CLOSER was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) between 2012 and 2017. Its initial five year grant has since been extended to September 2024 by the ESRC.
The initial grant of approximately £5 million for 2012 to 2017 was made possible by a landmark contribution from the Government’s Large Facilities Capital Fund.
About the Economic and Social Research Council
The ESRC is part of UK Research and Innovation (URKI), a new organisation that brings together the UK’s seven research councils, Innovate UK and Research England to maximise the contribution of each council and create the best environment for research and innovation to flourish. The vision is to ensure the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation.
UK Research and Innovation is a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government.
The ESRC is the UK’s largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. The ESRC support independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and civil society. The ESRC’s total budget for 2017-18 was around £202 million. At any one-time ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.
How are the individual studies funded?
The studies in the CLOSER network receive core grants from different funders. Some of the studies also receive additional funding to carry out specific projects. To learn more about how each of the studies is funded explore the studies