Our seventh Independent Scholar Fellowship competition launches on 7th July 2020, aiming to support original interdisciplinary research, across the range of the social sciences, to be held from a start date no later than the end of December 2021.
The award is intended to enable the buy-out from current occupation of an independent scholar to pursue their research full- or part-time (or for cost of living support if not seeking buy-out from existing employment) for a period of up to 12 months, and will be considered to a maximum of £28,750 or €31,250* per successful applicant.
Deadline: 5pm (BST), 14th August 2020
Contributions to topics & debates across the social sciences
ISRF-funded Fellows & Projects since 2010
Grant and Essay Competitions for Early- & Mid-Career Academics and Independent Scholars
Platforms for research dissemination and contributions to wider debates
The Independent Social Research Foundation is a public benefit foundation funded by a group of private philanthropists with interests in academia and social science, founded in 2008.
The ISRF is dedicated to advancing the social sciences through the promotion of new modes of inquiry and the development of interdisciplinary expertise and methods, and through better understanding of social entities and processes.
What We Do
To achieve this objective the ISRF provide a series of funding opportunities, enters into partnerships with academic institutions and supports research activities that promote development across the social sciences and humanities.
How We Do It
The ISRF is an endowed foundation – the endowment, and any additional donations, are directly used to promote and support the objectives of the ISRF. Oversight responsibility for the Foundation’s endowment lies with the ISRF Investment Committee.
The Executive Team are responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the annual budget, as approved by the Foundation Board. The Foundation is advised by an Academic Advisory Board comprised of leading international academics from across the social sciences.
As a Netherlands-registered Stichting, the ISRF is required to maintain a policy plan which draws together the objectives and activities of the Foundation. It is also required to produce an Annual Report, to have its own remuneration policy, and to publish a financial statement for the most recent financial year.
For Early- and Mid-Career Academics, Independent Scholars, and Small Groups
In Economics & Social Theory
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The Independent Social Research Foundation wishes to support independent-minded researchers to explore and present original research ideas which take new approaches, and suggest new solutions, to real world social problems.
ISRF funding is awarded competitively through a series of grant – individual Fellowships and flexible, small group support – and essay competitions.
Award recipients are invited to present their work at ISRF Workshops, and to contribute articles to the ISRF Bulletin.
Existing or previous ISRF Fellows may apply to the ISRF Dissemination Fund for a grant of up to £500 towards the cost of, for example, holding an event at which a book (or a book to which they have contributed significantly) is launched.
Regrettably, due to uncertainties around the ongoing Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, we have taken the precaution of postponing our annual workshop scheduled for 3-5 April in Athens, Greece.
The ISRF Annual Workshop provides a platform for ISRF Fellows to report on their research projects, and also to contribute to conversations and discussions around a theme.
The ISRF also runs other events in partnership with Fellows past and present, and with institutional partners in the UK & Europe.
Beginning with the inaugural Annual Workshop in May 2013 event, the ISRF has run and funded a number of events with the aim to provide a platform for ISRF Fellows to report on their research projects, and also to contribute to broader conversations and discussions across the social sciences.
Since launching in 2013, the ISRF Bulletin has provided information on the interdisciplinary research of ISRF Fellows.
Recent posts include:
In January 2020, the ISRF launched its fifth Mid-Career Fellowship competition. Having received a number of strong proposals, a selection panel met in July 2020 and nominated six projects for funding.
Jeffrey Murer reflects on the way that encounters with museum objects can make us think differently about both ourselves and the other.
Why do we keep hearing about rags-to-riches stories of success? A lockdown binge-watcher ponders on success and talent in the cultural industries.
Former ISRF Fellow Joy White presents her new book, Terraformed. Part ethnography, part memoir, Terraformed contextualises the history of Newham and considers how young Black lives are affected by racism, neoliberalism and austerity.
Digital technologies, in the form of social contact tracing apps, look like they are going to play an important role in tackling the Covid-19 crisis. This intervention argues that while liberating us in the short-term, such technologies could contribute to the growing power and influence of surveillance capitalism over our lives.
Former ISRF Fellow Joy White presents her new book, Terraformed. Part ethnography, part memoir, Terraformed contextualises the history of Newham and considers how young Black lives are affected by racism, neoliberalism and austerity.
Dr Lars Cornelissen
Academic Editor
Stuart Wilson
Administrator
62 Bayswater Road
London W2 3PS
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7262 0196
Please note that the ISRF does not respond to unsolicited grant applications.
If you are considering an application to one of our Fellowship competitions, please check the Frequently Asked Questions before contacting us directly.