We are running this funding opportunity on the new UKRI Funding Service. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
The project lead 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.
- Confirm you are the project lead.
- 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
- 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.
- Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
- Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
- 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 should:
- 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 8MB 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 11 January 2023 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.
ESRC, as part of UKRI, will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with Home Office so that they can participate in the assessment process.
The personal data supplied to the Home Office will be managed confidentially, securely and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.
Read details relating to the Home Office Recruitment Privacy Information Notice. The personal data provided in connection with your application will not be retained by the Home Office beyond 24 months should your application be unsuccessful. If you are appointed to a post your personal data will only be used by the Home Office for the purposes of Personnel Management.
Publication of outcomes
ESRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at What ESRC has funded.
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.
Summary
Word limit: 5
ESRC will work with the successful applicant to produce a summary which will be made publicly available.
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
Only list one individual as project lead.
Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.
Application questions
Applicant capability to deliver
Word limit: 3,000
Why are you the right individual successfully deliver the proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Evidence of how you have:
- the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed activities
- the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work
- contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community
- the ability to identify and overcome challenges associated with the use and linking of administrative data, and with providing safe access to administrative data for research purposes
- the ability to communicate clearly, translate complex information and advise and influence research users, practitioners and policymakers
The word count for this section is 3,000 words; 2,500 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 deliver the proposed work. You can include your specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence your ability to deliver this work.
Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed. Use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, 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).
Complete this as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.
UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new Funding Service.
For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the service.
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
All proposals have to comply with the ESRC Framework for Research Ethics which includes guidance for applicants and links to related web resources.
All necessary ethical approvals must be in place before the project commences, but do not need to have been secured at the time of application.
If you are generating data as part of your project, you should complete the ‘Data Management’ question and should cover ethical considerations relating to data in your response.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the service.
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:
- a travel and subsistence budget should be included to attend Home Office premises in central London no more than twice a month. Travel and subsistence costs of up to £15,000 can be included to achieve this
- any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
- 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
Due to the nature of this opportunity, we are not expecting to see costs included for:
- data collection
- primary research
- project co-leads
- research assistants or roles to support the project lead
- non-UK project leads or co-leads
- equipment, facilities or infrastructure to support research
For detailed guidance on eligible costs please see the ESRC research funding guide.
Primary discipline classification
Word limit: 5
Enter the primary discipline for this project
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Select one primary area of research from the list of social disciplines below and enter into the text field:
- area studies
- demography
- development studies
- economics
- education
- environmental planning
- history
- human geography
- law and legal studies
- linguistics
- management and business studies
- political science and international studies
- psychology
- science and technology studies
- social anthropology
- social policy
- social work
- sociology
- tools, technologies and methods
This information is used to determine eligibility for ESRC funding and to assist in the selection of appropriate reviewers.
Your organisation’s support
Word limit: 10
Provide details of support from your research organisation.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Assessors will be looking for a strong statement of commitment from your research organisation which confirms that the applicant will dedicate a specific time amount within the permitted range (0.4 – 0.6) FTE to the award for its duration.
We recognise that in some instances, this information may be provided by the Research Office, the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) or equivalent, or a combination of both.
You must also include the following details:
- a significant person’s name and their position, from the TTO or Research Office, or both
- office address or web link
Upload details are provided within the service on the actual application.
Data management
Word limit: 500
How will you manage and share data generated through the proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Most NCJL data can only be accessed with security clearance and through secure environments. The grant holder will only access NCJL data for the purposes of the academic lead role and will only use it to progress the work of the NCJL programme. As such, the grant holder will not own the data, analysis of the data or intellectual property rights produced during the course of the award. This should be reflected in the data management plan.
Demonstrate that you have designed your proposed work so that you can:
Within the ‘Data management’ section we also expect you to:
- plan for the research through the life cycle of the award until data is accepted for archiving by the UK Data Service (UKDS) or a responsible data repository
- demonstrate compliance with ESRC’s research data policy and ESRC framework for research ethics. This should include confirmation that existing datasets have been reviewed and why currently available datasets are inadequate for the proposed research
- cover any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or storing the data, including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical issues
- include any challenges to data sharing (for example, copyright or data confidentiality), with possible solutions discussed to optimise data sharing
If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
References
Word limit: 1,000
List the references you have used to support your application.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
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.
