Annex 3
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (ESRC)
Q1. THE ROLE
OF RCIS
IN MAINTAINING
THE UK RESEARCH
AND SKILLS
BASE
Role of ESRC Research Centres
ESRC Research Centres are national focal points
for social science research where academics can collaborate on
long-term programmes of research. They are central to the ESRC's
strategy to develop the UK social science research base and strengthen
its position on the international stage. We expect centres to
have an innovative research programme and to become international
centres of excellence. They are typically located within a single
institution, either a UK higher education institution or an independent
research institute. They facilitate the building of strong relationships
with research users and the development of the careers of new
and outstanding researchers. A research centre is expected to
provide training for postgraduate students and other new researchers
where appropriate and we have provided earmarked funding for studentships
within our centres.
Centres also have a role in using their sustained
periods of funding to promote and foster interdisciplinary collaboration.
Indeed, in recent years some centres have been established as
collaborations between research councils. For instance, the Tyndall
Centre for Climate Change Research (University of East Anglia)
is supported by three of the Research Councils, ESRC, NERC and
EPSRC.
New centres established in recent years include
the Centre for Deafness, Cognition and Language (DCAL) at University
College London, the Centre for Competition Policy (University
of East Anglia) and the Centre for Public Organisation (Bristol
University). New centres are funded for five years in the first
instance, with a second period of five years funding subject to
a satisfactory mid-term review. Current centres have the potential
to reapply for continued funding for further five-year periods
in competition with other proposals. Last year the Institute for
Fiscal Studies, the Centre for Economic Performance and the Centre
for Micro-Social Change were given continuing support on this
basis. However, other centres have not been successful in securing
continued funding. These judgements are based primarily on the
quality of the proposed new programme of work and the relative
priority of the subject area.
Responsibility to the ESRC for the direction
and management of the centre and the achievement of its aims and
objectives lies with the host institution. There is no formal
requirement for a financial contribution from the host institution
beyond the remaining 20% not covered under the Full Economic Costs
funding model. Under this funding model, we expect the budgets
of research centres to be between £4.8 million and £8.5
million each over 10 years. Centres are expected to seek co-funding
and sponsorship from other sources.
We also support resource centres, as part of
our commitment to the UK's data infrastructure and capacity in
methodology. For example, the research programme of the National
Centre for Research Methods offers a pioneering suite of methodological
developments which should help to keep the UK at the international
cutting edge, particularly in advanced quantitative methods. The
research programme of the National Centre for E-Social Science
also promises to deliver major methodological payoffs, particularly
in the areas of data mining, modelling and linkage.
Achievements
Examples of achievements by our centres include
the following:
— World-class research on the application
of evolutionary and learning approaches to economic game theory
at the Centre for Economic Learning and Social Evolution (ELSE)
based at University College London. An ESRC evaluation confirmed
that this research team has few peers in Europe and rivals the
best in the US. ELSE played a central role in the design of the
UK government's auction of third generation mobile telephone licenses
which netted £23 billion for the UK Treasury, and was one
of the most influential applications of social science expertise
for many years.
— The Centre for Research into Elections
and Social Trends (CREST) made an important contribution to understanding
electoral behaviour and change in Britain, including the innovative
British Election Panel Studies and British Election Surveys.
CREST's "British Social Attitudes Survey" has
provided a unique and authoritative insight into changes in British
society, and it is used widely by academics, policy-makers, social
commentators and the media.
— The Centre for Social and Economic
Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE) has been instrumental
in building the UK's capacity for research in that area, and its
young researchers have secured senior positions in a range of
academic and practitioner posts
Engagement and Knowledge Transfer
At the outset centre directors are asked to
submit communication plans which are assessed by the Strategic
Research Board liaison member and ESRC officers. If these are
not satisfactory they are asked to make changes.
