The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides funding and support for research and training in the social sciences. It is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues.
The ESRC was founded in 1965 as the Social Science Research Council (SSRC – not to be confused with the Social Science Research Council in the United States). The establishment of a state funding body for the social sciences in the United Kingdom, had been under discussion since the Second World War;[1] however, it was not until the 1964 election of Prime Minister Harold Wilson that the political climate for the creation of the SSRC became sufficiently favourable.
Following the election of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1979 general election, the Government expressed reservations about the value of research in the social sciences, and the extent to which it should be publicly funded. In 1981, the Education Secretary Sir Keith Joseph asked Lord Rothschild to lead a review into the future of the SSRC.[2]
It was ultimately decided (due in no small part to the efforts of Michael Posner, chief executive of the SSRC at the time[3]) that the Council should remain, but that its remit should be expanded beyond the social sciences, to include more 'empirical' research and research of 'more public concern'. To reflect this, in 1983 the SSRC was renamed the Economic and Social Research Council.[4]
The ESRC's mission, according to its website, is to:[5]
promote and support, by any means, high-quality research and related postgraduate training on social and economic issues
develop and support the national data infrastructure that underpins high-quality research
advance knowledge and provide trained social scientists who meet the needs of users and beneficiaries, thereby contributing to the economic competitiveness of the UK, the effectiveness of public services and policy, and the quality of life
communicate clearly and promote public understanding of social science.
The ESRC is based at Polaris House in Swindon, which is also the location of the head offices of several other councils of UK Research and Innovation: AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, Innovate UK, MRC, NERC and STFC, as well as the UK Space Agency. At any one time ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.[citation needed]
The ESRC funded two projects at the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership: from 2009 to 2012, the Legacies of British Slave-ownership project, and from 2013 to 2015 the Structure and significance of British Caribbean slave-ownership 1763-1833 project (co-funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council). This work built the publicly available Legacies of British Slave-ownership database.[12]
