University of Stirling to Receive UK Government Social Research Funding

That the Parliament welcomes the news that the University of Stirling is to be one of four institutions in Scotland that will benefit from the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC’s) support through five-year Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs); understands that a new £40 million UK-wide investment will boost the societal and economic benefits from social science research; acknowledges that IAAs enable research organisations to support a wide range of social, economic and behavioural science impact activities; believes that the funding is intended to generate greater benefits from research, helping to create a more prosperous, inclusive, healthy and secure society; acknowledges that teams at the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Strathclyde and Stirling will all receive funding; considers that research organisations that are awarded an IAA are empowered to use the funds flexibly and responsively, aligning with their strategic aims, to unlock the value of their existing social science research, which can take many forms; further considers that initiatives delivered by previous rounds of funding include examples of place-based projects to further develop research impact at a local level, commercialisation of social science research and the creation of new partnerships with business and supporting charities and public sector organisations to deliver better services; notes that the ESRC is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a non-departmental public body funded by a grant in aid from the UK Government, which funds world-leading research, data and postgraduate training in the economic, behavioural, social and data sciences to understand people and the world around them; believes that its work helps raise productivity, address climate change, improve public services and works towards generating a prosperous, inclusive, healthy and secure society; understands that UKRI Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs) support critical early-stage translation of UK research to real impacts, which, it believes, helps transform public services, create new jobs, attract private investment and forge new partnerships with business and charities, and further understands that this funding increases UKRI investment in IAAs to £158 million across 70 universities and research organisations across the UK.