Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: ADR UK research fellowships 2024

Administrative Data Research UK (ADR UK) invites applications for research fellowships to conduct research and analysis demonstrating the policy-impact potential of ADR England flagship datasets.

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

Researchers new to using administrative data are encouraged to apply.

Researchers can apply for a fellowship grant of 18 months in duration, up to a maximum of £200,000 at 100% full economic cost. ESRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost.

Who can apply

Before applying for funding, check the Eligibility of your organisation.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service.

Please use the remit query form, if you are unsure whether your proposed research falls within the remit of ESRC.

We encourage a minimum time commitment of 0.6 full-time equivalent for the core research phase, although we do accept fellowship proposals below this suggested time commitment. We encourage you to make full use of the opportunity presented by the data and funding available.

Who is eligible to apply

This funding opportunity is open to all researchers irrespective of career stage. For full details, visit Eligibility as an individual.

Researchers new to administrative data are encouraged to apply. They should include strong mentoring and capacity building plans as part of their fellowship to support their research goals.

Who is not eligible to apply

Project leads (international), project co-leads (international), and international fellows are not eligible to apply for funding for this funding opportunity. You must be based within an eligible UK institution for the duration of the fellowship.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

  • career breaks
  • support for people with caring responsibilities
  • flexible working
  • alternative working patterns

Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.

What we're looking for

Scope

ADR UK invites applications for research fellowships to conduct research and analysis demonstrating the policy impact potential of eligible ADR England flagship datasets.

ADR UK is a partnership transforming the way researchers access the UK’s wealth of public sector data, to enable public good research. ADR UK is made up of four national partnerships – ADR England, ADR Northern Ireland, ADR Scotland and ADR Wales – as well as the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

ADR England flagship datasets are large, de-identified datasets, which enable researchers to develop unprecedented insights into our society at a population level. Covering a diverse range of themes – from education and health to experiences of the justice system – these datasets can be used to answer pressing policy questions, to inform decisions that improve people’s lives. These datasets are held within the ONS’s Secure Research Service or other ADR UK Trusted Research Environments. The Objectives section gives more detail on the datasets in scope, including priority datasets for this funding.

For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, please read the ADR UK general research specification (PDF, 638KB).

Objectives

We are looking for fellowship proposals that meet the following four objectives:

  • useful research: to act as ‘pathfinders’ for conducting research and deriving insights from the dataset, and which showcase the potential for policy impact and public benefit
  • useful data: to develop the data as a useful research resource for future users
  • useful engagement: to foster opportunities between academia, government, the voluntary and community sector, and the public to allow fresh thinking to flourish and maintain public acceptance of the use of data for research purposes
  • community building: to contribute to the applicant’s development as a research leader using administrative data, and activities which contribute to creating and developing a growing, self-sustaining community of administrative data researchers

Project partners: joint projects, placements and secondments

ADR UK recognises the value of close collaboration with research project stakeholders. We encourage you to consider how you might embed partnership working into your fellowship. For example, this might include building relationships with key organisations that could derive public benefit from your research insights, in order to boost the potential and future impact of the data, research and your engagement. This could be facilitated through a formal secondment for part or all of the fellowship, or it could be a more informal collaborative arrangement through a project partnership.

Previous examples have included collaboration with third sector organisations to complete a quantitative research project alongside a complimentary qualitative project conducted by partner organisations.

This is not an essential part of this fellowship funding opportunity, but we would like to accommodate co-production and encourage co-design of research projects in order to maximise the public good from making these datasets available. You can sign up to our webinar to find out more about academic and community partnerships.

Eligible datasets

You must use an ADR England Flagship dataset for your fellowship. The current range of eligible ADR England flagship datasets are:

For 2024, we have also made available the following new and updated datasets:

ADR UK is keen to pilot the use of the Integrated Data Service (IDS), and so also encourages applications to use the following dataset:

This dataset will be accessed within the Integrated Data Service. Delivered in partnership with ONS, the IDS hosts a range of de-identified data within a state of the art cloud based platform. The vision for IDS is that all hosted data will be indexed and linkable to all other datasets, where data owners agree, improving ease of access and analysis for research purposes. Find out more about the Integrated Data Service.

Funding prioritisation

ADR UK encourages applications using new datasets and will seek a balanced portfolio between existing and new datasets.

