UK Research and Innovation, Economic and Social Research Council

ESRC applicant-led: Explore awards

ESRC Explore awards fund ambitious, curiosity-driven social science from individuals or small teams of up to four core members, looking for bold proposals that push disciplinary, methodological or conceptual boundaries and accept the risk that brings. Projects can be research, a data resource or infrastructure, or another mechanism, costing £300,000 to £2 million at full economic cost (ESRC pays 80%) over up to five years. Applications are taken at any time until October 2029.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: £300,000 – £2,000,000; no fixed round
Deadline: Rolling; apply any time
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

Researchers at any career stage based at a UK research organisation with standard ESRC/UKRI eligibility
Applications come from an individual or a central team of no more than four: one project lead and up to three project co-leads
International co-leads, and UK-based business, third sector or government body co-leads, count within those four; further associates, grant managers, specialists, technicians and professional enabling staff can be added if justified
Other international collaborators, and UK partners not at approved organisations, join as project partners
Only the lead research organisation can submit

What it funds

Research activities best suited to the project's objectives, which may include:

Basic or applied research projects
Exploratory or early-stage investigations
Methodological development or innovation
Large-scale surveys
Data infrastructure or novel data resources
Secondary analysis and other forms of existing data reuse

The FEC can be between £300,000 and £2 million; ESRC funds 80%. Awards last up to 60 months. Social sciences within ESRC's remit must be more than 50% of the research focus and effort.

What it will not fund

Uninvited resubmissions of projects previously submitted to UKRI
Unspecified research work
Research already underway or carried out
Consultancy, evaluation or analysis whose primary purpose is to deliver pre-defined or specified policy, commercial or implementation outcomes
Data collection or data resource development that substantially duplicates existing data resources without a compelling justification of the additional value it would provide
Writing up previous research or completing previously funded research objectives
Literature reviews
General conference attendance not related to the proposed project
Travel for general study not related to the proposed project
Expeditions not related to the proposed project
Requests to hold conferences, workshops or seminars where these constitute the primary project component
Preparation of books and publications where these constitute the primary project component
Preparation and production of materials such as curriculum materials and software development where these constitute the primary project component
Flexible funding pots that enable subcontracting of further small research projects
Associated studentships

How to apply

Check the project is within ESRC's remit; use the remit query form if unsure
Make sure your organisation is registered on the UKRI Funding Service (not Je-S)
Select 'Start application' on the Funding finder page, confirm you are the project lead, and sign in or create a Funding Service account
Answer the questions: summary, vision, approach, applicant and team capability, resources and cost justification, ethics, project partners, data management and sharing, facilities and career stage
Send the completed application to your research office, which checks it and submits it to UKRI
At least three expert reviewers assess it; if it has enough support you respond to their comments before an ESRC applicant-led panel scores it

Apply when ready; ESRC holds regular decision points. Applications short of support after the first two reviews may be rejected before a third.

Have ready

A single PDF of letters or emails of support from each named project partner (not from the host or co-leads' research organisations)
Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) for the team

Additional ethics question sets may need downloading, completing and uploading if the project involves them.

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