Economic research on the returns to R&D investment

Opportunity status: Upcoming Funders: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Funding type: Grant Total fund: £2,460,000 Maximum award: £308,000 Publication date: 28 August 2026 Opening date: 10 September 2026 9:00am UK time Closing date: 19 November 2026 4:00pm UK time Apply for funding to support research that can help develop new measurements of the return on investments in research and development (R&D). You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding, however, collaborations with international researchers are strongly encouraged. The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £308,000. UKRI will fund 80% of the FEC. The duration of this award is 24 months. Projects should start no later than 1 April 2027.

Complete grant details

Full Job Description

Opportunity status: Upcoming

Funders:

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

Funding type: Grant

Total fund: £2,460,000

Maximum award: £308,000

Publication date: 28 August 2026

Opening date:

10 September 2026 9:00am UK time

Closing date:

19 November 2026 4:00pm UK time

Apply for funding to support research that can help develop new measurements of the return on investments in research and development (R&D).

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding, however, collaborations with international researchers are strongly encouraged.

The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £308,000. UKRI will fund 80% of the FEC.

The duration of this award is 24 months. Projects should start no later than 1 April 2027.

Eligibility

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible.

International Researchers

As UKRI is a lead funder for this funding opportunity, international researchers can apply as ‘project co-lead (international)’. You should include all other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners.

Equality, Diversity And Inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

career breaks
support for people with caring responsibilities
flexible working
alternative working patterns

UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

Remit

If you are unsure whether your proposed research falls within the remit of this funding opportunity, email a brief summary to EconomicROI@esrc.ukri.org and we will get back to you.

Demand Management

Demand management is not being applied to this funding opportunity

Aim

UKRI is seeking to support research that can help develop consensus estimates of the economic and social return on investments in research and development (R&D). This funding opportunity aims to spur rigorous, empirical studies that can narrow the range of existing estimates and inform public and private R&D investment decisions.

This funding opportunity is solely supported by UKRI but has been developed in collaboration with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Coefficient Giving as part of an international research challenge. UKRI award holders will be encouraged to engage with award holders funded directly by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Coefficient Giving.

Scope

This funding opportunity is supported through the UK Metascience Unit. Metascience is a rapidly expanding research field that draws on a wide range of disciplinary expertise to understand how research is conducted, funded and supported, and how these practices can be enhanced or improved. For a deeper understanding of what metascience means to UKRI, please see the UK Metascience Unit’s report.

Coined after economist Zvi Griliches, ‘the Griliches Question’ explores the social and economic return on investment in R&D, a measure that has significant policy implications.

The UK Government’s science, innovation and technology R&D budget will grow in real terms over the Spending Review period, totalling £58.5 billion from 2026 to 2027 to 2029 to 2030, with the current best estimate being that, on average, for every £2 of private R&D investment, £8 of net benefits is generated in the long run (DSIT R&D plans 2029/2030).

Despite a substantial body of evidence on R&D returns, important questions remain about how best to measure these returns and how they vary across sectors, places, technologies, and funding mechanisms.

This programme supports innovative and ambitious research projects to deepen our understanding and improve accuracy in measuring the return on investment in R&D.

Given the importance of quantitative evidence in informing UK policy and investment decisions, proposals are encouraged to develop robust estimates and empirical approaches that can strengthen understanding of R&D returns and support evidence-based decision making. However, applicants may also draw on qualitative and mixed methods approaches where these can help address key evidence gaps, explain underlying mechanisms, contextualise quantitative findings, or contribute to a richer understanding of how R&D generates social and economic benefits.

This funding opportunity aims to generate evidence that can support policymakers, funders and investors in making more informed decisions about the scale, targeting and allocation of future R&D investments.

