The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of

UK Research and Innovation UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom that directs research and innovation funding, funded through the science budget of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology ...

(UKRI). UKRI is a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

(NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides funding and support for research and training in the

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

. It is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues.

History

The ESRC was founded in 1965 as the ''Social Science Research Council'' (SSRC – not to be confused with the

Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is a US-based, independent, international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines. Established in Manhattan in 1923, it maintains a headqua ...

in the United States). The establishment of a state

funding body Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm use ...

for the social sciences in the United Kingdom, had been under discussion since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; however, it was not until the 1964 election of Prime Minister

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

that the political climate for the creation of the SSRC became sufficiently favourable. The first chief executive of the SSRC was Michael Young (later Baron Young of Dartington). Subsequent holders of the post have included Michael Posner, later Secretary General of the

European Science Foundation The European Science Foundation (ESF) is an association of 11 member organizations devoted to scientific research in 8 European countries. ESF is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organization that promotes science in Europe. It was e ...

Change of name

Following the election of Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

in the 1979 general election, the Government expressed reservations about the value of research in the social sciences, and the extent to which it should be publicly funded. In 1981, the Education Secretary

Sir Keith Joseph Keith Sinjohn Joseph, Baron Joseph, (17 January 1918 – 10 December 1994), known as Sir Keith Joseph, 2nd Baronet, for most of his political life, was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as a minister under f ...

asked Lord Rothschild to lead a review into the future of the SSRC. It was ultimately decided (due in no small part to the efforts of Michael Posner, chief executive of the SSRC at the time) that the Council should remain, but that its remit should be expanded beyond the social sciences, to include more 'empirical' research and research of 'more public concern'. To reflect this, in 1983 the SSRC was renamed the Economic and Social Research Council.

Mission

The ESRC's mission, according to its website, is to: * promote and support, by any means, high-quality research and related postgraduate training on social and economic issues * develop and support the national data infrastructure that underpins high-quality research * 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 * communicate clearly and promote public understanding of social science.

Description

The ESRC is based at Polaris House in

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

, which is also the location of the head offices of several other councils of UK Research and Innovation: AHRC,

BBSRC Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds scientific res ...

EPSRC The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences, mainly to univers ...

Innovate UK Innovate UK is the United Kingdom's innovation agency, which provides money and support to organisations to make new products and services. It is a non-departmental public body operating at arm's length from the Government as part of the UK Res ...

, MRC, NERC and

STFC The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is a United Kingdom government agency that carries out research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astr ...

, as well as the

UK Space Agency The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) is an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the United Kingdom's British space programme, civil space programme. It was established on 1 April 2010 to replace the Britis ...

. At any one time ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.

Notable people

Chairman: * 1965 to 1968: Michael Young * 1979 to 1983: Michael Posner Chief Executive: * 2010 to 2014:

Paul Boyle Paul Joseph Boyle, , FRSGS, FLSW (born 16 November 1964) is a British geographer, academic, and academic administrator. He was the vice-chancellor of the University of Leicester between 2014 and 2019. He had been Professor of Human Geography ...

* 2014 to 2017: Jane Elliott Executive Chair: * 2017 to 2020: Jennifer Rubin * 2021 to 2023:

Alison Park Alison Macdonald Park is a British social scientist and professor who served as executive chair of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) from 2021 to 2023. Her research has focused on longitudinal data collection and social attitudes. ...

* 2023 to present:

Stian Westlake Stian ronounce: Steejjańis a given name for males, originating from Norway. It is the modern form of the Old Norse name ''Stígandr'', which means "wanderer". Another translation given is "swift on his feet". Another modern derivation of the O ...

Legacy of slavery projects

The ESRC funded two projects at the

Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, formerly the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership, is a research centre of University College, London (UCL) that focuses on revealing the impact of Slavery ...

: from 2009 to 2012, the ''Legacies of British Slave-ownership'' project, and from 2013 to 2015 the ''Structure and significance of British Caribbean slave-ownership 1763-1833'' project (co-funded by the

Arts and Humanities Research Council The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), formerly Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), is a British research council, established in 1998, supporting research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities. History The Arts a ...

). This work built the publicly available Legacies of British Slave-ownership database.

References

External links

ESRC website

UK Research and Innovation

ESRC YouTube channel
{{authority control Education in the United Kingdom Government agencies established in 1965 Organisations based in Swindon Economic research institutes 1965 establishments in the United Kingdom Social research Members of the International Science Council UK Research and Innovation