GrantRadar

UK Research and Innovation (ESRC)

Economic research on the returns to R&D investment

UKRI funding, through the UK Metascience Unit, for rigorous empirical research that helps build consensus estimates of the economic and social return on investment in research and development (the 'Griliches Question'), with actionable insights for policy. It is for researchers at UK research organisations eligible for UKRI funding, from any discipline, and international collaboration is strongly encouraged. Projects can cost up to £308,000 full economic cost, of which UKRI pays 80% (£246,400), last 24 months and must start by 1 April 2027. Award holders join an international cohort with researchers funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Coefficient Giving, including workshops in Washington DC and London.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
£1 – £308,000
Deadline
32 days left
19 November
Effort
Heavy
budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

  • Standard UKRI eligibility: the project lead must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding, and only the lead research organisation submits; the remaining 20% of costs is expected from that organisation
  • Researchers from all disciplines are welcome
  • International researchers can apply as project co-lead (international), and international collaboration is strongly encouraged; other international collaborators and UK partners not at approved organisations take part as project partners (partners can be in industry, academia, the third sector or government)
  • No demand management limits are applied

What it funds

Empirical research on the returns to R&D, for example:

  • Estimating returns: how the return to R&D should be defined, returns to public spending across funding designs, social returns to corporate R&D, and whether public and private R&D act as substitutes or complements
  • Spillovers, welfare and policy: how knowledge spillovers flow, how fast R&D knowledge becomes obsolete, welfare gains poorly captured by GDP, and how policy such as tax incentives and subsidies affects R&D
  • Methodology: what explains the wide range of published estimates, decomposing returns across sectors and technologies, robust productivity measures, and capturing overlooked activities, sectors and places
  • Research visits to leading research organisations in the UK or abroad for collaboration, training or access to data

quantitative approaches are encouraged, but qualitative and mixed methods are welcome where they fill evidence gaps. Budget for travel to two workshops in Washington DC (October 2027 and 2028, with three nights' accommodation each) and two in London (spring 2028 and 2029); no extra funding is given for these.

What it will not fund

Applications that are only theoretical or loosely related to the estimation of returns to R&D

How to apply

  1. If unsure whether your research fits the remit, email a brief summary to EconomicROI@esrc.ukri.org
  2. If you need administrative data through the ONS Secure Research Service, start researcher and project accreditation early (project approval can take around ten weeks)
  3. Start an application on the UKRI Funding Service and confirm you are the project lead
  4. Answer the questions: Vision (500 words), Approach (2,500 words), applicant and team capability (1,650 words), ethics, resources and cost justification, data management and facilities
  5. Send the application to your research office, which checks it and submits it to UKRI by 4pm on 19 November 2026

applications are checked for eligibility, then assessed and ranked by an expert panel.

Have ready

  • Letters or emails of support from each named project partner, as a single PDF in English or Welsh, no more than one A4 page each

partner letters are needed only if you have project partners. Do not send letters from the host or project co-leads' research organisations.

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