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ESRC: Overview and Priorities Maria Sigala ESRC in Context ▶ Non-Departmental Public Body, established in 1965 ▶ The major public sector funder of social science research and post graduate training in the UK (total budget £204 million) ▶ Key Principles – Quality – Impact – Independence ESRC Funding 13/14 Knowledge Exchange £8m (4%) Admin £4m (2%) Programme Delivery £6m (3%) International £5m (2%) Methods & Infrastructure £33m (16%) Standard Grants £45m (22%) Training & Skills £53m (26%) Strategic & Collaborative Research £51m (25%) The ESRC strives to… ▶ Promote innovation in social science ▶ Facilitate world-class research through critical infrastructure resources, and imaginative new uses of existing data sources ▶ Seek to generate the most impact and to communicate social science to a mainstream audience ▶ Develop research capability in areas of greatest need ▶ Encourage interdisciplinary working ▶ Embed opportunities for international collaboration ▶ Work more closely with our partners to deliver shared objectives and leverage extra funds World Leading Longitudinal Studies ▶ British Household Panel Study & Understanding Society – world’s largest panel study ▶ Birth cohorts (1958, 1970, Millennium) – world’s longest series ▶ Life Study – world’s largest cohort study ▶ English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) – part of an international network Making more of data ▶ National Centre for Research Methods – Methodological development and training ▶ Secondary Data Analysis Initiative – Project in ageing, Financial affairs, families etc ▶ Doctoral Training Centres (DTCs) – Quantitative (and other) steers Data Infrastructures ▶ Data infrastructure led by the new UK Data Service (UKDS) – Access to census and other datasets – Secure data access ▶ Various cross-sectional studies – British Election Study – Census data – European Social Survey (ESS) ▶ Equipping users with skills to utilise resources ESRC investment in Big Data UKDS and ADS Consumer Data Research Centre Urban Big Data Centre ESRC Business and Local Government Data Research Centre Administrative Data Research Centre Administrative Data Research Network (Phase I): Example ▶ Four Administrative Data Research Centres (ADRCs): England, Wales, Scotland and N Ireland ▶ An Administrative Data Service for the network ▶ Partnerships with National Statistical Authorities ▶ UK-wide Board ▶ Researcher training and accreditation ▶ Safe settings ▶ Public engagement strategy Challenges and Opportunities ▶ Data infrastructures promoting access to a suite of different data ▶ Research and academic communities seeking data from various sources to link for ambitious projects ▶ Data owners/controllers seeking to realise the benefits of linking their data with those of others ▶ Public becoming increasingly aware of their role and rights as ‘data producers’