Nuffield Foundation Strategic Fund

Funding to support ambitious, cross-cutting research that seeks to address some of the most pressing social challenges currently facing the UK and influence UK public policy agenda.

The Nuffield Foundation is an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance educational opportunities and social wellbeing in a just and inclusive society. It funds research and analysis that informs social policy, primarily in the realms of education, welfare and justice. It also provides opportunities for young people to develop skills and confidence in science and research.

The Nuffield Foundation has committed £15 million for its new Strategic Fund grant programme to support ambitious, cross-cutting research that seeks to address some of the most pressing social challenges currently facing the UK and demonstrates capacity to confront the scale and urgency of emerging economic and social, demographic, technological and climate pressures.

Proposals should respond to at least one of the five Strategic Fund priority questions, and/or explore the connections between them:

• How can we build a prosperous and fair society, where people are secure and can fulfil their potential?
• How can we build an inclusive society, where people thrive and feel they belong, in the context of changing demography and ways of life?
• How can we ensure that rapid developments in science and technology work for people and society?
• How can policies to address climate change be developed in a way that promotes a prosperous, fair and inclusive society?
• How can we build and maintain the effective, accountable and trustworthy institutions that our society and democracy need?

Funding is aimed at original, transformative ideas that have the scale and ambition to anticipate and address some of the most significant themes and developments shaping the UK public policy agenda, now and in the future. Proposed research should be concerned with UK issues and society, including work that draws on the diverse realities of place across the UK – whether at the national, regional or city level – as well as work using international comparisons to set UK policy and practice in a wider context and to illuminate promising alternative approaches.

Projects should aim to anticipate the future, advance scholarship and reshape how policymakers think about the areas in which they work and should demonstrate a clear path to how the research and related activities might make a difference to people’s lives in the UK. The Foundation is seeking strategic proposals that work collaboratively across research, policy and practice, and with the active involvement of the relevant parties needed to fully address the stated aims and objectives.

Research can employ a wide range of methodologies, including quantitative evidence and analysis, qualitative research, mixed methods, reviews, synthesis, data collection and intervention analysis appropriate for the question being addressed. Proposals should be of a scale and scope not normally funded by the Nuffield Foundation’s main grants and are expected to be in the range of £1 million to £3 million over two to five years.