Council transition to the new Funding Service – ESRC

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and other councils continue the transition to the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service, rather than via the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system. This is in line with the Simpler and Better Funding (SBF) programme.

We are publishing expected timescales for the transition to enable applicants and research support staff to plan 2024 submissions.

UKRI’s principles of assessment and decision-making will continue to underpin our peer review policies and processes during and after the transition to the Funding Service.

Transition of ESRC responsive mode opportunities

Timeframes

ESRC has launched our always open opportunities on the Funding Service as rounds with closing dates.

The Funding Service rounds for opportunities will run consecutively. This means that you may continue to apply at a time that suits you. You should apply when your application is ready for submission and not wait for a closing date.

Applications are not transferable between rounds.

We are continuing to develop the Funding Service in response to internal and external user needs. Opening in rounds means we can accommodate system developments and assess applications in a batch submitted under the same conditions.

Future changes

If significant updates to these opportunities are required, we will communicate these at least eight weeks before (excluding major bank holidays and major holiday periods), to maintain fairness and transparency in our assessment.

We will ensure there is always a responsive mode funding opportunity open for applications.

Round one and two opportunities

Round one

Round one of ESRC responsive mode opportunities has now closed.

We will inform applicants who are unsuccessful at review stage about the outcome of their application at the earliest in April 2024, following the upcoming release of this feature in the Funding Service.

We will keep you informed if timelines change.

For applications to round one proceeding to panel stage, we will process decisions in July or August.

Round two

Round two launched on 29 September 2023, and opportunities are live on the Funding Service:

We will continue to start the assessment process once an application is received, ensuring applicants receive a timely decision.

We will commit to holding regular decision points throughout 2024, with the first decisions from round two likely to be made in the autumn of 2024.

Improvements to responsive mode functionality

Embedded images

Round two includes the ability to embed images within the question sets for:

vision and approach
applicant and team capability to deliver
ethical and responsible research and innovation considerations of the project core

This means you do not need to provide attachments any longer.

Project partners

We have embedded a standalone digital question set within the system (which will still include letter of support attachment upload option via a separate question).

Harmonisation across councils

How applicants use the Funding Service highlights improvements to the way you will interact with UKRI through the new system, including accessing guidance all in one place and only requesting key information when necessary.

The overall processes and principles of our responsive mode opportunities will remain the same, although interactions between applicants, assessors and UKRI through the Funding Service will be a different experience to the previous system.

A standard set of application questions and associated assessment criteria have been agreed across UKRI. This will simplify the submission process for you when applying to UKRI’s funding opportunities. These areas will form the core questions for all other ESRC opportunities:

vision of the project
approach to the project
data management statement
the capability of the applicant, or applicant and the team, to deliver the project
resources requested to do the project
ethical and responsible research and innovation considerations of the project

We will assess whether there is appropriate consideration of the management of any data acquired during the proposed research alongside the section on approach of the project.

In line with existing guidance applicants should embed a consideration of how their research will achieve impact in their application. We will assess this in the ‘vision and approach’ and ‘resources and cost justification’ sections.

The ESRC research funding guide for applicants using the Funding Service is the primary source of ESRC research funding guidance for applicants and research organisations. This guide gives details of the arrangements and procedures for ESRC research grants, together with a summary of application procedures.

Ask a question about the SBF programme

If you would like to ask a question about the UKRI SBF programme, contact:

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org

Telephone: 01793 547490

Last updated: 8 April 2024