About this role
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.
Eligible Applicants
Scholars from within Europe[1] are eligible to apply, and candidates should be more than 10 years post-PhD award at the time of application. Applicants will normally hold a full-time or part-time salaried position – which may be permanent or fixed-term – at an Institution of Higher Education and Research.
The awards are intended to provide full relief from all teaching duties and all associated academic administration for a period of (up to) one year. However, independent scholars or individuals not currently in an academic role may also apply.[2]
Applicants may be in professional (non-academic) employment, including in the arts, full- or part-time, or in an unpaid occupation.
[1] There is no limitation on nationality – however, the proposed institutional affiliation must be with a European institution.
[2] Candidates who wish to apply as Independent Scholars will need to identify a potential host institution and may need to apply for a stipendiary award rather than a contract buy-out. Please check our FAQs before contacting a member of the ISRF team with queries on this issue. Eligible Research
Innovative research which breaks with existing explanatory frameworks so as to address afresh empirical problems with no currently adequate theory or investigative methodology. Innovation may also come from controversial theoretical approaches motivated by critical challenge of incumbent theories. Interdisciplinarity in the generation of new investigative initiatives may be achieved by combining, cross-fertilising, and so transforming empirical methods and theoretical insights from the social sciences. Projects ranging across the breadth of the social scientific disciplines and interdisciplinary research fields are welcome, and relevant applications from scholars working within the humanities are also encouraged. Duration & Timing
The awards are intended as providing full relief from all teaching duties and all associated academic administration for a period of up to one year, and must commence no later than end of September 2027.
Should buy-out funding not be administratively viable or appropriate, non-UK based applicants should contact ISRF to discuss other ways that a Fellowship award could be administered in the context of their local academic/administrative requirements.
Value
The amount of an award depends on the nature of the work proposed and individual circumstances – the ISRF expects applications for grants up to a maximum of €102,500 (or GBP equivalent)[3], to buy-out the cost of all teaching and associated administration in the applicant’s home institution for up to 12 months. Within that sum, reasonable support for research expenses may be considered on a matched-funding basis with the host institution.[4]
[3] Applicants seeking an affiliation in the UK must apply in GBP (£), up to the limit of £90,000. Applicants seeking an affiliation elsewhere in Europe, including non-Eurozone countries, must apply in EUR (€), up to the limit of €102,500. These limits will not be adjusted in the event of GBP/EUR currency fluctuations.
[4] Where host institutions are unable to comply with the matched-funding requirement for research expenses, applications will still be considered – however, an explanatory note from the relevant Head of School/Head of Department/Research Manager should be submitted as an attachment. Note also that applications without any research expenses component are also accepted.
For further information, Terms & Conditions of award, and to apply, please click on the 'Apply' button above. The closing date for applications is 5pm GMT on 30th January 2026.
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