Some questions that can be explored through this grant, but are not limited to include:

Estimating Returns

how the return to R&D should be defined for the purpose at hand, including private vs. social returns and marginal vs. average returns, and which empirical objects best map these concepts
what the returns to public spending are and how these vary across different funding designs
what the social returns to corporate R&D are, including whether there is evidence of differential returns to applied research and development activities
the extent to which public and private R&D investments act as substitutes or complements

Spillovers, Welfare And Policy

how knowledge spillovers flow across firms, sectors, and borders and whether new data sources or methods can improve our ability to trace them
the rate at which knowledge produced by R&D becomes obsolete and whether this varies across fields
how large the welfare gains from R&D are in domains where benefits are poorly captured by GDP
how public policy (e.g. tax incentives, program design, subsidies) affects the level and productivity of R&D investment

Methodology

what accounts for the wide range of published estimates, and what refinements or reconciliations across approaches might narrow disagreement?
what approaches to decomposing returns across sectors, technologies, and investment approaches can provide decision-relevant insight on the various sources of overall returns?
how productivity impacts can be measured in ways that are robust to alternative specifications and research contexts?
how methodologies can better capture R&D activities, sectors, places and impacts that may be overlooked in existing evidence, datasets and measurement approaches

Actionable insights for policy and wider public sector organisations should be a goal of the projects awarded through this programme. Applications that are only theoretical or loosely related to the estimation of returns to R&D are out of scope and will not be eligible for funding.

We welcome applications from researchers who have relevant expertise in all disciplines. We strongly encourage those from disciplinary backgrounds which might bring novel methodologies and datasets, qualitative and quantitative, to this funding opportunity.

Grant holders will become part of a cohort of awards funded by UKRI through this funding opportunity and also awards funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Coefficient Giving in their Pop-Up Journal initiative.

UKRI award holders will be invited to attend networking events with international colleagues in the cohort. This will comprise of:

an annual workshop in Washington DC hosted by National Bureau of Economic Research in October 2027 and October 2028
an annual one-day workshop in London hosted by the British Academy in spring 2028 and spring 2029

You should consider attendance at these events when planning their project activities and budgets. No additional funding will be provided for this purpose. You are advised to budget for travel and three nights of accommodation for each visit to Washington DC alongside travel to London.

Funded researchers will be encouraged to make use of the Pop-Up Journal platform and support the journal’s synthesis efforts. All journal content is expected to be open by default, with replication-ready data and code made available in a public repository.

Access To Data And Research Infrastructure

Use of ESRC-supported data resources and infrastructure is not a requirement of this funding opportunity. However, applicants who require access to data may wish to consider the range of ESRC-supported administrative data resources available and whether they could add value to their proposed research.

Administrative data can support analysis of economic outcomes (including productivity, earnings, employment and business growth), as well as wider public sector, health, social and distributional impacts. Researchers should ensure their research questions align with available data sources.

In particular, you may wish to consider Administrative Data Research UK (ADR UK), an ESRC-supported UK-wide partnership that is transforming access to public sector data for research in the public interest. ADR UK brings together ADR England, ADR Northern Ireland, ADR Scotland, ADR Wales and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to facilitate secure access to linked administrative data for accredited researchers.

Potentially relevant datasets include:

business datasets, such as the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) and Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) data, which may support analysis of productivity, innovation activity, firm growth and business performance
earnings and employment datasets, including ADR UK flagship datasets such as Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) linked datasets, which may support research into labour market returns, earnings outcomes, workforce composition and the distribution of economic benefits
other ADR UK flagship datasets, including Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) and RAPID: Population interactions with employment, benefits and pensions, which may support research into wider returns through skills development, employment pathways, earnings, employment participation and broader measures of social welfare

Access to administrative data is subject to researcher and project accreditation.

You can become an accredited researcher by applying to the People and Project Service (PPS), which is supported by free training provided by the ONS. Once a researcher is accredited, applicants will need to have their project accredited to ensure it is feasible, legal, ethical and in the public interest. A project application can be submitted to the ONS SRS via the Project Accreditation Service for the SRS (PASS) platform.

Researchers should engage with data providers early to confirm data availability, feasibility and requirements associated with their chosen datasets. Access timelines should be factored into project plans; for datasets accessed through the ONS SRS, project approval can take around ten weeks where applications are sufficiently detailed and requirements are clear. However, timelines vary depending on project complexity, dataset requirements and time required for data owner approvals.

