Opportunity to join a new Economic and Social Research Council Assessor College
The Economic and Social Research Council Assessor (ESRC) is looking for members to join a new college which they will use to find members for their assessment panels. The college will consist of academic members drawn from across the social sciences, representing the broad range of expertise, skills, career stages and approaches needed to help ensure they support the highest quality ideas across their remit. Members will also include individuals from the public, business and civil society sectors to help ensure ESRC funds high-quality research with economic and societal impact.
The closing date for the current recruitment round is 17:00 on 26 August 2025.
Further information about what they are looking for and how to apply can be found on their website.
For any additional queries please contact: grants@esrc.ukri.org
Who they're looking for:
They are recruiting two types of members for the new Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Assessor College: academic members with expertise within ESRC’s remit, and non-academic advisor members with expertise in how excellent social and economic research can contribute to society and the economy. You should be based in the UK.
Academic members
They are seeking applications from individuals with research expertise in the areas ESRC funds. See remit, portfolio and priorities for more information on the areas and disciplines ESRC funds.
They encourage early career researchers to apply, along with more established academics. They encourage individuals from a wide range of methodological perspectives to apply, and welcome applications from those with experience in using or creating data collections and services.
All academic members will be expected to have the following skills and experience:
- strong research track record in their field appropriate to their career stage
- an appreciation for the value of different social science disciplines, areas of research and methodological approaches
- ability to reach an evaluative assessment based on evidence and their own knowledge or expertise
- excellent verbal and written communication skills
- an accountable and open working style
Within the overall academic membership they will also be looking for additional skills and experience, including:
- previous involvement in some form of expert review for UK Research and Innovation, which may include commissioning panel expertise
- experience of working across boundaries within and between social science disciplines and between social sciences and other academic disciplines
- experience of international collaborative research and agendas
- expertise and experience of knowledge exchange and research impact
- experience and interest in qualitative and quantitative data resources
Advisor members
For many of their funding opportunities, impact beyond academia is of particular importance.
Non-academic panel members, known as advisors, will provide input that supports ESRC to fund social science that creates impacts and improves outcomes.
Advisor panel members will be asked to pay particular attention to the relevance, timeliness and added value of proposed activity for relevant stakeholders such as policymakers, practitioners, or the public.
All advisor members will be expected to have the following skills and experience:
- an appreciation for research and research-related issues and the ways in which excellent research can inform policy and practice
- an understanding of effective knowledge exchange between research and the policy, business and civil society sectors
- an in-depth understanding of the sector in which they operate
- ability to reach an evaluative assessment based on evidence and their own knowledge or expertise
- excellent verbal and written communication skills
- an accountable and open working style
Within the overall advisor membership, they will also be looking for additional skills and experience, including:
- an understanding of the activities that ESRC funds and previous engagement with these
- experience of reviewing research funding applications
- a background in research or knowledge exchange
- experience of using research findings to inform policy and practice
- experience or interest in qualitative and quantitative data resources
Panel chairs
Both academic and advisor members will also be able to indicate if they wish to be considered for roles as a panel chair. Panel chairs do not formally assess applications but play a crucial role in assimilating and summarising the views of panel members and supporting them to agree an overall score for each application under consideration.
In addition to the skills and experience described, panel chairs will also be expected to have a proven ability to effectively chair research funding panels to reach clear outcomes and recommendations.