BR-UK Commissioning Fund To Launch

As part of ESRC’s investment in building national capability for behavioural research, a £1.3 million fund is being administered by BR-UK. It exists to support exemplar projects that will advance behavioural research across the UK.  The fund is aligned with BR-UK objectives to: 

• Increase scientific understanding of behavioural research and its contribution to addressing global challenges
• Advance the methodologies used in behavioural research in a range of contexts
• Generate impact by employing co-production of research proposals and championing the use of behavioural data sets. 

There are three themes for proposals to the fund:   

• Use of artificial intelligence (AI) in building knowledge and conducting behavioural research, including how best to integrate human and AI contributions.
• Integration of knowledge across types of data, academic disciplines and sectors, involving methods that: triangulate different types of data; improve integration of knowledge across disciplinary ‘silos’; and advance how behaviours are measured.
• Explaining variations in effectiveness of behavioural interventions across contexts (e.g., types of populations, settings and behaviours). This will enable the accurate generalisation of research findings to specific contexts.

The Commissioning Fund will support two types of proposals.

Accelerator proposals are intended to provide initial funding for proof of concept and/or generate new data and evidence that will support applicants to pursue future funding to further knowledge in this area. These proposals should be led by early career researchers.  Funding of up to £50,000 FEC is available for these projects, which are expected to be between 12 and 18 months in duration.  The closing date for applications will be 4pm (BST) on the 12th August 2025.

Project proposals are for more substantial research, up to a maximum of £300,000 FEC over 2.5 years. These should build on existing data, theories or methods.  The application process for these awards will involve two stages.  Expressions of interest should be submitted by 4pm (BST) on the 31st of July. Those successful at the EOI stage will be invited to submit full proposals in early October 2025. 

For both types of submissions, co-investigators or collaborators can be based in other countries, but the Principal Investigator must be based in the UK, the research should be conducted in the UK and be relevant to the UK.

Full details will be available on our website from the 1st July with a webinar outlining the funding aims, purpose and the application process (including an opportunity for Q&A) taking place on July 16th 2025. Registration for the webinar will open on the 4th of July. 

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