Early Career Researcher Development Fund Guidance

What we are looking for

Proposals must:

• Be led by an ECR¹, employed by a UK research organisation ² and whose employment contract extends at least to the end of the proposed grant period.
• Include co-production with at least one non-academic partner organisation.
• Present original and innovative ideas.
• Address the theme of vulnerability and policing.
• Advance the Centre’s values and principles.
• Be feasible and rigorous in terms of methodology and sound logic.
• Explicitly address equality, diversity and inclusion issues.

Preference will be given to proposals that:

• Deploy innovative methodologies and/or combine different datasets.
• Complement rather than duplicate the wider research programme of work across the Centre.
• Enable co-production with service providers and/or service users and vulnerable groups.
• Comprise teams and approaches that are multi-disciplinary.
• Have the potential to secure longer-term ‘follow-on’ funding and/or scalability across other partners.
• Have high potential impact and identify the pathways to impact, including by explicitly considering the translation and application of the research findings for policy and/or practice and how these might best be secured.
• Leverage match commitments and, where appropriate, resources – either cash or in-kind, from contributing organisations and beneficiaries.

Thematic steers for the 2023-24 call

For the Fund’s second year (for projects commencing in 2024), we welcome applications in all fields relating to policing vulnerability for this open call, however we are particularly keen to receive applications that focus on one or more of the following themes:

• vulnerability and neurodivergence;
• race, ethnicity and vulnerability;
• and asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants.

We welcome strong proposals that engage with how vulnerability and policing impact on one or more of these themes. Additionally, we are keen to solicit applications that deploy innovative methodologies and/or combine different datasets. All applications will be equally assessed against the criteria regardless of thematic focus and the strength of the proposals will be the first and foremost priority when allocating funding. Future calls will highlight different thematic steers.

The Fund aims to widen the reach of the Centre’s work, enabling ECRs to co-produce trailblazer projects that will contribute new findings, methodological applications and conceptual insights. In so doing, it will promote co-production rooted in experimental test-beds of frontline policing. It will provide pump-priming funds to support research into vulnerability and policing in areas where gaps in knowledge are most prominent and where research benefits are of greatest value.

The Fund will provide financial and logistical support for teams of named researchers and practitioners or civil society groups led by an ECR as Principal Investigator (PI). Teams may include senior researchers who provide mentoring and support but will be led by the named PI. Capacity building and support for ECR project leads/PIs will be provided through structured support overseen by the Centre’s ECR Champion, Dr Laura Bainbridge (University of Leeds). The Centre will also work with PIs to develop engagement, impact, networks and follow on plans that maximise the reach and significance of the research.

Eligibility

• Funds can only be awarded to a recognised research organisation (RO), not a person.
• Guidance on organisations eligible to apply for funding can be found on the ESRC website. This includes a list of independent research organisations (IROs) and other organisations eligible to apply.
• Principal Investigator (PI):
  • Only one person on the application can be named as Principal Investigator (PI).
  • The PI must be an ECR employed by their UK research organisation, with a contract of employment that does not end before the proposed project ends.
  • Applicants must be able to confirm the support of their institution to enable them to fulfil the commitments of the project
  • A PI can only submit one application to the Fund but can be Co-I on other applications

• Organisations outside the UK are not eligible to apply to lead an application. They are however, eligible to be included as project partners or Co-investigators (who would be expected to make a contribution, either financially or in-kind) or Consultants; please note, overseas consultants cannot be named as Co-investigators. Please see the ‘Funding’ section regarding costings for international external partners.
• We would normally expect applications to include collaborations with external organisations, such as public service and/or third sector organisations. Time of practitioners, NGO staff or service users can be costed, where explicitly justified. Non-academic applicants can also co-lead projects. Third sector, government/public sector organisations and businesses can be included for up to 30% of the budget (at full economic costing), but a justification will be needed. It is not expected that large businesses would be able to justify this, but charities, NGOs and social enterprises could.
• ECR Development Grant awards will be transferred from the University of York to eligible ROs.
• We are not able to fund PhD studentships or Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs).
• Awards funded through the ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre ECR Development Fund should follow UKRI’s standard funding rules, terms and conditions and align to the ESRC’s research funding guide. Please note, however, that all correspondence should come to the Centre.
• Those directly involved in the Centre are not eligible to be PI of any Fund applications but they can be included as a part of an applicant’s Project Team.

¹ ECR defined as (per UKRI): up to eight years since PhD viva, but not including career breaks for e.g. home schooling/maternity leave etc.

² See link to ESRC guidance on eligible research organisations under Eligibility.