Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: World Values Survey 2025 to 2027

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This is a funding opportunity to run the World Values Survey in Great Britain for 2025 to 2027.

The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £1,027,780, funded in accordance with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Research Funding Guide. ESRC is expecting up to around £800,000 of this funding to be spent on data collection, depending on the chosen methodology (exceptions including subcontracted social surveys are funded at 100% FEC).

Funding is available from 1 February 2025 to 31 July 2027.

Who can apply

Before applying for funding, check the Eligibility of your organisation.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service.

For full details, visit Eligibility as an individual.

International applicants

Project leads from non-UK organisations are not eligible to apply for funding for this opportunity.

Project co-leads based in non-UK research organisations can be included in research grant applications. Read the project co-lead (international) policy guidance for details of eligible organisations and costs.

Business, third sector or government body project co-leads

Business, third sector or government body project co-leads based in the UK can also be included on research grant proposals as a project co-lead. Read Including project co-leads from business, third sector or government bodies for details of eligible organisations and costs.

Resubmissions

We will not accept uninvited resubmissions of projects that have been submitted to UKRI

Find out more about ESRC’s resubmissions policy.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

  • career breaks
  • support for people with caring responsibilities
  • flexible working
  • alternative working patterns

Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.

Remit

Contact the Data Infrastructure team on datainfrastructure@esrc.ukri.org if you are unsure whether your proposed project falls within the remit of ESRC.

What we're looking for

Aim

The aim of this funding opportunity is to ensure continuity of data collection and participation of Great Britain in the World Values Survey (WVS) to meet the needs of the social science research and user community. ESRC’s objectives for the successful applicant will be to:

  • produce high-quality data meeting the needs of the UK and international research and policy communities, building on the existing cross-national and time series data, and ensure those communities have timely access to the data
  • collaborate across the WVS association to deliver UK interests on data collection, facilitating high quality international research on life in Great Britain and enabling the UK research community to fully utilise WVS data
  • promote the value and potential of the data to the UK research and user community as well as the wider public laying the foundation for potential future engagement activities

WVS is expected to support the delivery of ESRC’s Data Infrastructure Strategy particularly within the following focus areas:

  • building and sustaining a foundation
  • leadership and connectedness
  • impact and public benefit

As part of the application, you should clearly outline how your work packages would contribute to the above ESRC objectives for WVS.

Scope

The successful applicant will deliver WVS within the UK. The WVS is an international survey research infrastructure focusing on social, political, economic, religious and cultural values of people in the world. The project’s goal is to assess the impact that stability or change in values over time has on the social, political and economic development of countries and societies. It started in 1981, grew out of the European Values Study and has been operating in more than 120 countries. The main research instrument of the project is a representative comparative social survey which is conducted globally every five years.

ESRC recently funded UK participation in WVS Wave 7: 2017-2022. Before this, Great Britain participated in two waves, conducting interviews in 1998 and 2005.

As part of the ESRC Data Infrastructure portfolio, WVS plays a role in the delivery of ESRC’s Data Infrastructure Strategy. WVS also feeds into the ESRC Strategic Delivery Plan objective ‘world-class places’ through its role as an international collaboration supporting understanding of global priorities.

Data collection 2026

The primary objective of the WVS in Great Britain is to conduct data collection in waves every five years in line with the WVS requirements to generate a high-quality data resource. Fieldwork should be conducted in 2026 (and before the end of December 2026) to align with Wave 8: 2024-2026. You will need to follow guidance provided in the rules and procedures for World Values Survey Association (WVSA) principal investigators in Wave 8 (PDF, 504KB). Further information about the WVS 8 Questionnaire (PDF, 702KB) is also provided. Notably:

