Scope

This is an invite only funding opportunity. You can only apply for this opportunity if you have applied to the Centre for National Training and Research Excellence in Understanding Behaviour (CENTRE-UB) Early Career Researcher Fellowship Programme 2024 and been nominated as a successful candidate.

CENTRE-UB will recruit three cohorts of eight early career researcher fellows into the centre to advance their training in behavioural research.

CENTRE-UB’s early career fellows are an essential part of their mission to develop the next generation of behavioural researchers who are skilled at translating research into real-world benefit and collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders. CENTRE-UB will support their development by providing a training environment characterised by excellent science, cutting edge methods, interdisciplinarity and translation through their critical mass of world-leading and internationally excellent research conducted by their behavioural researchers.

Throughout the fellowship, early career fellows will work closely with a non-academic partner organisation. Through co-development and mentoring, CENTRE-UB’s partners will help fellows to gain vital experience of developing and applying behavioural research outside of academic settings.

To achieve the aims and objectives of the CENTRE-UB early career researcher fellowship programme, fellowships are expected to contain the following components.

• translation of behavioural research to knowledge exchange and impact (at least 25% of fellowship)
• development as behavioural researcher (at least 25% of the fellowship)
• conducting further behavioural research (no more than 50% of fellowship)

The components outlined above are interdependent and should be embedded in a coherent way across the fellowship, and the activities should be underpinned by the fellows’ career aspirations. For more information on the components outlined above please visit CENTRE-UB Early Career Researcher Fellowships.

The fellows will be based at CENTRE-UB at the University of Birmingham.

CENTRE-UB behavioural research innovation and excellence is focused on understanding behaviour. The key to CENTRE-UB is that subject matter expertise is not siloed within individual research disciplines. Early careers researcher fellows are encouraged to work with colleagues from other disciplines. Interdisciplinary projects are highly encouraged, but the majority of the fellowship should be within social sciences (at least 50%). Each CENTRE-UB fellowship should also fit within the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) remit.

Duration

The duration of the fellowship is up to one year full-time, or up to two years part-time. Part-time fellowships are intended for applicants whose normal working hours are part-time and not for applicants who wish to hold the fellowship and continue other employment. The exception to this are applicants whose PhD was undertaken on a part-time basis alongside permanent part-time employment. Applicants in this position can continue to hold their part-time employment alongside the fellowship, but all other fellows must spend 100% of their working time (whether full-time or part-time) on the fellowship and cannot take any secondary paid employment during the course of the grant.

Projects must start on 1 November 2024.

Funding available

CENTRE-UB will award eight fellowships per year, for three years, starting in November 2024. Subsequent cohorts will start in autumn 2025 and autumn 2026.

ESRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost (FEC) of the proposals submitted.

What we will fund

Applicants must provide details of their costs as submitted in their CENTRE-UB application.

The total cost for each fellowship can include the following:

• fellow salary costs
• indirect costs
• estate costs
• up to a maximum of £10,000 for all other costs, for example costs related to dissemination, training, travel and subsistence, conference attendance or research. A maximum of £1,000 can be costed within this £10,000 for partner organisation mentoring costs

Each proposal will need to show these figures as 100% FEC and the ESRC will meet 80% FEC on the proposals submitted. All proposals will be subject to ESRC’s funding rules in place at the time the award is issued, as detailed in the ESRC research funding guide.

What we will not fund

University of Birmingham mentor costs are ineligible and any additional costs not submitted at the point of application to CENTRE-UB.

Project partners

Each fellowship will be co-developed with a partner organisation, building on the research expertise of the early career researcher fellow as well as the expertise of the University of Birmingham and partner organisation mentors. Partner organisations can be public, private, or third sector partners, with interest and expertise in human behaviour and based in the UK. The fellowship application form will need to include information related to the contribution of the partner organisation to the fellowship (including arrangement of mentoring, training and development and support, working within the partner organisation, access to information from the partner organisation) and the expected academic outputs and partner-related outcomes.

