In addition to the strategic efforts and in order to initiate international collaboration, the Social Sciences Unit is supporting several funding schemes on an annual basis. There are the Research Networking Programmes, the EUROCORES ECRP Scheme and two Conference Schemes. These funding instruments differ in size and scope.

• The Research Networking Programmes are designed to focus on the networking aspect and usually have five year duration. Leading scientists, whose research is fully funded already by other sources, get the opportunity to share their results on a European level and investigate opportunities for future research. Thus costs like travel and all kinds of meeting expenses are covered here.

• The European Collaborative Research Programme (ECRP) Scheme also aims at international networking but in addition researchers have the opportunity to apply for funds to support part-time or full-time research posts. The duration is usually three to four years and topics for proposals can be located in any field of the social sciences.

• Apart from the annual Call for ECRP proposals, the Social Science Unit is also supporting the EUROCORES theme and subsequent proposal competition. The difference to EUROCORES ECRP is the thematic focus.

• Here ESF is asking researchers to propose thematic areas in the social sciences where research should be done. If a theme proposal is successful it is followed up by a Call for Outline and then a Call for Full research proposals in a specific area of the social sciences. The goal is to support a substantial amount of European social science research in a given topical area.

• Finally the Social Sciences Unit is supporting the ESF-LiU (University of Linköping) cooperation for research conferences which are open to scientists world-wide, whether from academia or industry.

• A key task for the unit is to make sure that only the most excellent proposals are selected for funding in a fair and transparent way. This is ensured by choosing independent international experts in the relevant field of a proposal (“peers”) who then provide a substantiated written evaluation of the research proposal.

• Several of these reports are collected and presented to a Review Panel consisting of SCSS Members and also outside experts. The Unit organizes and supports these review Panel meetings and communicates their recommendations to ESF Member Organizations (where applicable).

• Once a Research Programme is funded, the Social Science Unit helps researchers to achieve the highest possible outcome by identifying synergies with other scientific programmes and developing networking activities to create an even bigger impact.

• To summarise the Social Science Unit provides support in setting the social science agenda for the future, ensures the fair and transparent selection of scientifically excellent research proposals and helps to maximise scientific impact.

• From a content perspective, scientific activities supported by the ESF Social Sciences Unit address a broad variety of crucial questions. What will the Higher Education system in Europe look like in 10, 15 or 20 years from now? What impact does an increasingly globalised world have on the life-course of young people? What are the differences in Health Care across Europe? How can computer programmes be improved to better understand dyslexia? Etc.

The menu to the left of the page gives information on each instrument within the social sciences