ESRC applicant-led: grow awards
ESRC applicant-led: grow awards support researchers through tailored research and development projects that build skills, enable a significant career step-change and strengthen UK social science.
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Funder: UK Research and Innovation
Due Dates: November 5, 2026, 9:00am UK time (Opened) | Rolling (No closing date)
Funding Amounts: £100,000–£500,000 full economic cost; ESRC funds 80%; 18–60 months
Summary: Supports tailored research and development projects that enable a significant career step-change and strengthen UK social science.
Key Information: The award must develop the project lead, and social sciences within ESRC’s remit must exceed 50% of research focus and effort.
Description
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, runs Grow awards to help researchers build the skills, experience and confidence needed for a meaningful career step-change. The programme supports establishing research independence, moving within or into social science disciplines in novel ways, and developing expertise in advanced or emerging methods, technologies or approaches.
Awards combine a defined project with development activities tailored to the individual’s needs. Activities can include basic or applied research, existing-data analysis, methodological development, interdisciplinary collaboration, placements, secondments, mentoring and leadership development. Applicants must explain how they will develop, deploy and test new skills, demonstrate effects on career progression, and maximise potential benefits to the long-term capacity, adaptability and resilience of UK social science.