Research priorities

Our datasets have associated research priorities and you are encouraged to consult these when developing your fellowship project. These can be found in the Additional information section.

You are also encouraged to consider how your project might align to existing ESRC priority areas of:

  • contributing to the Creating Opportunities and Improving Outcomes theme through furthering our understanding regional inequalities
  • supporting evidence on what works through the evaluation of historic or current policy changes, interventions and programmes and the impacts they have on wider society
  • exploring the potential for administrative data to contribute to behavioural research and complement existing ESRC investments

This is not an exhaustive list and other questions are also welcomed providing you can demonstrate policy relevance and likelihood of impact and uptake. You can also demonstrate policy relevance by aligning to areas of research interest from UK governmental bodies.

Alignment to policy-relevant research questions will be assessed under the fit to funding opportunity assessment criteria.

Duration

The duration of this award is a maximum of 18 months.

Projects must start by 1 October 2024.

Fellowship structure and expectations

These ADR UK research fellowships are up to 18 months in total. This includes a dedicated funded period of up to three months at the end of the research phase, for the fellow to focus on impact and development opportunities.

Research phase (up to 15 months): maximum one full time equivalent (FTE)

This should cover typical research project stages including project set up, analysis and delivery of the research aims of your project. Our start date is fixed and you must start your project by 1 October 2023 when we expect you will have access to the data. However, projects may start earlier while data access and project space set up are being finalised.

Learning and development are encouraged as part of these fellowships. In support of our efforts to build researchers’ capacity to work with administrative data, we expect some training activities might be appropriate during this phase, especially if you are developing skills to use the data. Your application will not be penalised if you lack the required skills initially, so long as you have a strong plan and mentoring in place to develop those skills.

Key ADR UK publications during this phase will include:

Additional publications may include policy briefings or other outputs tailored to your objectives.

Meaningful public engagement should be embedded into all fellowship projects. You are encouraged to work with your host institution’s public engagement team where appropriate to develop your plans at the application stage. You are expected to outline how you plan on exercising two-way public engagement with ADR UK’s voluntary and community sector advisory groups or other relevant bodies in informing your research. You can continue to seek support from your host institution after the start of your fellowship.

The ADR UK Communications and Engagement team will support you with these outputs as well as engagements with the ADR UK user representation groups. More details can be found in our Communications and Engagement Expectations (PDF, 2.3MB) and the General Research Specification (PDF, 638KB).

Impact and development phase (up to three months): maximum 0.5 FTE

Activities during this phase should be dedicated toward building on the momentum of your research phase, maximising opportunities for knowledge exchange and policy impact. Wider activities may also contribute to your own development and support the wider research community using administrative data.

It is expected that impact activities will need to start within the research phase to ensure success within this dedicated period. You should set out your plans to build on the support from ADR UK within the research phase and clarify pathways to achieving your impact goals.

We understand opportunities may arise during the research phase of your project and plans may need to change accordingly. Successful fellows will meet with ADR UK to review their impact and development phase plans during month 13 of their fellowship to discuss any required adjustments. We will work flexibly throughout the fellowship to consider change requests and support emerging opportunities.

Fellows can include activities in this phase which cover:

  • impact enhancement
    • tailoring communication to policymakers, practitioners, or a segment of the public. This could include the production of short documents or engaging media products like video, animations and illustrations, supported by an effective dissemination plan
    • organising an event which involves a wide range of stakeholders including policymakers and practitioners, and which supports public trust
    • coordinating activities to establish networks and relationships with research users
    • developing activities to influence policy
  • research synthesis, cohort leadership and engagement
    • time to collaborate with other fellows on co-authored journal articles and other research outputs (this funding cannot be used for article processing charges)
    • liaising with other fellows to organise a research event focused on an area of shared interest aimed at building a community and enhancing bodies of knowledge
    • activities which pass on your expertise and help build a wider cohort of researchers who are better able to carry out research using the data from your fellowship
  • training and development opportunities
    • training offered by you to the wider research community in support of enhancing the capability of other researchers to conduct administrative data research
    • training for yourself to allow you to capitalise on opportunities or enhance your capability as an administrative data research leader. We expect training in this phase of the project to focus on skills related to impact and knowledge exchange or skills relevant to leading and delivering future research projects

This is not an exhaustive list. We encourage you to be ambitious and bring exciting, new and impactful ideas to ensure your research makes a difference for public good.

