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Funding opportunity: ADR UK Research Fellowships 2025

Categories: Funding opportunities, ADR UK Research Fellows, ADR England, Office for National Statistics

13 November 2025

Apply now for an ADR UK Research Fellowship using ADR England flagship datasets. 

We are inviting applicants who are eligible for Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funding to propose research projects that demonstrate the policy impact potential of ADR England flagship datasets. Awards will be 18 months in duration, and projects must start in September 2026.

The full economic cost of individual projects can be up to £200,000. The ESRC will fund up to 80% of the full economic cost whilst the remainder should be funded by your research organisation.

The deadline for applications is 16:00 on 26 February 2026.

Use an ADR England flagship dataset

Applications should make use of eligible ADR England flagship datasets. The following datasets are in scope for this funding opportunity:

Eligible datasets and research priorities

Webinar: Community Catalyst research agendas

In this webinar, presenters from the ADR England Research Community Catalysts projects on Children at risk of poor outcomes and Youth transitions shared the evidence gaps and research agendas they have identified. The session explored how applicants could address these in their fellowship projects, in order to inform better policy and practice.

You can watch the recording and access the slide decks: Children at risk of poor outcomes and Youth transitions.

Who can apply

ADR UK Research Fellows must be based at an eligible organisation. All researchers irrespective of career stage are encouraged to apply.

For more information about eligibility, visit the UK Research and Innovation funding finder.

What we're looking for

We are looking for applications that meet the following four ADR UK Research Fellowships objectives.

  1. Useful Research: Demonstrate the potential of administrative data research for public policy impact within the timeframes.
  2. Useful Data: Develop our flagship datasets as useful research resources for future users.
  3. Useful Engagement: Foster opportunities to engage with government and the public to shape the project to deliver impact and to maintain public acceptance for the use of data for research purposes; and
  4. Community Building: Actively participate in and personally contribute to new or existing communities of practice in support of your development as a research leader using administrative data.

Public engagement

Public engagement plays a central role in ADR UK Research Fellowships. Fellows should have a plan to meaningfully engage with the public throughout the duration of their fellowship. Your public engagement plan should clearly identify:

  • key stakeholders, for example, representatives from relevant NGOs, or relevant public contributors
  • key milestones for engagement, for example at which points do you intend to engage
  • a clear purpose, for example how you think engaging with these stakeholders can add value to your project, and how you might utilise their feedback.  

The ADR UK team meet with you to discuss your plan at the start of your fellowship and are available for any additional support. Information is available on the ADR UK Learning Hub about public engagement in practice and case studies from former fellows.

For more information, see our general research fellowship specification. You can also see our communications and engagement expectations for fellows.

Watch our webinars on the opportunity, data access, and writing a strong application

Opportunity briefing

In this webinar, the ADR UK team talked through the fellowship opportunities and the application process, and answered audience questions.

You can also access the slide deck from this webinar.

Accessing data in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service

This webinar, recorded by the ONS, outlines how researchers can apply for secure data access in the ONS Secure Research Service.

You can also access the slide deck from this webinar.

How to write a good funding application

This webinar contains practical guidance for applicants, including the key elements of a strong proposal, common pitfalls to avoid, and tips for clearly communicating research aims and data use.

You can also access the slide deck from this webinar.

We will be publishing some frequently asked questions from across our webinars in the coming weeks.

Peer-to-peer support and mentoring

Peer-to-peer support

We're pleased to offer peer support consultations to help strengthen your application and research design. 

Through the ADR UK Peer Support Programme, you can book a one-to-one session (up to one hour) with one of our present or past research fellows. These sessions are designed to provide informal advice and feedback as you develop your proposal.

Peer supporters will tailor sessions to applicants' needs, covering topics such as:

  • Dataset-specific guidance: signposting to documentation, communities of practice and data owner support.
  • Timeline planning: helping applicants set realistic timelines for data access and preparation.  
  • Navigating trusted research environments: sharing practical insights and experiences. 
  • General reassurance and tips: including advice on data owner approvals, managing delays, and making productive use of waiting periods. 
  • Reproducibility: planning research to ensure methods are reproducible (e.g. good code writing practice, use of reporting guidelines). 

Peer supporters will not provide dataset-specific feasibility advice. If you are interested in peer-to-peer support, please complete this form.

Mentoring

If your fellowship application is successful, you may request an ADR UK mentor. Mentors are drawn from the pool of current and former ADR UK Research Fellows, and can support researchers who:

  • May have little or no experience using linked administrative data
  • May have limited quantitative analysis skills
  • Would like advice relating to ADR UK-specific outputs or guidance on engaging with policymakers and other stakeholders.

If you would like help costing an ADR UK mentor into your application, please email ADRFellowships@esrc.ukri.org by 1 February 2026.

Key dates
Explore previous fellowships and stories of impact

ADR UK has supported 45 research fellowships between 2021 and 2026, enabling researchers to use linked administrative data for projects in the public interest. You can browse past and current projects.

You can also read impact case studies to see how ADR UK and partners have influenced policy and practice.

More information about this opportunity is available on the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Finder. 

 Visit the UKRI Funding Finder

You can also sign up to the ADR UK mailing list to make sure you hear about future opportunities.

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