ESRC: Overview and PrioritiesMaria 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

Training & Skills

£53m (26%)

Strategic & Collaborative

Research £51m (25%)

Standard Grants £45m (22%)

Methods & In-frastructure

£33m(16%)

International  £5m (2%)

Knowledge Exchange £8m (4%)

Admin £4m (2%)

Programme Delivery £6m (3%)

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

▶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’

Challenges and Opportunities