ESRC Society Today

The ESRC is the single largest funder of social science postgraduate training within the UK. Well-trained research students are the seedbed for the social science researchers of the future. For this reason, the ESRC invests over £45million to support postgraduate students and meet the training needs of researchers throughout their careers.  The budget supports a stock of almost 3,000 students.

The main funding mechanisms and opportunities are summarised below:

Training and Development Policy

The Training and Skills Committee (TSC) provides strategic direction to the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) efforts to improve the quality of research training for social science researchers in the UK.

• New ESRC Postgraduate Training Framework
• Health of Social Science Strategy
• Quality Assurance and Enhancement
• Research Careers and Researcher Development

Studentship Funding Opportunities

As part of fulfilling its mission, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) provides studentships for the support of full-time or part-time postgraduate study:

• ESRC Standard (annual) Studentships
• ESRC Targeted Studentships
• Other Sources of Studentship Funding

Fellowship Funding Opportunities

Fellowships provide a career development opportunity for those at a relatively early stage of their academic career who can demonstrate great potential in social science research: 

• ESRC Standard Fellowships
• ESRC Targeted Fellowships
• Other Fellowship Opportunities
• ESRC Training and Development Opportunities

Information and Opportunities for Award Holders

The Council's fundamental commitment is to support world class postgraduate training across the UK social science base:

• Opportunities for ESRC Studentship Holders
• Opportunities for Fellowship Holders
• Advanced Quantitative Methods (AQM)