Deadline: 07-Sep-21
Applications are now open for the Interdisciplinary Environmental Social Science Leadership Team.
This grant must:
- champion, coordinate and facilitate collaboration within and beyond the social sciences
- scope future ESRC and UKRI funding opportunities
- engage with stakeholders including policy, business, and civil society
- contribute to the evidence base needed for the UK to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
Aims
- ESRC is inviting proposals for this grant with the aim to support the transition to a sustainable and biodiverse environment and a net zero society through transformational leadership and coordination.
- The aim is to increase visibility, access, and use of social science research and data, including within interdisciplinary collaborations, build capability and support the development of new research agendas. It will signpost, coordinate and work with new and existing investments, to bring together world-leading experts that have the skills, networks, and capabilities to develop an on-going dialogue with a broad range of stakeholders and have greatest impact across the thematic area of climate and environment.
- It will identify skill gaps and create opportunities to increase capabilities and capacity within the social science community. It will work in partnership with the ESRC and UKRI in scoping and coordinating new research investments in the area through a broad set of expertise, consultation, and stakeholder engagement activities.
Objectives
The grant must deliver the following objectives:
- champion, coordinate and facilitate collaboration within and beyond the social sciences in the area of climate and environment to contribute towards the urgent evidence base and policies needed to inform pathways to a UK net zero by 2050 and broader environmental, biodiversity and sustainability goals
- increase understanding of the relevance and value of the social sciences within environmental research amongst other disciplines and stakeholder communities
engage with stakeholders including policy at national and local scales, business, and civil society in order to understand user needs, co-produce activities and accelerate impact of research - contribute to scoping future transformative social science and interdisciplinary research within the area of climate and environment that draws on diverse stakeholder perspectives to ensure strategic research outcomes that make a difference
- support capacity and capability building for interdisciplinary research and knowledge mobilisation
- support access to and use of climate and environmental data generated within and beyond the social sciences that builds on and integrates with the existing data landscape, opening up opportunities for interdisciplinary research and achieving greater impact.
Funding Information
Maximum award: £6,250,000
Eligibility Criteria
- They are seeking a team, including world leading experts, based at eligible institutions for ESRC funding. The team must be led by a principal investigator based at an eligible UK research organisation. That organisation will be responsible for submitting the grant application to UKRI.
- Collectively, those involved in the successful proposal will demonstrate:
- an outstanding track record of world-leading research and impacts within areas relevant to the pathways to achieve a UK net zero by 2050 and broader environmental, biodiversity and sustainability goals
- in-depth knowledge of current social science and policy challenges related to achieving a UK net zero by 2050 and broader environmental, biodiversity and sustainability goals
- a commitment to interdisciplinary research and an interdisciplinary collaborative approach that is held in high esteem by the research community
well-developed networks with relevant stakeholders and the ability to identify and understand user needs - outstanding communication skills, suitable for engagement and building constructive relationships with a range of different audiences within the interdisciplinary academic community, business, government, and civil society
- a clear vision for how funds will be utilised to deliver the objectives.
- UK co-investigators across different sectors (business, third sector, government body organisations) and international academic co-investigators are welcome.
For more information, visit https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/interdisciplinary-environmental-social-science-leadership-team/









































