submitting your application.
Resubmission policy
You cannot resubmit a previously unsuccessful application unless you have been invited to resubmit. This includes unsuccessful applications previously submitted to another research council.
We have introduced this policy as a demand management measure, to alleviate pressure on all involved in our expert review process. Using the expert review process to improve applications through multiple resubmissions puts further pressure on our reviewers.
We expect all applications to have been quality assured by institutions, so that when they are submitted, they are highly competitive, with a genuine prospect of being funded.
We define a resubmission as any application (including an outline) that has been previously submitted to ESRC through any kind of funding opportunity and has been through the expert review process. If you apply through an opportunity and your application is not funded, you cannot resubmit it to any other opportunity unless explicitly invited to do so.
If you submit an application to another research council, and it is judged to be out of their remit before undergoing expert review, you can submit it to ESRC if it is within our remit. You cannot resubmit to ESRC if your application to another council has been through the expert review process and was not funded.
Invitation to resubmit
Our invitation-only policy allows further development and improvement of applications that have the potential to be highly competitive and which have a genuine prospect of being funded. There is no guarantee that a resubmitted application will be successful, as it will be in competition with a new set of applications. We will, aim to invite some reviewers and assessors who commented on the previously submitted application.
If you are resubmitting following an invitation to do so, you should identify your application as an invited resubmission.
Applications identified by us as uninvited resubmissions will be rejected.
What constitutes a new application?
A new application should involve a significant change of focus from any previous application you have submitted to ESRC and will likely be accompanied by a different set of costings to deliver the project. Applications which demonstrate only minor amendments from previous submissions, for example specific changes based on previous expert review feedback alone, will be counted as resubmissions.
We expect new applications to include one or both of the following:
- new or significantly modified objectives
- an entirely revised methodological or analytical approach to a research question
Any application which does not meet either of these criteria will be judged a resubmission
Your application may be considered a resubmission if it has any of the following:
- broadly the same title or application summary, or both
- overall aim of a new application and its high-level objectives broadly the same
- broadly the same research questions
- broadly the same resources required to carry out the research
- project leads and project co-leads on an application are amended (for example swapping of roles) while the content of the application is essentially the same
This is not an exhaustive list and none of these points in isolation will be used to define a resubmission.
We cannot discuss whether a particular application will be treated as a resubmission before you apply. You should consult with your organisation before making an application you believe may be considered a resubmission.
ESRC staff will identify any uninvited resubmissions. ESRC may approach a member of the grant assessment panels to assess whether the application is an uninvited resubmission of a previous application. This will generally only be in difficult cases where external advice is required to inform the decision.
Last updated: 10 April 2025