Refining our strategic priorities

With our Delivery Plan 2011-2015 we have sharpened our focus around three priorities:

• Economic Performance and Sustainable Growth
• Influencing Behaviour and Informing Interventions
• A Vibrant and Fair Society

These encapsulate the big issues for Britain, the wider world and for social science that we identified in a process of refinement. We will revisit the priorities each year and update them as necessary.

The three priorities guide our work towards maximising the impact from existing research, resources and training investments. We also plan to direct some of our budget towards new activities.

Three Task Forces identified issues under each priority after a framework was agreed by the February 2011 meeting of the ESRC Council. Since then we have further refined the issues by discussing them with government (in the devolved administrations as well), business and voluntary organisations. We have also sought the views of learned societies in the social sciences and invited comment from researchers and people who make use of social research in their work.

The Task Forces and the ESRC Policy Chairs Group considered these views in advance of the ESRC Council in May 2011.

The sections below summarise the discussions. You may also want to look at the latest information on the ESRC funding schemes for 2011/12.