The Council is the senior decision making body for ESRC. It includes members of the business, voluntary and public sectors, as well as the academic community. The Council is supported by a structure of committees that work alongside a Peer Review College. In 2010 we introduced membership of public representatives into our policy committees. These members represent the interests of the wider public.

The Chief Executive is responsible for the implementation of the council's policies and decisions, and for the overall management of the ESRC.

The ESRC has around 120 staff divided between two directorates which are managed by our directors. The directorates facilitate integration between research and training as well as greater cohesion between council and committees in relation to our policy development and funding decisions. They also give focus on other important areas of activity such as knowledge transfer, evaluation and communication.

Our staffing structure includes a harmonisaton of administration functions across Research Councils.

• ESRC Council
• Committees and colleges
• Directorates
• Chair, Chief Executive and directors