ESRC has launched its 18-month Policy Fellowships for early career researchers and mid-career academics. APPLICATIONS NOW CLOSED
These prestigious Fellowships provide 25 opportunities across 10 partners in central and devolved governments, starting in December 2021.
Fellows will co-design research with the host to inform policy and work to improve connections between policy and academic institutions.
Depending on the fellowship, applicants can be either a researcher in the economic and social sciences, or in the arts and humanities.
The full economic cost of the Fellowships is £135,000 – and ESRC will fund 80% of this cost.
Who Can Apply?
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You must be based at an organisation eligible for UKRI funding.
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You must have a PhD or equivalent experience.
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You must be an early to mid-career researcher.
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You must have skills and expertise relevant to the specific fellowship you are applying for.
What Special Skills Are ESRC Looking For?
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Excellent stakeholder engagement and collaboration skills.
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Insight into working in a governmental context.
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The ability to design and lead on knowledge exchange activity between research, policy and funder communities
Past Policy Fellowship Funding
As part of a similar scheme placing academics into government institutions, Dr Kemi Adeyeye (left), as Principal Investigator, received funding in 2010/11 for EPSRC Policy Fellowships in Defra, through the University of Brighton. Her research addresses social, economic, technical and environmental challenges relating to policy development for the preservation of water. The core aim of the fellowship was to explore the interfaces between active and passive processes: information, technological and infrastructure processes for optimising water supply and waste systems in buildings and urban environments on one hand and socio-economic constructs on the other.
Fellowship Opportunities
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Cabinet Office – on evaluation, and on national security
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Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) – on net zero
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Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) – on net zero and on waste
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Department for Transport (DfT) – on transport use, on connectivity and levelling up, and on decarbonisation
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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) (co-funded with AHRC) – on geographic regions, on disinformation, on international trade law, on national security and on non-proliferation
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Home Office – on cyber-crime and on economic crime
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Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) – on climate change policy
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Ministry of Justice (MoJ) – on experimentation and evaluation, and on evidence
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the Scottish government – on health inequalities, on social care, and on equality data
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the Welsh government – on sustainable futures, on environment and rural affairs, and on education
