This page provides a sample of some of the types of available research funding in the UK for economic and social sciences.
This includes research in governance and citizenship, lifecourse, lifestyles and health, work and organisation, environmental and human behaviour, knowledge, communication and learning, social stability and exclusion.
The ESRC is the UK's leading research funding and training agency addressing economic and social concerns. Through bilateral agreements research funding, enables international collaborations to be submitted to the standard and small grants competition.
DFiD is the part of the UK Government that manages Britain's aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty. Along with the ESRC, a strategic joint funding scheme aims to promote social science research. A core theme will be to undertake research that will underpin efforts to alleviate poverty. The scheme is open to both UK and non-UK institutions.
The SSRC is an independent, not-for-profit research organization based in New York City. In conjunction with the ESRC, They jointly fund a fellowship for scholars from the Americas to visit and engage in collaborative activities with members of ESRC-supported projects in the UK, or for UK scholars at ESRC-supported projects to visit collaborators in the Americas.
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The BA is the national academy for the humanities and the social sciences and is responsible for the promotion of historical, philosophical and philological studies in the UK. It’s research grants scheme, promotes relations between researchers in the UK and overseas. Development Awards (BARDAs) support work in any country. Small Research Grants support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. Applications from international groups of scholars are welcome. The BA has a number of special schemes with partner institutions to support bilateral projects with particular countries or regions. See their Country List for full details
The fellowships will be run by the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Royal Society to cover the broad range of natural and social science, engineering and the humanities. The fellowships aim to attract the worlds best post-doctoral researchers to Britain for a period of one to two years.
The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust that makes small grants for social science research expenses. Applicants must be resident and working at a UK institution, although the research may be undertaken outside the UK. The Career Development Fellowship Scheme aims to promote excellence in UK social science research capacity and support post-doctoral social scientists who have the potential to become outstanding in their field.
The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation is a UK charity. The Foundation’s purpose is to support closer links between Britain and Japan. Small grants promote and support interaction between the two countries. Awards are available for collaborative projects. Joint project grants support travel, subsistence and research for collaborative projects. Special project grants support new initiatives that may fall outside of the criteria for their Small Grants and Awards programmes.
The ESF is an association of national science-funding organisations that aim to promote quality science at a European level. Their EUROCORES scheme enables researchers in different EU countries to develop collaboration. Their Exploratory Workshops enable scientists to examine scientific issues, and lead to long-term collaboration. Research Conferences enable scientists and young researchers to meet for discussions and are open to scientists worldwide
Under it’s Cooperation programme the ‘socio-economic sciences and the humanities’ theme touches upon the economic and social sciences. Research proposals in this area must involve some trans-national cooperation.
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