For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the Additional information section. You should also read the research priorities for each linked dataset and General Research Specification (PDF, 638KB) for ADR UK’s research fellowships in conjunction with this funding announcement.

Funding available

The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £200,000.

ESRC will fund 80% of the FEC.

Supporting skills and talent

We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.

How to apply

Register of interest – mandatory

This fellowship funding opportunity has a mandatory register of interest stage. Prospective applications should complete the Intention to submit form by 28 March 2024 at 4:00 pm UK time.

This is to support the management of the funding opportunity and facilitate ongoing partnership working. The outline will be shared with data owners and key funding partners who may be in touch with you about your project idea if sufficient resource is available. This is not a feasibility check or feedback stage. You should submit the form and continue work closely with the available contacts and materials to ensure that your project is feasible before you submit your full application.

Please contact us separately if you miss this deadline at adrfellowships@esrc.ukri.org

Data access, accreditation, and approval

ADR UK partners have rigorous safeguards in place to ensure the data cannot be accessed by any unauthorised persons, or for any reason other than research that passes the public benefit test. These safeguards are defined by the Five Safes developed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and include accreditation of the researcher and approval of the research project.

For data being accessed via the ONS Secure Research Service (SRS)

Successful applicants will need to become an accredited researcher of the ONS SRS and have their project approved under the data owners’ information governance review process.

Successful applications will be invited to submit an application through the Research Accreditation Service to get their project approved after the funding panel decisions. Project approval is not required at this stage although researcher accreditation can take place in advance of a funding decision.

For any questions regarding the ONS accreditation and approval process, please contact srs.customer.support@ons.gov.uk. If you have a query about a specific dataset please contact adrcuration@ons.gov.uk

To use the ONS SRS, you must access it through the appropriate safe setting.
The full range of safe setting access options currently available to access the SRS are:

Organisations can also include costs for a SafePoint. This will provide the necessary equipment and physical security from a room within your organisation for secure data access.

Organisations must apply separately to the SafePod Network for a SafePoint, and this must be completed prior to your research fellowship application. Your application must state that you have successfully applied for a SafePoint.

See more details about SafePoint and the application procedure.

Please check on permissions for the dataset you intend to use. More information can be found on the ONS website.

Please note, project using machine learning techniques are not currently suitable for the ONS SRS.

For data being accessed via the Integrated Data Service (IDS)

The IDS Hub is a secure platform where authorised users can access IDS products and services via the cloud. Users are typically granted access after their project has been approved.

The approvals process for the IDS will be the same as the ONS SRS. When accessing IDS for the first time you will need:

  • your welcome email with your sign-in details
  • access to a mobile device to set up two-step verification

Find out more information on how to access data on the IDS.

For data being accessed via SAIL databank (for example, Family court-Cafcass-Census 2021 linkage)

You must complete stage one of the two-stage process by clicking on the Discuss your research question with us today box. This will take you to the scoping form where you can submit information about your proposed research. A SAIL Databank analyst will then be in touch to discuss your project. This is to ensure that you can build data access costs associated with SAIL into your research funding application and receive advice on project feasibility.

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The project lead (fellow) is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

To apply

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.

  1. Confirm you are the project lead.
  2. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email support@funding-service.ukri.org
    Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service.
  3. Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
  4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
  5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
  6. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. You must:

  • use images sparingly and only to convey important information that cannot easily be put into words
  • insert each new image onto a new line
  • provide a descriptive legend for each image immediately underneath it (this counts towards your word limit)
  • ensure files are smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Watch our research office webinars about the new Funding Service.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:

Deadline

ESRC must receive your application by 30 April 2024 at 4:00pm UK time.

Your intention to submit form must be submitted by 28 March 2024 at 4:00pm UK time.

You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.

Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

Personal data

Processing personal data

ESRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.

We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.

Publication of outcomes

ESRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at What we have funded.

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

Summary

Word limit: 550

In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.

We may make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, so make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:

  • opinion-formers
  • policymakers
  • the public
  • the wider research community

Guidance for writing a summary

Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:

  • context
  • the challenge the project addresses
  • aims and objectives
  • potential applications and benefits

Core team

List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:

  • fellow
  • specialist
  • grant manager
  • professional enabling staff
  • research and innovation associate
  • technician

Only list one individual as the fellow.

Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.

