Digital Society Network Plus: explore people’s relationships with digital technologies (ESRC)
Deadline: 1 March 2022
Apply for funding to develop a network to research people’s relationships with technology. Projects may last up to five years and have a full economic cost of up tp £5 million, of which the ESRC will fund 80%. This funding opportunity is part of the ESRC’s ‘Living with Technology’ strategic priority from the 2019 ESRC Delivery Plan.
Project Specifics
The ESRC will fund one Network Plus. A Network Plus is a strategic investment that aims to bring together new research communities and develop future research challenges, through providing leadership across disciplines and sectors and delivering activities such as workshops, events, communications and funding opportunities.
The Digital Society Network Plus should develop a research agenda that aims to generate new insights into the relationships between people and technologies, build interdisciplinary capability, and develop and consolidate new and existing partnerships in this emerging research area. In addition to bridging gaps and developing connectivity between disciplines in this research area, the Network should also engage with policymakers, the private and third sectors, international peers, as well as the wider research community, in order to identify needs and areas of concern.
Themes
In scoping this work, the ESRC has identified two optional sub-themes that could be explored by the Network Plus:
Harnessing technology – this would explore how people interact with digitally connected technologies, the consequential impact of the choices they make on individual and collective experiences, and how individuals can better understand choices and impacts.
Power and behaviour – this seeks to understand the influence services and devices have over people and the social trends that result. It considers the changing power relations between technology providers of devices and services, users, governments, civil society, and different economic and industrial sectors.
The above is not exhaustive. The ESRC welcomes proposals for other potential themes provided they complement and do not duplicate current investments.
Eligibility
The principal investigator must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for ESRC funding. Proposals can also include eligible international co-investigators, co-investigators from UK business, policy or civil society, and public sector research establishments (PSREs).
The successful proposal should be social science-led, with at least 50% of the programme falling within the ESRC’s remit. Interdisciplinary approaches that draw on expertise from fields such as computer science, software engineering, mathematical sciences and the humanities are strongly encouraged.
How to Apply
This is a new ESRC funding opportunity that is being run as a single pilot application on the new UKRI Funding Service. Applications for this opportunity cannot be made on the Je-S system. Details for how to apply can be found on the UKRI webpage for this opportunity.
Applications must be submitted by administrators and received by UKRI by 16:00 (GMT) on 1 March 2022.