Independent Social Research Foundation

Recent Fellows and Associates

We fund research projects through competitive grant programmes aimed at UK and European scholars working across the social sciences and humanities.

Dr Florence Dafe

Small Group Project 2025-26

Dr Rachel Larkin

Small Group Project 2025-26

Dr Ilya Yablokov

Small Group Project 2025-26

Dr Miles Kellerman

Small Group Project 2025-26

Dr Anastas Vangeli

Small Group Project 2025-26

Dr Ágnes Szunomár

Small Group Project 2025-26

Search ISRF Fellows & Associates

Funding

We support independent-minded researchers exploring and presenting original research ideas which take new approaches, and suggest new solutions, to real-world social problems.

ISRF Funding is awarded competitively through a series of Grant Competitions for individual Fellowships and small group projects.

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Early Career Fellows

Scholars within 10 years of PhD award.

Mid-Career Fellows

Scholars more than 10 years post-PhD.

Independent Scholar Fellows

Independent scholars who do not hold an appointment at an institution of higher education and research.

First Book Fellows

Scholars within 3 years of PhD award.

Political Economy Fellows

Scholars working in Political Economy.

Collaborative Fellows

Pairs of scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds.

Small Group Projects

For groups of 2-10 scholars.

Other Projects and Partnerships

Non-competitively funded projects, institutional partnerships and discretionary awards.

Blog

5 min

From oil to cod – ISRF event explores what yesterday’s empires reveal about today’s wars

Adam Smith

An ISRF-hosted series of lectures on decolonisation sheds new light on contemporary conflicts.

5 min

Can higher education be a neurodivergent-affirming space without funding?

Helen Kara

How can academia and other sectors create enabling environments for neurodivergent people? Discussing the concept of neurodivergent-affirming spaces, Helen Kara argues that better understandings and practices can emerge through supporting the work of neurodivergent researchers themselves.

9 min

Why Democratic Communism Could Be the Answer to the Climate Emergency

Christopher Newfield

In this monthly Director’s Note, Christopher Newfield considers how democratic communism, grounded in ecological Marxism and democratic planning, could offer a compelling alternative to capitalist growth.

11 min

Why Neoliberals Destroy Universities

Lars Cornelissen

In both the UK and the US, neoliberals have systematically targeted higher education for destructive reform. Lars Cornelissen argues that this is a function of neoliberalism's enduring hostility to the university sector.

5 min

Eleventh Flexible Grants for Small Groups Competition

Stuart Wilson

In October 2024, the ISRF launched its eleventh Flexible Grants for Small Groups competition. Having received a number of strong proposals, a selection panel nominated the following 17 projects for award.

10 min

A New Regulatory Framework for University Cuts

Christopher Newfield

In this monthly Director’s Note, Christopher Newfield reflects on cuts and mismanagement in UK and US universities, and proposes a new regulatory framework to guide more accountable and constructive reforms.

5 min

‘There is no green transition’

Adam Smith

Political economist Adam Hanieh explains how the history of state-owned oil companies is tied up with imperialism and anti-colonial struggle.

6 min

First Book Fellowships Award Announcement

Adam Smith

As part of a scheme to help recent PhD graduates turn their theses into publishable books, the ISRF has announced funding for seven researchers.

View all Blog Posts

Events

We host a variety of events which aim to provide a platform for ISRF Fellows to report on their research projects, and also to contribute to broader conversations and discussions across the social sciences.

25th September, 2025

18:00 - 19:30 GMT

Bordering Social Reproduction

An in-person & online book launch and conversation with Professor Rachel Rosen & Dr Eve Dickson, authors of 'Bordering Social Reproduction: Migrant Mothers and Children Making Lives in the Shadows'.

Learn more

20th November, 2025

18:00 - 19:30 GMT

Threads of Labour

An in-person & online book launch and conversation with Dr Lisa Taylor, author of 'Threads of Labour: Tapestry of an Ex-Industrial Community'.

Learn more

9th December, 2025

18:00 - 19:30 GMT

Neoliberalism and Race

An in-person & online book launch and conversation with Dr Lars Cornelissen, author of 'Neoliberalism and Race'.

Learn more

Past events

15th May 2025

Oil, Decolonisation, and the Future of the Climate Emergency

Professor Adam Hanieh's lecture explores oil’s influence on national independence struggles, from the 1955 Bandung Conference to the rise of OPEC and the nationalisation of crude reserves.

30th Apr 2025

Shanawdithit: A Woman at the End of the World

Professor Julia Laite's lecture seeks to narrate the history of Shanawdithit's fascinating and important life, alongside the history of her island, which was England’s first transatlantic colony.

9th Apr 2025

A World Remade by Decolonization?

Professor Martin Thomas's lecture shares perspectives from global history, comparative politics, and international relations to revaluate whether the twentieth-century collapse of European colonialism was as definitive as often portrayed.

Find out more about our events

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