Research seminars

Please note the information below is in reference to the 2012-2013 Seminars Competition which is now closed.

The ESRC intends to run the Seminars Competition in 2013/2014. The call is due to open in December. It is currently anticipated that the competition will run using the same criteria as the 2012/13 competition (see below).

Guidance and further information will be available closer to the time.

The seminars competition aims to create networks and bring people together from a range of disciplines, countries and career stages to try to find some common ground theoretically and methodologically. We would particularly encourage seminar groups designed to bring together leading researchers from across disciplines, to identify new research agendas or capacity building priorities and seminars groups that include international collaborators.

Seminar groups are multi-institutional groups of national and international academic researchers, postgraduate students and non-academic users who meet regularly to exchange information and ideas with the aim of advancing research within their fields. Where appropriate, seminar group members should be drawn from the public sector, commercial private sector, civil society and other relevant national and international organisations as well as from UK research organisations.

Applicants are required to consider carefully how best to build links and contacts at the concept and development stage of the proposal with the potential beneficiaries and users to be involved within the seminars, and to work towards co-production of knowledge with research users where appropriate. It is vital that the economic and societal impact of all projects funded by ESRC is maximised.

The upper grant limit for the 2012-13 Research Seminars Competition has been increased to £30,000, with the expectation that proposals will include international collaboration embedded within each project, as appropriate.

Justified costing requested should cover:

Travel and expenses for speakers and participantsSecretarial costsStationery, postage, copying and telephone costsHire of rooms and facilities (although the expectation is that the host organisation should be able to facilitate some seminars as an in kind contribution to the series).

This year's competition will also encourage a proposed increased duration of the series to three years, with a minimum duration of two years and an increase of the proposed number of seminars to at least three seminars per year (equivalent to nine seminars for grants of a three year duration). Seminars are to be undertaken at regular intervals throughout the duration of the series.

Funding is available for UK Research Organisations eligible for Research Council funding to undertake these Research Seminars. Further information can be found on the RCUK website regarding eligibility.

A list of grants previously awarded is available. Details of successful grants will also be made available once all applicants have been notified of decisions.

The deadline for applications was 29 January 2013.

Seminar grant holders are required to complete an End of Award Report (EOA) which should be submitted three months after the end of the grant. The EOA provides us with an overview of the project, an initial statement of outcomes and impacts, and information required to release the final payment on the grant. The report also forms part of the material considered in our evaluation of the project.

In addition, seminar grant holders are required to submit an Impact Report 12 months after the grant end date. This report is a mandatory part of the evaluation process. The relevant forms and guidance can be downloaded from our final reporting page.

For further information, contact:

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