Deadline: 26-Jun-25
Applications are now open for the Digital Good Research Fund for small-scale, pilot and scoping projects that respond to annual, thematic calls and contribute to the Digital Good Index.
Aims
- The aim of the Digital Good Network is to enhance their collective understanding of what a good digital society looks like and how they get there.
What they’re looking for?
- Their third Digital Good Research Fund call will support work that focuses on ‘Building the digital good’. The call focuses on the second part of their central research question: what does a good digital society look like and how do they get there?
- ‘Building the digital good’ invites proposals that build on, engage with, test and challenge the ideas in their discussion paper Evaluating the societal outcomes of digital technologies: building blocks and reflexive questions.
- The discussion paper presents the emerging themes from their research so far, which they describe as the ‘building blocks’ for a good digital society. The building blocks inform a set of reflexive questions for evaluating whether digital technologies have good societal outcomes, which they present in the discussion paper. The questions aim to initiate a conversation about whether and how they can evaluate ‘the digital good’ – a phrase they use to talk about the characteristics of a good digital society. As such, they are not set in stone. They want interested stakeholders to think with them about the best reflexive questions for building and evaluating the digital good, and to work with them over the next two years to test out, challenge, iterate and revise them. This call invites you to join them in that process.
- ‘Building the digital good’ invites proposals that build on or advance their research findings and outputs.
- Proposed projects may do one or more of the following:
- generate or rework digital technologies with the intention of achieving the digital good
- explore how the digital good might be built in to specific technologies, contexts and domains
- consider the role of diverse communities, sectors and organisations in building the digital good
- test methodological innovations for building the digital good.
- They welcome applications which examine, apply or demonstrate particular approaches to building the digital good. Whilst they are not prescriptive about which methods and approaches projects should use to build the digital good, they anticipate that practical or engineering or design-led approaches may be appropriate for this call.
Funding Information
- They will dedicate up to £300,000 (£240,000 at 80% fEC) to funding applications that respond to this call. They will fund multiple projects and the maximum funding that each project can apply for is £75,000 (£60,000 at 80% fEC).
- In keeping with standard UKRI funding procedures, they support projects at 80% of the Full Economic Costs. Lead institutions are expected to make up the remaining 20%.
- There are exceptions to this rule. The below groups can claim eligible costs at 100% of Full Economic Cost:
- Non-academic organisations (i.e. UK business, third sector and government bodies) (in accordance with the ESRC project co-leads from UK business, third sector or government bodies policy)
- International organisations (in accordance with the UKRI International Co-Lead Policy and Project co-lead (international) policy guidance). NB: Where the individual is recruited and employed by the international RO to support the project co-lead (international), these direct costs will be paid at 100%. In cases where the individual is employed by a UK organisation but seconded to the international RO, costs will be paid at 80%
Eligibility Criteria
- The Project Lead must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding. Teams can also include:
- eligible project co-leads (international) (in accordance with the UKRI International Co-Lead Policy and Project co-lead (international) policy guidance)
- project co-leads from UK business, third sector or government bodies (in accordance with UKRI’s policy on working with other organisations)
- eligible public sector research establishments
- internationally or UK based Project partners (UKRI define partners as collaborators who are not paid through the project, and who contribute in-kind or other resources to the project).
- Current or previous Digital Good Research Fund grant holders are eligible to apply.
Ineligibility Criteria
- Digital Good Network Management Team members are not eligible to apply for this funding
For more information, visit ESRC Digital Good Network.