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Change: New Chief Executive

2 ND ANNUAL MEETING OF ESRC WITH LEARNED SOCIETIES 27 TH OCTOBER 2010 CHANGE, CONTINUITY AND THE SPENDING REVIEW. Change: New Chief Executive . Paul Boyle Previously: School of Geography and Geosciences University of St Andrews President, BS for Population Studies 2007-9

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Change: New Chief Executive

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  1. 2ND ANNUAL MEETING OF ESRC WITH LEARNED SOCIETIES27TH OCTOBER 2010CHANGE, CONTINUITY AND THE SPENDING REVIEW

  2. Change: New Chief Executive Paul Boyle Previously: School of Geography and Geosciences University of St Andrews President, BS for Population Studies 2007-9 Co-Director, Centre for Population Change Director of Longitudinal Studies Centre, Scotland Responsible for Scottish LS to August 2010 Research Population Geography, inc migration, fertility interests: & family dynamics, Health Geography.

  3. Change: New Committee and Network Structure Governance Structure

  4. Change: New Committee and Network Structure New Structure:

  5. Change: New Peer Review College • 1800 UK academics • 50 overseas academics • 250 ‘user’ members Thanks to learned societies for their nominations! Response rates already much improved. Classifications to be developed further. N.B. Maximum call on reviewers is 8 per year.

  6. Continuity/Change • Economic and societal impact N.B. broad framework • Lifecycle approach – application to evaluation • pathways to impact • impact toolkit • Taking Stock: case study portfolio

  7. Continuity Enduring values, clear commitment to: Quality Impact Independence

  8. Continuity Partnership working • Partners who share the quality, impact and independence values • ESRC operated partnerships bring in £25m. to social science, externally granted partnerships – at least as much again. • Internally operated e.g. DFID poverty alleviation; civil society Centres; public health centres • Externally operated e.g. National Prevention Research Initiative; Assisted Living; Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation Continue but greater strategic focus and emphasis on ESRC as knowledge broker –N.B. business (financial services, retail and perhaps green business models/technologies)

  9. Continuity Core data infrastructure, for example: • Economic and Social Data Service • Birth Cohort Studies • Household Panel Study Continuity but linkage to administrative data and ensuring optimal use of infrastructure.

  10. Continuity Development of methods • especially, but not exclusively quantitative methods • importance of innovation in research methods • importance of mixed methods.

  11. Continuity/Change Postgraduate Training • greater institutional concentration of funding • greater proportion of studentships in priority areas • high quality DTC proposals being considered with a view to early 2011 announcement.

  12. Continuity Importance of innovation in Research: • welcome bold, ambitious proposals • new Peer Review College should help • time of austerity is not time for modest, incremental research

  13. Continuity Interdisciplinarity, within and beyond social science Challenge based approach to interdisciplinarity by RCUK Programmes, n.b. social science participation in all current 6 RCUK Programmes But never interdisciplinarity for its own sake, always as a means to the end of “excellence with impact”.

  14. Continuity-Social Science at the Core Social Science lies at the heart of understanding and tackling complex challenges facing society • Social science remains essential and central to all the cross-Council themes • This fact increasingly recognised by all the Research Councils • A reduction in ESRC’s budget would have detrimental effect on the whole RCUK research agenda

  15. Continuity International dimensions of social science • global challenges – climate change, poverty, security • facilitate international collaboration, that is administratively light for researcher • European agenda: Innovation Union, Eurohorcs/ESF • Global agenda: US, India, China, Latin America…

  16. Spending Review • Process: announcement of 20th October Council 22nd October new Delivery Plans for Research Councils, public in December between now and then adjustments will be made between RC allocations • Outcome to date: “Despite enormous pressure on public spending, the overall level of funding for science and research programmes has been protected in cash terms”

  17. Spending Review Issues for all Research Councils: • “implement the efficiency savings identified by Bill Wakeham” • programme and capital spend • demand management • administration costs to be reduced by at least 33% over the Spending Review period.

  18. Spending Review Issues for ESRC: • greater focus than 7 challenges provide (see next slide) • fewer competitions providing more flexible opportunities e.g. merger of large grants/Centres • importance of provision for new researchers • end/transform less effective schemes – mid career fellowships? smaller awards? • any evolution of QR.

  19. Spending Review-Priority Areas • New strategic investments will be highly focused - 7 challenges remain important but we will not have sufficient funds to support new work in all of the areas • The priorities be kept under regular review and be flexible and responsive • Need to maximise impact of existing investments and may need to ask some existing investments to refocus their activities

  20. 2ND ANNUAL MEETING OF ESRC WITH LEARNED SOCIETIES27TH OCTOBER 2010CHANGE, CONTINUITY AND THE SPENDING REVIEW- ANY QUESTIONS?

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