The ESRC will receive £123.4 million this year from the Science Budget through the Office of Science and Technology (OST) rising to £150 million for 2007-08. How this money will be allocated is set out in our three-year Delivery Plan, which is the result of a year long consultation with our stakeholders and community.
The emphasis of the Plan is to seize a wider range of research opportunities through a re-prioritisation of funding allocations and to build capacity in people and infrastructure to ensure the continued delivery of world class social science research. This will allow us to support social science research of the highest quality, while also underlining its relevance to solving global problems and natural science questions.
A prominent theme of ESRC's diverse three-year plan is maximising our international presence, both through collaborative research initiatives and developing comparative international research. One of our first initiatives will be a joint scheme with the Department for International Development (DfID), which will be launched in July 2005.
In addition to our international and development research, the Delivery Plan sets out the following themes as primary areas for research in the next three years:
- Population change
- Environmental change
- Understanding and shaping individual decisions
- Education and Life Chances
- Religion, ethnicity and society
- International relations and security
Commenting on the Delivery Plan, Professor Ian Diamond, Chief Executive of ESRC, said: "Through this Delivery Plan, ESRC can both implement and innovate, and ensure that its stewardship of public funds is effective in delivering world class outputs in a way that will benefit not only social science but also the economy and society of the UK and the wider world."
To find out more, you can see the full Delivery Plan 2005 at ESRC Society Today.