15-553: The Economic and Social Research Council ( ESRC ), formerly the Social Science Research Council ( SSRC ), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides funding and support for research and training in the social sciences . It is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. The ESRC
30-669: Is developing a new knowledge exchange framework, KEF. Mark Walport Sir Mark Jeremy Walport (born 25 January 1953 ) is an English medical scientist and was the Government Chief Scientific Adviser in the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2017 and Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) from 2017 to 2020. In 2023 he became the Foreign Secretary of The Royal Society (jointly with Alison Noble ). Walport
45-537: Is the son of a general practitioner and was born in London. He was educated at St Paul's School, London , studied medicine at Clare College, Cambridge , and completed his clinical training at Hammersmith , Guy's and Brompton Hospitals in London. He was awarded a PhD for research into complement receptors under the supervision of Peter Lachmann in 1986 at the University of Cambridge . Previously Walport
60-548: Is to foster research and development within the United Kingdom and create a positive "impact"—"push the frontiers of human knowledge and understanding", "deliver economic impact", and "create social and cultural impact". The first Chief Executive Officer of UKRI was the immunologist Professor Sir Mark Walport . He was succeeded in June 2020 by plant biologist Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser . There are nine bodies in UKRI, comprising
75-611: The Structure and significance of British Caribbean slave-ownership 1763-1833 project (co-funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council ). This work built the publicly available Legacies of British Slave-ownership database. UK Research and Innovation UK Research and Innovation ( UKRI ) is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom that directs research and innovation funding, funded through
90-689: The UK Space Agency . At any one time ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes. Chairman: Chief Executive: Executive Chair: The ESRC funded two projects at the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership : from 2009 to 2012, the Legacies of British Slave-ownership project, and from 2013 to 2015
105-603: The creation of the SSRC became sufficiently favourable. The first chief executive of the SSRC was Michael Young (later Baron Young of Dartington). Subsequent holders of the post have included Michael Posner , later Secretary General of the European Science Foundation . Following the election of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1979 general election, the Government expressed reservations about
120-548: The immunology of systemic LE and the role of complement and of defective apoptosis in its pathogenesis ; and, as a general candidate, for his achievements as head of medicine at the Hammersmith Campus of Imperial College and since 2003 as Director of the Wellcome Trust. In the latter role he has provided national and international leadership at the highest level on biomedical research and policy issues and
135-761: The science budget of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology . Established on 1 April 2018 by the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 , UKRI brought nine organisations into one unified body. UKRI was created following a report by Sir Paul Nurse , the President of the Royal Society , who recommended the merger in order to increase integrative cross-disciplinary research. Working in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government, its mission
150-600: The seven research councils formerly organised under Research Councils UK and two additional bodies, Innovate UK and Research England . Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board) was an Arms Length Body of the Department of Trade and Industry , while Research England succeeded the former Higher Education Funding Council for England . Research England is responsible for the Research Excellence Framework , or REF, and
165-582: The social sciences, to include more 'empirical' research and research of 'more public concern'. To reflect this, in 1983 the SSRC was renamed the Economic and Social Research Council. The ESRC's mission, according to its website, is to: The ESRC is based at Polaris House in Swindon , which is also the location of the head offices of several other councils of UK Research and Innovation: AHRC , BBSRC , EPSRC , Innovate UK , MRC , NERC and STFC , as well as
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#1732772578543180-571: The value of research in the social sciences, and the extent to which it should be publicly funded. In 1981, the Education Secretary Sir Keith Joseph asked Lord Rothschild to lead a review into the future of the SSRC. It was ultimately decided (due in no small part to the efforts of Michael Posner, chief executive of the SSRC at the time) that the Council should remain, but that its remit should be expanded beyond
195-538: Was Director of the Wellcome Trust from 2003 to 2013. Before this, he was Professor of Medicine (from 1991) and Head of the Division of Medicine (from 1997) at Imperial College London , where he led a research team that focused on the immunology and genetics of rheumatic diseases . Walport was the eleventh Government Chief Scientific Adviser from 2013 to 2017, succeeding Sir John Beddington . It
210-604: Was announced in February 2017 that Mark Walport is now Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) . Walport was knighted in the 2009 New Year Honours list for services to medical research. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) in 2017 and a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2011. His nomination for the Royal Society reads: Mark Walport has an overwhelming case for election both for his earlier scientific work on
225-538: Was founded in 1965 as the Social Science Research Council (SSRC – not to be confused with the Social Science Research Council in the United States). The establishment of a state funding body for the social sciences in the United Kingdom, had been under discussion since the Second World War ; however, it was not until the 1964 election of Prime Minister Harold Wilson that the political climate for
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