ESRC call puts the workplace under the microscope
In what may be a one-off call, the Economic and Social Research Council has turned its attention to changes in working lives and power in the workplace. It has launched a call for collaborative bids of between £535,000 and £720,000 (funded at 80 per cent of full economic cost) for work lasting up to three years.
ESRC has suggested a list of topics for possible investigation under two broad headings: managing working transitions, and power and voice in a changing world of work. Collaborations with non-academic partners are encouraged.
The council aims to fund six to eight projects, and the deadline for applications is 30 September.
Annie Gibney, a senior research portfolio manager at UK Research and Innovation, gives the lowdown for applicants.
What is the origin of this call?
It’s a brand new call that comes out of the ‘future of work’ scoping workshops in 2018, which brought together academics, policymakers, and representatives of civil society and business.
This call was initially scheduled for the beginning of last year, but then the pandemic hit. The themes feel especially important and significant today, with the implications of Covid-19.
Have there been ones like it?
The ESRC’s last large investment in research into the workspace was the Future of Work programme. It addressed uncertainty around what was then the future of work, from 1998 to 2005, with a view to improving the quality of socioeconomic life. Since then, we haven’t had a large-scale investment into this topic.
Should proposals stick to the list of topics given?
Our list is by no means exhaustive or prescriptive. We hope to see a real breadth of topics from applicants. But this call is interested in all the transitions during working life that are under-researched; for instance, employers’ increasing use of surveillance and structural inequalities in the workplace. Still, it’s very open in terms of specific issues people could address.
What won’t you support?
Most importantly, projects must focus on issues relevant to the UK. We won’t consider projects for developing countries unless researchers can demonstrate their findings would have a real impact in the UK context, and would be at least 50 per cent concentrated on that. Equally, projects on robotics or AI would need to be mostly focused on social science and the implications of such technologies on workers or businesses or policy, not the design and building of specific technologies.
Projects should aim to spur changes to policy and business practice. How should this be demonstrated?
We don’t mandate specific ways. Applicants are free to come up with their ideas, but we do expect them to show impact. Examples could include working with local businesses, and helping them change work practices. But applicants must give some idea of how change would happen.
Do you require letters of support from all collaborators?
Yes. We would expect all main collaborators to provide a letter of support, which checks that they haven’t just been named on the grant. Co-investigators must also provide a letter detailing how they’d be involved. We need to see real evidence that they would be actively involved.
How specific must that be?
We often get comments in peer review that letters of support haven’t provided any detailed information about how those project partners would be involved. They just have a generic statement expressing admiration for the project. That’s not enough. The letter needs to tell us how partners are involved; for example, whether a business is used as a place of research, or anthropological work, or whether a partner is hosting a conference or allowing researchers to come into their organisation.
Can projects focus on Covid-19?
Yes, they can, but equally we need to look to the future, so projects that only look at the pandemic would be out of scope.
Are ethnographies eligible, or are you looking for research that is more precisely aimed at particular workplace issues?
Workplace ethnographies are in scope, as long as the proposal can demonstrate that the research focus falls within at least one of the two themes.
Projects are expected to collaborate with one another. How will this work?
Initially, we’ll have an onboarding event for successful projects to meet each other.
We’re also facilitating annual events, including a workshop and potentially a series of teaching seminars.
We’re keen to hear from applicants themselves for their ideas on collaboration—things that have worked well from previous projects.
Do applicants need to address this in the proposal?
Yes. Preferably they’d have ideas of what could happen, examples of what’s worked well, and practical suggestions.
Do you anticipate a future round of the scheme?
Currently, this is the only call we plan to launch in this space.
This is an extract from an article in Research Professional’s Funding Insight service. To subscribe contact sales@researchresearch.com