  • the WVS data collection guidelines indicate that the sample coverage should be at 95% plus, meaning that no social group (whether by age, region, income or education and so on) that comprises 5% or more of the population can be excluded from the study. WVS surveys should cover all long-term residents rather than citizens or nationals or both only
  • the minimum sample size is 1200 (but a bigger sample is encouraged for more detailed analysis)
  • non-probability methods such as voluntary, convenience sampling and quota sample are not accepted in the WVS
  • you should budget for a one-off fee to the WVSA to cover expenses related to data cleaning, data storage, production of WVS 8 aggregated dataset and WVS Waves 1 to 8 longitudinal data-set and maintaining the data-sets for the next five years (see rules and procedures for WVSA principal investigators in Wave 8 (PDF, 504KB))
  • please check the rules and procedures for WVSA principal investigators in Wave 8 (PDF, 504KB) for details about documents to be submitted to the WVSA secretariat before fieldwork can be started

We require you commit to running an open tender competition for a survey fieldwork agency as part of the justification for resources. You should consult the rules and procedures for WVSA principal investigators in Wave 8 (PDF, 504KB) to see guidance from the WVSA regarding data collection methods. While the ESRC allows the use of self-completion methods, the application of any method other than face-to-face interview needs to be discussed with the WVSA with the scientific committee granting their approval.

If you wish to include (up to 40) additional country-specific questions in the questionnaire (on any topic related to the main theme of the WVS research program), you should include initial themes of questions in your application and outline how these meet user needs.

We strongly encourage you to consider how Northern Ireland could be included effectively to ensure coverage of the whole of the UK.

Sample boosts

In addition, we welcome the use of fundraising to boost samples in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland alongside the main survey to enable investigation into regional, as well as national and international, attitudes.

WVS as a resource

Ensuring access to enable and encourage both wide-spread and high-impact use of the WVS data and promoting the value and impact of the data is intrinsic to maintaining this resource.

Enabling access and use

As an infrastructure and resource to the community, it is essential that the WVS:

  • makes the data available for wider use as soon as possible (no later than nine months after fieldwork finalisation), both via the WVS Data Archive and UK Data Service as per the ESRC Data Policy. However, you need to respect guidance from the WVSA about submission of the national dataset and all related documentation (including that the dataset is not to be redistributed outside the team of the project lead until its release for public use and secondary analysis)
  • ensures easy access of necessary data documentation to support use of the data
  • ensures the data meets the needs of the community

Impact promotion

As a resource for the community, the WVS must demonstrate and promote the value and potential of the data to the research and user community as well as the wider public. We welcome innovative approaches to achieve this.

This can be done via initial findings. The objective of initial findings is to solely demonstrate the utility of the data to a wide user base. It should ideally be released alongside the data or within the same period, though this should not delay data release. Any analysis and its presentation must be sufficiently simple for users to quickly and easily understand the potential of the data. Accessibility must be prioritised over research quality or value.

To secure engagement, this funding can also support two short, targeted publications to promote the data to policy and research communities, which need to be presented and published very close to the data release. This funding is not supporting substantive research with the data.

Collaboration

Collaboration is essential with the wider WVS network including the WVS secretariat and committees and the WVSA’s international network of principal investigators. You should also consider engagement and collaboration with other ESRC investments and the wider social science community, where activities and learning may overlap (such as the European Social Survey and Survey Futures).

For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the Additional information section.

Duration

The duration of this award is a maximum of 30 months.

Funding available

The FEC of your project can be up to £1,027,780, funded in accordance with the ESRC Research Funding Guide. ESRC is expecting up to around £800,000 of this funding to be spent on data collection, depending on the chosen methodology (exceptions including subcontracted social surveys are funded at 100% FEC).

What we will fund

We will fund:

  • staff costs
  • data collection, distribution and promotion
  • engagement and collaboration activity
  • travel and subsistence

What we will not fund

We will not fund:

  • standard research projects
  • writing up previous research
  • preparation of books and publications
  • literature surveys
  • general conference attendance that is not related to conducting the proposed work
  • studentships

Investment monitoring

We will set out monitoring and reporting requirements in the terms and conditions of the award. Award holders will be required to produce an updated timeline, deliverables list and risk register at the start of the award, for regular discussion with ESRC.

The award holders will be expected to provide ESRC with a short, written, six monthly update on activities. More frequent updates will be expected on important activities, risks and major project changes if they present a risk to the grant meeting its objectives.

We will assign an investment manager as a lead contact for the project lead, as well as other members of the team where appropriate.