Application questions

Vision

Word limit: 1,000

What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how your proposed work:

  • is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)
  • has the potential to advance current understanding, or generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area of its focus
  • is timely, given current trends, context, and needs
  • impacts world-leading research, society, the economy or the environment
  • contributes to the four key ADR UK fellowship objectives

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

In the Vision section we also expect you to:

  • identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and who the beneficiaries might be
  • identify how the research is being undertaken for public good
  • identify datasets’ geography and years of data required

Approach

Word limit: 2,500

How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how you have designed your work so that it:

  • is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
  • is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how you will manage them
  • uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable)
  • summarises the previous work and describes how you will build on and progress this work (if applicable)
  • will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts
  • engages with a specific public group or groups, relevant to your project’s objectives, working with partner and intermediary organisations where appropriate

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Within the Approach section we also expect you to:

  • demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the proposed work
  • provide a detailed and comprehensive project plan, including milestones and timelines in the form of a Gantt chart or diagram
  • demonstrate you have good understanding of the datasets you are applying for, confirm that you have reviewed the relevant data documentation associated with the dataset(s) you plan to utilise within this study and confirm your project is feasible with the data you have requested
  • list your specific research questions and hypotheses and provide detail on how they will be addressed using the dataset. For example, variables that will be used and geographic level
  • detail expected outcomes and planned publications

Applicant capability to deliver

Word limit: 1,500

Why are you the right individual to successfully deliver the proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Evidence of how you have:

  • the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to make best use of the benefits presented by this funding opportunity to develop your career
  • the right balance of skills and aptitude to deliver the proposed work
  • contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community
  • the appropriate team working or leadership skills (appropriate to career stage)

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

The word count for this section is 1,500 words, 1,000 words to be used for R4RI modules and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format to showcase the range of relevant skills you have and how this will help to deliver the proposed work. You can include specific achievements and choose past contributions that best evidence your ability to deliver this work.

Complete this section using the following R4RI module headings. You should use each heading once, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills you bring:

  • contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
  • the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
  • contributions to the wider research and innovation community
  • contributions to broader research or innovation, users and audiences, and towards wider societal benefit

Additions: Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).

You should complete this section as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.

Career development

Word limit: 1,000

Why is this fellowship the right way to develop your career and how will you use it to benefit others?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Ensure that you have identified:

  • career development goals appropriate to the fellowship funding opportunity
  • how the fellowship will provide a feasible and appropriate trajectory for your personal development and to achieve your stated career development goals (as appropriate to your career stage and field)
  • how you will instigate positive change in the wider research and innovation community, for example through equality diversity and inclusion (EDI), advocacy or advisory roles, stakeholder engagement, participation in peer review, influencing policy, public engagement, or outreach

Within the Career development section we also expect you to describe:

  • how the proposed work will provide a feasible and appropriate trajectory for you to acquire additional skills, like research, leadership, communication and management

Host organisation support

Word limit: 1,000

How will the host organisation support your fellowship?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Ensure that you have:

  • provided evidence detailing how the host organisation will support you, as appropriate for your career development and the vision and approach of the fellowship
  • identified who you have engaged with in your host organisation (name and role)
  • set out how your research environment will contribute to the success of the work, in terms of suitability of the host organisation and strategic relevance to the project
  • set out how the host organisation will ensure your time commitment to the fellowship is protected
  • identified what development and training opportunities will be provided and how they form a cohesive career development package tailored to your aims and aspirations
  • identified what financial or practical support, such as access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment, is being provided and how this strengthens your application

Mentor support

Word limit: 10

Provide a statement from your primary mentor detailing why they (and any additional mentors) are the most appropriate person or people to support you.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide a statement from your mentor that demonstrates how they will support your career trajectory and how the support offered forms a cohesive career development package tailored to your aims and aspirations. Upload the statement and write ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box.

Your mentor support statement should articulate the following:

  • how they have tailored their programme of support to your individual needs
  • how they will ensure you are kept active and focused throughout the award
  • how they will keep your long-term career prospects clearly in mind
  • how they have the relevant skills and experience to be your mentor

The statement should be completed by the primary mentor but must detail the relevant skills and expertise of all mentors and their approach to mentoring. The statement should not exceed two sides of A4.

Unless specifically requested, please do not include any personal data within the attachment.

Upload details are provided within the Funding Service on the actual application.

