ESRC React Awards (Pilot): Outline

Notify Faculty of intention to apply by: 4 weeks prior to planned submission date

Deadline: Rolling assessment, all applications must be submitted before 8 October 2026

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is inviting applications for researchers to work with public sector partners to respond to emerging and urgent evidence needs and deliver high-quality, impactful outputs within a six month timeframe.

Scope

Connect awards are collaborative and are expected to support urgent policymaker or practitioner evidence needs in the UK. Applications must be based at least 51% in the social science but can cover any aspect of the ESRC’s remit. PIs must be at a UK research organisation eligible for Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funding and the project must have a partnership with at least one public sector organisation confirmed at the time of application.

The ESRC will fund: 

• research
• analysis
• evidence synthesis
• rapid evidence reviews
• urgent data collection
• urgent analysis of existing data resources

The ESRC will not fund:

• activity that should or could have been funded through standard ESRC funding routes or other more appropriate UK research and Innovation (UKRI) routes, for example, ESRC Impact Accelerator Accounts
• activity that should or could have been funded through the partner organisation’s own existing resources or budget
• non-urgent activity or activity that cannot be delivered within the award period or utilised within six months
• urgent responses arising from previous inaction. For example, evidence needs that have been known for some time but only considered at a late stage, are not eligible as they could have been submitted to a regular grant funding opportunity
• activity that compensates for long-standing or intentional limitations in partner capacity or capability or where there will be insufficient capacity or capability within the partner organisation to utilise the results
• activity that does not explicitly address the stated and emergent evidence need of the project partner or includes limited scope for generalisability and impact at scale
• follow-on activity from a previous or existing collaborative project with the project partner; this includes the continuation, extension or repackaging of existing collaborations unless a demonstrably new and time-critical evidence need has arisen
• Additionally, knowledge exchange should not be treated as an ‘add-on’ at the end of a project but considered before the start and built into a project. Standalone knowledge exchange activity cannot be funded through this funding opportunity.

Eligibility

Researchers based in UK research organisations, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) institutes, NHS bodies, independent research organisations, public sector research establishments and Catapult centres are eligible to apply. The funder encourages applications from diverse groups of researchers, particularly those who have not previously held ESRC grants, and from individuals at any career stage, subject to ESRC eligibility. Applications without the partnership of a confirmed public sector organisation will be rejected.

Value and Duration

Applications can be for between £50,000 and £100,000 in full economic cost (FEC). Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) will fund 80% of the project’s FEC. Awards can last up to six months. 

How to Apply

This pilot is open to applications on a responsive basis and will use a streamlined decision-making process. Faculty members interested in applying to this scheme are requested to notify the research administration team via research@law.ox.ac.uk four weeks in advance of the planned submission date at the latest.

Applications must be submitted via the UKRI's funding platform, The Funding Service (TFS). It is standard best practice that the University of Oxford's central Research Services team require 5 working days to process UKRI applications, so this should be factored in when planning a submission date.

The latest date for which the ESRC are planning to accept applications (they are reserving the right to close the scheme early if there is insufficient remaining budget remaining) will be 4pm 8th October 2026. 

The very latest that the Faculty may be able to accept notifications of interest for this scheme will therefore be 10th September 2026.

This is a two-stage application process - the ESRC aim to provide a decision on whether you will be invited to submit a full application within 10 working days of the submission of your outline.