All fellowships are required to be co-developed together with a mentor based at the University of Birmingham and a mentor based at the non-academic partner organisation. The application needs to detail how the mentors will support the fellowship, including the development of the fellow as a behavioural researcher; as well as the process adopted for co-development of the fellowship together with the partner organisation in line with the aims of the fellowship and the career aspirations of the fellow.

ESRC data infrastructure

ESRC supports a range of data infrastructure. Where relevant, we encourage applicants 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

ESRC recognises 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 will be pleased to advise applicants on the availability of data within the academic community and provide advice on data deposit requirements.

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.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

UK Research and Innovation (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.

See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.

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.

To be recognised as the holder of an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded fellowship, you are required to submit your successful CENTRE-UB application through the Funding Service. Your application will not be re-assessed as part of this process, but ESRC will check proposals to ensure they meet ESRC’s funding rules as outlined in the ESRC research funding guide.

The fellow is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service. We expect project partners to have contributed to the successful application submitted to CENTRE-UB.

To apply

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

1. Confirm you are the fellow.
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.
3. 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 guidance are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
6. 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:

• how applicants use the Funding Service
• how research offices use the Funding Service
• how reviewers use the Funding Service

Deadline

ESRC must receive your application by 4:00pm UK time on 3 September 2024.

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, please provide a summary of the aims of the fellowship.

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

Please summarise the aims of the fellowship. It should be written in a style that is accessible to a variety of readers, including the general public.

Please note that this section will be made available on the Gateway to Research database, therefore you should not include any confidential or sensitive information.

Core team

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

• fellow

Only list one individual as fellow. No other individuals should be entered in this section. Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.

Application questions

Eligibility

Word limit: 250

You are only eligible to apply for this funding opportunity if you have applied to the CENTRE-UB Early Career Researcher Fellowships Programme 2024, have been nominated as a successful candidate, and have received an invite link to apply. If you haven’t received a link but think you are eligible, please contact the CENTRE-UB.

Your application will not be re-assessed as part of this process.

CENTRE-UB is responsible for checking the eligibility of applicants against the scheme’s requirements as published in their funding opportunity.

Please provide the following information listed under the guidance section below.

Your PhD award date or, if not yet completed, please state date of viva voce and expected award date. Please note that failure to provide PhD award date will result in the application being rejected.

Resources and cost justification

Word limit: 1,000

What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Please provide a breakdown and justification for the costs requested in the application as provided in your CENTRE-UB application. No justification is needed for estates and indirect costs.

In your statement, please include the details from the Justification of Resources form which you submitted to CENTRE-UB as part of your application.

Your statement should explain why the indicated resources are needed, taking account of the nature and complexity of the activities proposed. Note that it is not sufficient merely to list what is required. Your statement should also provide a breakdown of resources into the summary fund headings Directly Incurred, Directly Allocated and (where appropriate) Exceptions, as outlined in the application form. In addition, spend should be justified related to the following headings:

• staff (salary costs of fellow)
• travel and subsistence (to clearly show the basis on which these costs have been calculated, for example daily rates for subsistence, or X number of journeys based on pounds per year per trip)
• other costs (to include mentoring costs, conference attendance, training, fieldwork, impact related costs and networking)

In line with the ESRC research funding guide, any request for items that would ordinarily be found in a department, for example non-specialist laptops, must include justification both for why they are required for the fellowship and why they cannot be provided by the host institution. Requests for specialist or high-performance computers must include a clear justification as to why they are necessary for the project.

Please note that apart from the fellow’s salary, indirect and estate costs, all other costs must not exceed £10,000 in total except where a research organisation costs infrastructure technicians separately to estate costs. In those instances, the cost of infrastructure technicians will not be counted within the £10,000 limit on other costs.