Applications should include sufficient time for project leads and (where relevant) project co-leads to meet these monitoring requirements.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.

As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.

Further guidance and information about TR&I – including where you can find additional support – can be found on UKRI’s website.

ESRC data infrastructure

ESRC supports a range of data infrastructure. Where relevant, we encourage you to consider whether the use of these resources could add value to the project. See Facilities and resources for information on finding and using ESRC datasets which are available across the UK.

Where relevant, details of datasets and infrastructure to be used in your project should be given in the Facilities section.

Data requirements

We recognise the importance of data quality and provenance. Data generated, collected or acquired by ESRC-funded research must be well-managed by the grant holder to enable their data to be exploited to the maximum potential for further research.  See our research data policy for details and further information on data requirements. The requirements of the research data policy are a condition of ESRC research funding.

Where relevant, details on data management and sharing should be provided in the Data management section. See the importance of managing and sharing data and content for inclusion in a data management plan on the UK Data Service (UKDS) website for further guidance. We expect applicants to provide a summary of the points provided. The UKDS datasharing@ukdataservice.ac.uk will be pleased to advise you on the availability of data within the academic community and provide advice on data deposit requirements.

Impact, innovation and interdisciplinarity

We expect you to consider the potential scientific, societal and economic impacts of your research. Outputs, dissemination and impact are a key part of the criteria for most peer review and assessment processes. We also encourage applications that demonstrate innovation and interdisciplinarity (research combining approaches from more than one discipline).

Knowledge exchange and collaboration

We are committed to knowledge exchange and encouraging collaboration between  researchers and the private, public and civil society sectors. Collaborative working benefits both the researchers and the individuals or organisations, or both, involved. Through collaboration, partners learn about each other’s expertise, share knowledge and gain an appreciation of different professional cultures. Collaborative activity can therefore lead to a better understanding of the ways that academic research can add value and offer insights to key issues of concern for policy and practice.

Knowledge exchange should not be treated as an ‘add-on’ at the end of a project but considered before the start and built into a project.

Equitable partnership principles

When undertaking research and innovation activities outside the UK, you must recognise and address the possible impact of contextual, societal and cultural differences on the ethical conduct of those activities.

Researchers should also follow the principles of equitable partnerships to address inherent power imbalances when working with partners in resource-poor settings.

Applying the principles will encourage equitable access, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), while maintaining incentives for innovation. You should consider the principles from the start of the research and development cycle.

Read UKRI’s guidance on research in a global setting.

Research ethics

ESRC requires that the research we support is designed and conducted in such a way that it meets ethical principles and is subject to proper professional and institutional oversight in terms of research governance. We have agreed a Framework for Research Ethics that all submitted proposals must comply with. Read further details about the Framework for Research Ethics and guidance on compliance.

How to apply

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

To apply

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.

  1. Confirm you are the project lead.
  2. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email support@funding-service.ukri.org

Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this funding opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.

  1. Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
  2. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
  3. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
  4. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. You should:

  • use images sparingly and only to convey important information that cannot easily be put into words
  • insert each new image onto a new line
  • provide a descriptive legend for each image immediately underneath it (this counts towards your word limit)
  • ensure files are smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Watch our research office webinars about the new Funding Service.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:

References

Applications should be self-contained, and hyperlinks should only be used to provide links directly to reference information. To ensure the information’s integrity is maintained, where possible, persistent identifiers such as digital object identifiers should be used. Assessors are not required to access links to carry out assessment or recommend a funding decision. You should use your discretion when including reference and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.

References should be included in the appropriate question section of the application and be easily identifiable by the assessors, for example (Smith, Research Paper, 2019)

You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.

Deadline

ESRC must receive your application by 12 November 2024 at 4:00pm UK time.

You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.

Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

Personal data 

Processing personal data

ESRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.

We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.

Publication of outcomes

ESRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at What ESRC has funded.

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

Summary

Word limit: 550

In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.

