Economic & Social Research Council

The Economic and Social Research Council funds research and training in social and economic issues.

The Economic and Social Research Council has six main research areas: economic affairs, education and human development, environment and planning, government and law, industry and employment, and social affairs.

It has an international reputation both for providing high-quality research on issues of importance to business, the public sector and government, and for a commitment to training world-class social scientists.

The quality of life and economic well-being of the UK and its citizens are just two of the many policy-relevant issues addressed by its research and training activities. Comparative and international perspectives are strongly encouraged. For example, UK economic performance is increasingly dependent on the global economy, and economic distribution is a major issue for social science research.

Paul Rouse from the Economic and Social Research Council says ‘success of Living with Environmental Change for the Economic and Social Research Council would be seeing more and higher quality social science funded and seeing that have greater, more far reaching impact than we could expect from unilateral efforts.'