Researchers should also ensure they understand the access constraints associated with their selected datasets, including eligibility requirements, permitted uses, secure access arrangements and any limitations on data outputs. Research outputs produced using administrative data must go through the relevant output clearance processes before they can be released.

For ONS accreditation and approval queries, contact srs.customer.support@ons.gov.uk

For ONS dataset-specific queries, contact adrcuration@ons.gov.uk

Duration

The duration of this award is 24 months.

Projects must start by 1 April 2027.

Funding Available

The FEC of your project can be up to £308,000.

UKRI will fund 80% of the FEC. The remaining 20% is expected to come from the project lead’s research organisation.

Mobility: Uk And International

As research is an increasingly international endeavour, and as this funding opportunity specifically encourages researchers to engage with those funded by parallel international initiatives, we are keen to support grant holders in developing links with leading researchers in their field both in the UK and internationally.

We encourage research visits to one or more internationally leading research organisations – either in the UK or abroad – for the purposes of research collaboration, training, access to data or both, or other resources not available at the your host organisation.

We encourage research applications that use and develop international comparative methods. The opportunities provided for mobility should support this.

We also recognise that long-term mobility may be difficult or impossible for researchers with disabilities or caring responsibilities. You will therefore not be disadvantaged for not including a mobility element. In those instances, you may wish to consider alternative mechanisms for enhancing collaboration through your grant, such as hosting short visits from collaborators, or using information technology to develop and sustain collaborations.

Trusted Research And Innovation (Tr&I)

UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.

As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.

See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.

Esrc Data Infrastructure

ESRC supports a range of data infrastructure. Where relevant, we encourage applicants to consider whether the use of these resources could add value to the project. See Facilities and resources for information on finding and using ESRC datasets which are available across the UK.

Where relevant, details of datasets and infrastructure to be used in your project should be given in the Facilities section.

Data Requirements

ESRC recognises the importance of data quality and provenance. Data generated, collected or acquired by ESRC-funded research must be well-managed by the grant holder to enable their data to be exploited to the maximum potential for further research. See our research data policy for details and further information on data requirements. The requirements of the research data policy are a condition of ESRC research funding.

Where relevant, details on data management and sharing should be provided in the Data Management section. See the importance of managing and sharing data and content for inclusion in a data management plan on the UK Data Service (UKDS) website for further guidance. We expect applicants to provide a summary of the points provided. The UKDS (email: datasharing@ukdataservice.ac.uk) will be pleased to advise applicants on the availability of data within the academic community and provide advice on data deposit requirements.

Equitable Partnership Principles

When undertaking research and innovation activities outside the UK, you must recognise and address the possible impact of contextual, societal and cultural differences on the ethical conduct of those activities.

Researchers should also follow the principles of equitable partnerships to address inherent power imbalances when working with partners in resource-poor settings.

Applying the principles will encourage equitable access, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), while maintaining incentives for innovation. You should consider the principles from the start of the research and development cycle.

Read UKRI’s guidance on research in a global setting.

How to apply

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

To Apply

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.

Confirm you are the project lead.
Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password.
Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.

Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

When including images, you must:

provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
insert each new image on a new line
use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include:

sentences or paragraphs of text
tables
excessive quantities of images

A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:

how applicants use the Funding Service
how research offices use the Funding Service
how reviewers use the Funding Service

References

References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.

Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:

references are easily identifiable by the assessors
references are formatted as appropriate to your research
persistent identifiers are used where possible

General Use Of Hyperlinks

Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (Ai)

Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.

For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment.

Deadline

UKRI must receive your application by 19 November 2026 at 4:00pm UK time.

You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.

Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

Processing Personal Data

ESRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.

We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.

Sensitive Information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, please email EconomicROI@esrc.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include:

individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
declaration of interest
additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
the application is an invited resubmission

For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Institutional Matched Funding

There is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond the standard 20% FEC. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations. Direct and in-kind contributions from third party project partners are encouraged.

This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.

Publication Of Outcomes

ESRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity once all funding decisions have been communicated to applicants.

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

Summary

Word limit: 550

In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.

We may make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:

opinion-formers
policymakers
the public
the wider research community

Eligibility requirements