In some cases, such as investigator time, use of internal facilities and shared staff costs (all likely to be Directly Allocated costs), the basis of the costing need not be justified, but the need for the resources does need justification.

Estates, indirect and infrastructure technician costs do not need to be justified within the Justification of Resources.

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.

Please provide the following information listed under the guidance section below and as provided in your CENTRE-UB application:

• the organisation name and address (searchable via 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.

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

Word limit: 500

What are the ethical or 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

Your application will not be reassessed but please include details of your consideration of ethical issues as provided in your CENTRE-UB application form, that is consideration of ethical issues and how these will be mitigated. These can include ethical issues related to the participants, as well as the researcher.

Responsible research and innovation is a process that takes the wider impacts of research and innovation into account. Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:

• the relevant ethical considerations
• the relevant RRI or responsible research and innovation considerations, such as whether your proposed work may have unintended consequences, questions, ethical dilemmas, or social transformations
• how you will manage these considerations

All proposals have to comply with the ESRC Framework for Research Ethics which includes guidance for applicants and links to related web resources.

All necessary ethical approvals must be in place before the project commences, but do not need to have been secured at the time of application.

If you are generating data as part of your project, you should complete the Data management question and should cover ethical considerations relating to data in your response.

If you are not generating data and have not completed the Data management question you should address any legal or ethical considerations relating to your use of data here.

If you believe that an ethics review is not necessary, please explain your view.

Data management and sharing

Word limit: 500

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

What the assessors will be looking for in your application

Your application will not be reassessed but all applicants planning to generate any new dataset as part of their grant must include a data management plan. If applicable, please include details of your data management, as submitted to CENTRE-UB.
Your data management plan should clearly detail how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.

Demonstrate 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 (if applicable).

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
• demonstrate compliance with ESRC’s research data policy and ESRC framework for research ethics. This should include confirmation that existing datasets have been reviewed and why currently available datasets are inadequate for the proposed research
• 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

Please enter ‘not applicable’ if you are not generating any new dataset as part of your programme.

Primary discipline classification

Word limit: 5

Enter the primary discipline for this project.

Select one primary area of research from the list of social disciplines below and enter into the text field. This information is used to determine eligibility for ESRC funding and to assist in the selection of appropriate reviewers:

• area studies
• demography
• development studies
• economics
• education
• environmental planning
• history
• human geography
• law & legal studies
• linguistics
• management & business studies
• political science & international studies
• psychology
• science & technology studies
• social anthropology
• social policy
• social work
• sociology
• tools, technologies & methods

Additional documentation

Please upload one document in PDF format which includes the documents as submitted to CENTRE-UB.

Your uploaded PDF document must include the below attachments as these are mandatory and must be included:

• completed application form as submitted to CENTRE-UB
• applicant CV as submitted to CENTRE-UB (maximum two sides of A4)
• abstract of PhD thesis (abstract of the submitted thesis on the basis of which your PhD was awarded) as submitted to CENTRE-UB
• partner organisation supporting statement (maximum one side of A4) and summary CV of mentor as submitted to CENTRE-UB (maximum two sides of A4)
• statement of head of school or department as submitted to CENTRE-UB (maximum one side of A4)
• University of Birmingham mentor statement and summary CV as submitted to CENTRE-UB (maximum two sides of A4)
• if applicable, data management plan as submitted to CENTRE-UB (maximum three sides of A4)

Assessment process

CENTRE-UB have developed and designed the fellowships scheme and have administered the assessment process through their own procedures to peer review the applications and make funding decisions.

Your application will not be assessed by reviewers as CENTRE-UB have already nominated you as a successful applicant. ESRC will check proposals to ensure they meet ESRC’s funding rules as outlined in the ESRC research funding guide.

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 CENTRE-UB centre-ubehaviour@contacts.bham.ac.uk

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.

Find more information on submitting an application.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email centre-ubehaviour@contacts.bham.ac.uk

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.