Deadline: 27 March 2017
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is currently seeking applications for a Productivity Network grants programme.
Productivity has a major bearing on sustainable economic growth. The UK’s ongoing low levels of productivity, especially in comparison with international competitors, are of critical concern and require affirmative action on the part of both government and business. To aid progress, the UK needs research to help understand and explain the factors affecting productivity levels, and to provide robust evidence to inform policy and practice. The complex nature of the productivity challenge requires a multi-perspective, interdisciplinary approach.
To this end, the ESRC will fund an interdisciplinary ‘Network Plus’ as a first step to developing the capacity needed to sustain a substantive multidisciplinary and policy-orientated research programme. It will promote methodological innovation and develop a series of small-scale studies. The Network Plus will also play a role in co-ordinating the ESRC’s data strategy for productivity, including by encouraging the exploitation of existing data resources and feeding into the development of new data infrastructure.
Objectives
- bringing together an interdisciplinary community of experts on productivity to inform the development of policy and practice and future research
- gaining a better understanding of the reasons for the relatively low levels of productivity in the UK and the gap between UK and international productivity levels
- explain regional dimensions and differences in levels of productivity
- encourage greater collaboration and better knowledge exchange between academic disciplines, policymakers and practitioners.
Funds Available
The call is for a leadership team for a single network, with funding available of up to £1.8 million (100 per cent fEC) over 36 months.
Eligibility Criteria
- The network will include representatives from the policy community and the private sector, as well as academics from a range of disciplines.
- It will connect interdisciplinary research groups and networks from academia, policy and business; complement and collaborate with existing capacity and current research agendas (whether or not ESRC-funded); and develop an understanding of the current state of productivity research.
How to Apply
Applications must be submitted online via given website.
Eligible Country: UK
For more information, please visit ESRC Productivity Network Plus.