We review the level and effectiveness of communications
activities via "troika" meetings [regular management
meetings between ESRC Office staff, Strategic Research Board liaison
members and centre directors] and through centres' annual reports,
where they are asked to set out their dissemination and engagement
strategy. We also support centres in their engagement activities
in various ways. For instance, we run media training courses and
have developed a "Communications Toolkit" to promote
best practice. We also encourage the sharing and dissemination
of good practice through, for example, regular directors' meetings.
Some centres, such as the Centre for Economic Performance, have
achieved strong media profiles.
Centres are expected to develop long-lasting
relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. For instance,
ESRC's Innovation Research Centres work closely with business.
The Centre for Complex Product Systems (COPS) has run training
courses for organisations such as Samsung and Boots. The Centre
for Research on Innovation and Competition (CRIC) has worked closely
with Rolls Royce, Unilever and BNFL.
Processes for Establishing/Evaluating Centres
New research centres are selected by means of
a competition. This competition may be open to applications from
any subject area within ESRC's remit; or open but with a steer
towards a particular topic area; or restricted to a particular
topic area. Decisions on the nature of the competition are taken
by Council and its Strategic Research Board, having regard to
the current portfolio and areas of research challenges where there
is a need for new investment. Competitions are generally, although
not necessarily, held on an annual basis.
The competition process is as follows. Outline
applications are first assessed by an expert panel. Those applicants
whose proposals are deemed suitable for further development are
invited to submit a comprehensive full proposal. Full proposals
are peer reviewed using external academic and non-academic reviewers,
one in each category of which is nominated by the applicant. Applicants
are given the opportunity to respond to the reviewer comments.
The proposals, along with the reviewer comments and applicant
responses, are then assessed by the expert panel. The panel agrees
a shortlist and the leaders of the shortlisted applications are
interviewed. The panel then makes its recommendations to the Strategic
Research Board, which then makes recommendations to the ESRC Council.
Performance indicators for the output and impact
of a new centre's work are agreed between the centre and the ESRC.
An annual report is produced by the centre on progress against
objectives and an agreed set of performance indicators. All centre
annual reports are considered and discussed by the Strategic Research
Board. The centre's director attends one or two "troika"
meetings a year to discuss Council policy, any concerns or questions
the centre may have, progress in the current year, and the Board's
reaction to the centre's annual report.
The Council evaluates the performance of all
of its research centres in year eight of ten before deciding whether
they are eligible to bid for a further five-year period of core
funding. In addition, we evaluate the work of our centres after
their period of ESRC funding has come to an end. Centre reviews
are managed by the Council's Research Evaluation Committee, and
include assessments from a range of independent commentators including
senior international academics and research users in the private
and public sectors. In particular, the evaluations investigate
how centres have used their longer-term funding to generate added
value in comparison with supporting stand-alone research projects
and recent evaluations have highlighted the particular achievements
of our centres in relation to the development of dynamic and responsive
research agendas, capacity building, career development, sustained
user engagement and the leverage of external co-funding.
Q2. THE BALANCE
BETWEEN RESEARCH
COUNCIL EXPENDITURE
ON RCIS
AND ON
GRANT FUNDING
We carried out a major consultation with stakeholders
in 2004, which helped Council identify our key challenges and
priorities. We will meet these challenges through a range of mechanisms,
including centres, directing our resources towards those priorities
and bringing investments in other areas to an end. We will continue
to respond to the social science community's own ideas about new
research challenges and work with our community to ensure that
we support the most promising new research directions.
Council has designed different modes and funding
mechanisms to achieve different purposes and outcomes. Direct
comparisons of funding modes are therefore difficult. However,
the results of the reviews conducted by our Research Evaluation
Committee allow the Council to determine the effectiveness of
its investment in centres as opposed to other types of investment.
The annual report of the Research Evaluation Committee contains
analyses of all completed evaluations across the centres, programmes
and responsive modes and includes comparative assessments across
these approaches. Research centres have generally performed very
well and have produced many of the ESRC's most impressive achievements.
