When considering submitting a proposal to ESRC you must consider the following:
- does your proposal fit into our social science remit? Interdisciplinary proposals are welcome, but the majority of your research must be within social science
- eligibility details for individual schemes and calls found within the UKRI funding finder
- eligibility of your research organisation to receive funding for research – check if your organisation is eligible for funding
- the ESRC Research Funding Guide which sets out the ESRC funding rules
- will your application include project co-leads (international)?
- will your application include project co-leads from UK business, third sector or government bodies?
If you are interested in postgraduate funding, please refer to the ESRC guidance on studentships. The ESRC does not directly provide funds for postgraduate students. If you wish to apply for postgraduate funding, you should apply directly to a Doctoral Training Partnership.
UKRI is introducing new role types for opportunities being run on the new Funding Service from 22 May 2023.
For full details please see eligibility as an individual.
Remit query form
If you are unsure whether your proposed research falls within the remit of ESRC, please complete the remit query form on Citizen Space.
You do not need to provide detailed background information, references or costs relating to your research within the form. It is more helpful to explain clearly the research challenges, social science methodologies, outputs and beneficiaries of your proposed research.
For further information about ESRC’s scientific remit, please refer to our disciplines.
We also advise you to contact us prior to submission if you are working at an interface area between research councils.
Our joint statement with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) relating to the interfaces between the arts and humanities and the social sciences may be useful before contacting either AHRC or ESRC with a remit query.
The Cross-Council Remit Agreement (CCRA)
UKRI’s Cross-Council Remit Agreement is the process for collaborating on the peer review of research proposals that straddle more than one research council’s remit under their ‘responsive-mode’ research grants schemes.
The aim of the Cross-Council Remit Agreement is to ensure that no gaps develop between the Councils’ subject domains and to ensure equality of opportunity for proposals at the interface between traditional disciplines, where many of the major research challenges of our time are located.
Contact for remit queries
Email: esrcremit@esrc.ukri.org
Last updated: 28 July 2023