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What is administrative data?

Funding Opportunities

The ADR UK Strategic Hub manages a dedicated fund for commissioning projects using administrative data in line with ADR UK’s mission to enable better informed policy and practice that improves lives.

From May 2019 to May 2020, the Strategic Hub Fund supported invitation-only bids to build new research datasets and carry out innovative research of importance to key public policy areas. As a result of this process, we now have a flow of new research-ready datasets that we are keen to widen approved researcher access to. 

Now, our key focus is to fund research using these new datasets through competitive open calls – particularly through our Research Fellowship Scheme. We are also working with our colleagues at the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) to fund Methods Development Grants to address methodological challenges of research using administrative data. You can find out more about both schemes below.

ADR UK will continue to remain alert to further opportunities to create linked datasets with potential to enable important research and improve lives. If you are a government department or other public body interested in making better use of your existing data, but don't have funding support, please get in touch.

A regularly updated list of grants awarded from the ADR UK Strategic Hub Fund is available in the publications section of our website.

ADR UK Research Fellowships 

ADR UK is funding, via open competition, some of the first researchers accredited by the 2017 Digital Economy Act to use our newly linked administrative datasets for research in the public interest.

The ADR UK Research Fellowship Scheme, developed in collaboration with the respective data owners, aims to ensure the first users of the data will be researchers whose work will be scientifically valuable and policy relevant. Data owner engagement and expectations, as well as engagement with key policy stakeholders, are built into the scheme.

Research Fellows will conduct research and analysis to derive insights from linked datasets, showcase their potential for policy impact and public benefit, and develop them as useful research resources for future users. The data is held and will be made available to Fellows via the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service (SRS). 

The first ADR UK Research Fellowship, to fund analysis of the magistrates' and Crown Court datasets – the first datasets to be made available for research as a result of Data First – was launched on 12 August 2020. Applications closed 20 October 2020. Keep an eye out for further opportunities soon.

Methods Development Grants 

ADR UK is also working with colleagues at ESRC to fund Methodological Development Grants. These opportunities invite proposals for research which aims to support the social science community to work collaboratively across sectors and disciplines to address common methodological challenges. ADR UK is funding work that aims to address challenges associated specifically with the use of administrative data for research. The first of these opportunities was launched in February 2020; applications closed on 11 June 2020.

To be the first to hear about new funding opportunities, please sign up to our mailing list. Details of any current open calls to fund research using administrative data are listed below.

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