Evaluations have identified a number of world class research contributions,
demonstrating that the Council's policy of backing strong teams
over relatively long periods of time has paid dividends. In addition,
almost all centres have capitalised on their high profile and
core funding to build strong relationships with user groups and
achieve a considerable degree of non-academic impact. By virtue
of their relatively long-term funding, centres are well-placed
to build research capacity. Success in this area has been a marked
feature of evaluation reports and there have been some striking
examples in recent years. For example, as mentioned above, The
Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment
has been instrumental in building the UK's capacity for research
in that area. Centres have also capitalised on sustained periods
of core funding to promote and foster interdisciplinary collaboration.
For example, the Centre for Business Research has combined legal
analysis with econometric research to throw new light on the effect
of ownership arrangements on firm performance, corporate social
responsibility and the relationship between institutional change
and economic and technological developments. Centres benefit from
clear central direction, with line management control of research
agendas and performance. In these circumstances it is easier to
generate synergy and coherence and to tackle difficult goals such
as building interdisciplinary collaboration.
Q3. THE RATIONALE
BEHIND THE
DIFFERENT APPROACHES
ADOPTED BY
THE RESEARCH
COUNCILS TO
SUPPORTING RCIS
AND THE
CASE FOR
GREATER HARMONISATION
OF PRACTICE
The Council funds research centres to exploit
research opportunities which require the advantage of scale, duration,
cross-disciplinary collaboration and the use of shared facilities.
ESRC Centre Funding
BALANCE BETWEEN RC EXPENDITURE ON RCIs AND
GRANT FUNDING—ESRC 2004-05 FIGURES
Total portfolio (resource & capital)
| Expenditure (£ million)
|
| Total expenditure | 108.690[15]
|
| Total expenditure at HEIs | 101.395[16]
|
| Total expenditure at RCIs (excluding CCLRC)
| 14.118[17]
|
| Total expenditure with CCLRC and other organisations
| 0.119[18]
|
| |
Expenditure on research (resource not capital)
| Expenditure (£ million)
|
| Total expenditure | 76.994
|
| Total expenditure at HEIs | 72.289[19]
|
| Total expenditure at RCIs (excluding CCLRC)
| 14.118[20]
|
| Total expenditure with CCLRC and other organisations
| 0.119 |
| |
Expenditure on training
| Expenditure (£ million)
|
| Total expenditure | 31.696
|
| Total expenditure at HEIs | 29.106
|
| Total expenditure at RCIs (excluding CCLRC)
| 0.3348[21]
|
| Total expenditure with CCLRC and other organisations
| — |
Individual RCI funding
|
|
See separate list of ESRC Centres with current grant amounts.
LIST OF ESRC CENTRES (STATUS AS OF 1 APRIL 2006)
| Centre | End Date
| Location[22]
| ESRC Grant[23]
|
| Economics, Management and Business Studies and Innovation
| | | |
| Centre for Business, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS (www.brass.cf.ac.uk)
| Sep 11 | Cardiff | £3,227,066
(2001-06)
|
| Centre for Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy (CMAPP)(www.ifs.org.uk/esrc)
| Sep 11 | Institute for Fiscal Studies, London
| £3,217,137
(2001-06) |
| Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) (www.ccp.uea.ac.uk)
| Aug 13 | East Anglia | £339,000
(2004-05)
|
| Centre for Economic Learning and Social Evolution (ELSE) (else.econ.ucl.ac.uk)
| Sep 10 | University College London
| £2,430,000
(2000-05) |
| Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) (cep.lse.ac.uk)
| Sep 10 | LSE | £5,260,000
(2000-05)
|
| Centre for Innovation in Complex Product Systems (CoPS) (www.cops.ac.uk)
| Sep 06 | Sussex/Brighton |
£1,800,000
(2001-06) |
| Centre for Market and Public Organisation (www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/CMPO)
