Overview

The ESRC shapes and defines society's sense of itself, guides the creation of new social knowledge and collaborates with those who make policy and executive decisions in government, business and the third sector. Our continuing commitment is to find and fund the very best research through the varied opportunities we offer.

Our mission is:

To promote and support world class research and related postgraduate training in the social sciences
To advance knowledge and provide trained social scientists who meet the needs of users and beneficiaries, thereby contributing to the economic competitiveness of the UK, the effectiveness of public services and policy and the quality of life
To provide advice on disseminate knowledge about and promote public understanding of, the social sciences.

Quality

Scientific excellence is a core value.The ESRC only funds proposals judged by experts to be of the very highest quality. We encourage exciting and innovative research ideas from both early career researchers and distinguished professors. Our portfolio includes work within single disciplines, research which combines disciplinary approaches, the advance of theory, and research aimed at developing practical applications.

Independence

Independence is essential to producing reliable results. The ESRC has to be able to work without compromise or political bias with diverse partners in the UK and abroad, ranging from policymakers to business, academics and community leaders.The best researchers are in demand and work best in conditions of intellectual freedom: the ESRC must remain free to pursue an independent, scientifically-led research agenda, reflecting the wider needs of society.

Impact

The ESRC expects that all the research it funds will be high quality and of scholarly distinction, but we are also committed to increasing its non academic impact and benefit to the UK in public policy, economic prosperity, culture, and quality of life. We set out the ways in which we will maximise impact in the second half of this Plan. These include the close engagement with potential research users before, during and after the research process, and a flow of people between research and the worlds of policy and practice.

Leadership and Collaboration

The ESRC leads. It raises the UK's scholarly profile abroad; develops methodologies for evaluating impact; foments the exchange of knowledge.

Collaboration is essential in studying and resolving complex challenges. It may take the form of research teams, interdisciplinary research, international projects and agreements with business, government or third sector organisations.We encourage collaborative relationships within the social sciences and in work with the other Research Councils. Research informed by international perspectives can also add to the richness of social science research and understanding.

Our Strategy

After extensive consultation we identified seven areas of strategic challenge for economic and social research. Some build on our existing investments and help consolidate knowledge.They also recognise emerging areas for social science. They are:

In each area our strategic aim is to stimulate and steer the creation of knowledge that will have a tangible economic and social benefit.We measure success by pursuing five objectives in each area. Each of these objectives will extend the reach of our people, their work, the tools and methodologies they apply and their collaboration with other stakeholders in science, government, business and the community. They are:

Under each challenge we note achievements from the previous Strategic Plan period and priorities for 2009-2014. The priorities support the Government's Ten Year Framework for Science and Innovation, enabling the UK to continue to provide world class independent social science which impacts on the economy and wellbeing in the UK and beyond. In the second half of this plan we provide more detail on the five impact objectives.