We may make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:

  • opinion-formers
  • policymakers
  • the public
  • the wider research community

Guidance for writing a summary

Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:

  • context
  • the challenge the project addresses
  • aims and objectives
  • potential applications and benefits

Core team

List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:

  • project lead (PL)
  • project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
  • project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))
  • specialist
  • grant manager
  • professional enabling staff
  • research and innovation associate
  • technician
  • visiting researcher

Only list one individual as project lead.

Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.

Application questions

Vision

Word limit: 1,500

Why is the WVS valuable to the UK and what is your vision for maximising this value?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

A demonstration that you understand and appreciate the value of WVS to the UK, and an explanation of how your vision will:

  • meet specific data needs of the research and policy communities
  • facilitate high quality international research on life in Great Britain
  • enable the UK research community to fully utilise WVS data
  • generate measurable impact

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

References may be included within this section.

Approach

Word limit: 2,500

What are your plans to manage and deliver the proposed infrastructure?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

A demonstration of:

  • clear work packages that will deliver ESRC’s objectives to produce high-quality data, collaborate to deliver UK interests and promote the data and its value, described fully in the Aim section
  • an effective plan for the data collection, including details about the desired sample and mode
  • how the project team will ensure they are responsive to the evolving needs of the research and policy communities
  • compliance with WVS requirements
  • how you will work in collaboration with the wider WVS network including the WVS secretariat and committees and the WVSA’s international network of principal investigators to support the development and successful delivery of the project
  • how you will engage and collaborate with other ESRC investments and the wider social science community where activities and learning may overlap (such as the European Social Survey and Survey Futures)
  • a feasible project plan including a work plan, milestones, and deliverables in the form of a Gantt chart or similar
  • identification of risks and appropriate mitigation in the form of key performance indicators (KPIs) to determine the delivery of outputs and outcomes

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

References may be included within this section.

Applicant and team capability to deliver

Word limit: 1,650

Why are you the right individual or team to deliver and manage the proposed infrastructure?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:

  • the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage)
  • the right balance of skills and expertise
  • the appropriate leadership and management skills and your approach to develop others
  • contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

The word count for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for R4RI modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format to showcase the range of relevant skills you, and if relevant, your team (project and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on), have and how this will help to deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.

Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed below. You should use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings:

  • contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
  • the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
  • contributions to the wider research and innovation community
  • contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit

Additions: Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).

You should complete this section as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

Word limit: 500

What are the ethical and RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work?  If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:

  • the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations
  • how you will manage these considerations

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

If you are collecting or using data you should identify:

  • any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or storing the data (including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further reuse of data)
  • formal information standards that your proposed work will comply with

Resources and cost justification

Word limit: 1,500

What will you need to deliver and manage the proposed infrastructure and how much will it cost?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:

  • project staff
  • significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
  • any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
  • all facilities and infrastructure costs
  • the estimated survey costs and a commitment to run an open tender competition for a survey agency
  • all other resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’
  • If applicable, subscription costs

Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:

  • are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
  • represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
  • maximise potential outcomes and impacts

For detailed guidance on eligible costs please see the ESRC research funding guide.

Your organisation’s support

Word limit: 500

Provide details of support from your research organisation.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide a statement of support from your research organisation detailing why this organisation is well-placed to host the WVS. This should include details of any matched funding that will be provided to support the core activity and any additional support that might add value to the work.

The committee will be looking for a statement of commitment from your research organisation to contribute to a successful delivery of the WVS.

ESRC recognises that in some instances, this information may be provided by the Research Office, the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) or equivalent, or a combination of both.

You must also include the following details:

  • a significant person’s name and their position, from the TTO or Research Office, or both
  • office address or web link

Upload details are provided within the service on the actual application.

Project partners

Add details about any project partners’ contributions. If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.

A project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities.

Add the following project partner details:

  • the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)
  • the project partner contact name and email address
  • the type of contribution (direct or in-direct) and its monetary value

If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Data management and sharing

Word limit: 1,500

How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide a data management plan that clearly details how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.

Demonstrate compliance and that you have designed your proposed work so that you can appropriately manage and share data in accordance with ESRC’s Research Data Policy and ESRC Framework for Research Ethics.