| Sep 14 | Bristol | £1,063,000
(2004-09)
|
| Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition (CRIC) (www.cric.ac.uk)
| Sep 06 | Manchester | £2,600,000
(2001-06)
|
| Centre for Organisation and Innovation (COI) (www.shef.ac.uk/esrccoi)
| Sep 06 | Sheffield | £2,114,000
(2001-06
|
| Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE) (www.economics.ox.ac.uk/skope)
| Sep 08 | Oxford/Warwick |
£2,204,842
(2003-08) |
| Education, Psychology, Cognition and Linguistics
| | | |
| Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre (www.dcal.ucl.ac.uk)
| Dec 15 | University College, London
| £3,647,000
(2006-10) |
| Geography, Environment, Urban/Rural and Transport Studies
| | | |
| Centre for Socio-economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE) (www.uea.ac.uk/env/cserge)
| Sep 06 | East Anglia | £2,164,428
(2001-06)
|
| Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research (www.tyndall.ac.uk)
| Mar 09 | East Anglia | £1,250,000[24]
|
| UK Energy Research Centre (part of the TSEC Towards a Sustainable Energy Economy Programme) (www.ukerc.ac.uk)
| Apr 09 | Policy Studies Institute/Imperial College London/Oxford
| £3,180,000
(2004-09) [25]
|
| Government, Political Science and Law
| | | |
| Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation (CSGR) (www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/csgr)
| Sep 07 | Warwick | £2,355,697
(2002-07)
|
Centre for the Analysis of Risk and
Regulation (CARR) (www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CARR)
| Sep 10
| LSE
| £2,795,539
(2005-10) |
| Sociology, Social Policy, Social Work and Social Anthropology
| | | |
| Centre for Social and Economic Research on Innovation in Genomics (INNOGEN) (www.innogen.ac.uk)
| Sep 07 | Edinburgh/Open |
£2,137,830
(2002-07)
|
| Centre for Genomics in Society (EGENIS) (www.ex.ac.uk/egenis)
| Sep 07 | Exeter | £2,500,000
(2002-07)
|
| Genomics Research Centre—CESAGEN (www.cesagen.lancs.ac.uk)
| Sep 07 | Lancaster/Cardiff
| £4,300,000
(2002-07) |
| Research Centre on Micro-social Change (MISOC) (www.iser.essex.ac.uk/misoc)
| Sep 09 | Essex | £3,309,416
(2004-09)
|
| Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) (sticerd.lse.ac.uk/case/)
| Sep 07 | LSE | £2,728,300
(2002-07)
|
| Centre for Research on Socio-cultural Change (CRESC) (www.cresc.man.ac.uk)
| Sep 14 | Manchester | £3,700,000
(2004-09)
|
| Statistics, Computing and Demography
| | | |
| Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) (www.compas.ox.ac.uk)
| Sep 13 | Oxford | £3,400,000
(2003-08)
|
| Resource Centres |
| | |
| Centre for Applied Social Surveys (CASS) (www.socstats.soton.ac.uk/cass/)
| Oct 08 | Southampton/Surrey/ National Centre for Social Research
| |
| Centre for Longitudinal Studies (incorporates Millennium Cohort Study/NCDS and BCS70) (www.cls.ioe.ac.uk)
| Mar 10 | Institute of Education, London
| |
National Centre for E-Social Science
(www.ncess.ac.uk)
| Mar 07 | Manchester/Essex |
|
National Centre for Research Methods
(www.ncrm.ac.uk)
| Mar 09 | Southampton |
|
| | |
|
15
Does not include ESRC running costs, evaluation, superannuation
et.c Back
16
Includes spend on ESRC Centres. Back
17
Includes all ESRC Research Centres, but not Resource Centres. Back
18
Expenditure with all Research Councils. Back
19
See footnote 2. Back
20
See footnote 3. Back
21
This includes only Centres-linked studentships, awarded as part
of a specific competition. It does not include studentships held
at Centres but awarded as part of the usual ESRC studentship processes
or other training, such as media training, that take place at
Centres. Back
22
Location of Centre host institution (University unless otherwise
indicated). Back
23
This is the figure for only the period indicated, not the total
of the Centre's ESRC funding. Back
24
ESRC contribution to current grant. Back
25
ESRC contribution. Back
|