Resources and cost justification

Word limit: 1,000

What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:

  • project staff
  • significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
  • all facilities and infrastructure costs
  • training costs
  • all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’

Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:

  • are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
  • represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
  • maximise potential outcomes and impacts

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

Word limit: 500

What are the ethical or RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work?
If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:

  • the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations
  • how you will manage these considerations

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

References

Word limit: 1,000

List the references you have used to support your application.

Include all references in this section, not in the rest of the application questions.

You should not include any other information in this section.

We advise you not to include hyperlinks, as assessors are not obliged to access the information they lead to or consider it in their assessment of your application.

If linking to web resources, to maintain the information’s integrity, include persistent identifiers (such as digital object identifiers) where possible.

You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

Panel

We will invite three independent expert panel reviewers to assess the quality of your application and rank it alongside other applications received for the funding opportunity, data owners will then advise on feasibility, after which the whole panel will make a funding recommendation.

ADR UK will make the final funding decision.

Timescale

We aim to complete the assessment process within three months of receiving your application, and the outcomes of the funding panel to be communicated within two weeks of the meeting. Once funding decisions have been made and communicated, you will still need time to go through the formal data owner approval process before the fellowship can begin.

Feedback

We will give expert review and feasibility feedback with the outcome of your application.

Principles of assessment

We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI principles of assessment and decision making.

Sharing data with co-funders

We will need to share the application (including any personal information that it contains) with the data owners (Office for National Statistics, Department for Education, Ministry of Justice and so on) and key potential co-funders so that they can participate in the assessment process and support the delivery of this funding opportunity.

We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed.

Assessment areas

The assessment areas we will use are:

  • Vision
  • Approach
  • Mentor support
  • Career development
  • Applicant capability to deliver
  • Host organisation and support
  • Resource and cost justification
  • Ethics and responsible research and innovation

Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Contact details

Get help with your application

If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page

Important note: The helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue. Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding Finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility, content or remit of a funding opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.

Contact details

For help and advice on costings and writing your proposal please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact adrfellowships@esrc.ukri.org

Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org
Phone: 01793 547490

Our phone lines are open:

  • Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm
  • Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

To help us process queries quicker, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.

Find out more information on submitting an application.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email adrfellowships@esrc.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include:

  • individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
  • declaration of interest
  • additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
  • conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
  • the application is an invited resubmission

For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Additional info

Dataset research priorities

Some of our datasets have associated research priorities and you are encouraged to consult these when developing your fellowship project. You are encouraged to develop fellowship projects which can address the main research questions facing government departments and should also consult the Areas of research interest database.

Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings linked to 2011 Census (PDF, 134KB) – England and Wales

Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings linked to PAYE and Self-Assessment data (PDF, 136KB) – England, Scotland and Wales

Administrative Data | Agricultural Research Collection (AD | ARC) (PDF, 139KB) – England and Wales

Data First: Cross-Justice System (PDF, 179KB) – England and Wales

Data First: Family Court linked to Cafcass and Census 2021 (PDF, 158KB) – England and Wales

Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data (ECHILD) (PDF, 199KB) – England

Longitudinal Education Outcomes (PDF, 188KB) – England

Ministry of Justice & Department for Education linked dataset (PDF, 178KB) – England

Nursing and Midwifery Council Register data linked to Census 2021 (PDF, 163KB) – England and Wales

Webinars for potential applicants

ADR UK Research Fellowships: Opportunity briefing: Monday 4 March 2024 12:00pm to 1:00pm UK time. Register for webinar

ADR UK Research Fellowships: Academic and community partnerships: Friday 1 March 2024 (various timeslots available). Register for webinar

ADR England flagship datasets: Nursing and Midwifery Council Register linked to Census 2021 – England and Wales: Thursday 7 March 2024 11:00am to 12:00pm UK time. Register for webinar

ADR England flagship datasets: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings linked to PAYE and Self-Assessment data – England, Scotland and Wales: Thursday 7 March 2024 12:00pm to 1:00pm UK time. Register for webinar

ADR England flagship datasets: Administrative Data | Agricultural Research Collection (AD | ARC) Wednesday 13 March 2024 10:00 am to 11:00 am UK time. Register for webinar

Research disruption due to COVID-19

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:

  • breaks and delays
  • disruptive working patterns and conditions
  • the loss of ongoing work
  • role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic

Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.

Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.

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