Within the Data management section we also expect you to:

  • plan for the research through the life cycle of the award until data is accepted for archiving by the UK Data Service (UKDS) or a responsible data repository
  • cover any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or storing the data, including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical issues
  • include any challenges to data sharing (for example, copyright or data confidentiality), with possible solutions discussed to optimise data sharing

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

Word limit: 500

What approaches and activities do you have planned that will embed EDI into your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how your EDI plan:

  • is effective and appropriate to embed EDI
  • comprehensively identifies the key EDI challenges and how they will be addressed or managed
  • will report and measure EDI outcomes
  • will maximise awareness of and mitigate against bias in your team and the wider community in terms of gender, ethnicity or any other protected characteristic through processes, behaviours and culture
  • describes how your approach will build upon and integrate existing EDI good practice into your proposed work
  • will share good practice with the wider community to ensure your research has maximum impact

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

References may be included within this section.

Embedding environment sustainability

Word limit: 500

How will you embed environmental sustainability within the grant activities.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how your proposed work will embed environmental sustainability throughout its aims, objectives, operations and research outcomes.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

References may be included within this section.

Facilities

Word limit: 250

Does your proposed work require the support and use of a facility?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If you will need to use a facility (including access to, and use of data infrastructure), follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. Ensure you have prior agreement so that if you are offered funding, they will support the use of their facility on your project. ESRC encourages the use of secondary and linked datasets.

For each requested facility you will need to provide the:

  • name of facility, copied and pasted from the facility information list (DOC, 37KB)
  • proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list
  • confirmation you have their agreement where required

Facilities should only be named if they are on the facility information list above. If you will not need to use a facility, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Trusted Research and Innovation

Word limit: 100

Does the proposed work involve international collaboration in a sensitive research or technology area?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate how your proposed international collaboration relates to Trusted Research and Innovation, including:

  • list the countries your international project co-leads, project partners and visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in
  • if international collaboration is involved, explain whether this project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act
  • if one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act are involved list the areas

If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

We may ask you to provide additional information about how your proposed project will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help manage these risks.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

ESRC reserves the right to amend this assessment process as the opportunity progresses.

We will assess your application using the following process.

We will invite a number of experts, including a representative from the World Values Survey Association, spanning the breadth of the funding opportunity’s scope. There will be an opportunity to respond to these comments.

Panel

We will appoint a panel of experts to assess the quality of your application against the criteria and rank it alongside other applications, after which the panel will make a funding recommendation.

We will use the recommendations from the commissioning panel, along with the overall funding opportunity requirements and the available budget, to make final funding decisions.

ESRC will make the final funding decision.

Feedback

We will give feedback with the outcome of your application.

Principles of assessment

We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI Principles of Assessment and Decision Making.

We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed.

Assessment areas

The assessment areas we will use are:

  • vision
  • approach
  • applicant and team capability to deliver
  • ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
  • resources and cost justification
  • your organisation’s support
  • data management and sharing
  • equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)
  • embedding environment sustainability
  • trusted research and innovation (if applicable)

Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Contact details

Get help with your application

If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the Helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue. Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding Finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility or content/remit of an opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.

Contact details

For help and advice on costings and writing your proposal please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact datainfrastructure@esrc.ukri.org 

Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org

Phone: 01793 547490

Our phone lines are open:

  • Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm
  • Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

To help us process queries quicker, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.

For further information on submitting an application read How applicants use the Funding Service.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email datainfrastructure@esrc.ukri.org 

Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include:

  • individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
  • declaration of interest
  • additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
  • conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
  • the application is an invited resubmission

For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Additional info

Background

World Values Survey website

Research and innovation impact

Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment; to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.

Additional disability and accessibility adjustments

UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process if required.

Research disruption due to COVID-19

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:

  • breaks and delays
  • disruptive working patterns and conditions
  • the loss of ongoing work
  • role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic

Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.

Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.

Supporting documents

Equality impact assessment form (PDF, 221 KB)

Updates

  • 17 September 2024
    Word limit for Data management and sharing updated from 500 to 1,500 in 'How to apply' section. Removed project partners and added trusted research and innovation under Assessment areas in 'How we will assess your application' section.

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