Independent Social Research Foundation

The ISRF funds and supports critical, innovative and rigorous research in the social sciences and humanities through grant competitions, events and publications.

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 Maria Kastrinou

Small Group Project 2027

Dr Eleni Papagiannaki

Small Group Project 2026-27

Dr Vinit Ravishankar

Small Group Project 2026-27

Dominique Arsenault

Small Group Project 2026-27

Sascha Gander

Small Group Project 2026-27

James Macumber

Small Group Project 2026-27

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.

Explore Funding

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

7 min

Gifts from the Arms Trade

Jill Gibbon

Pens shaped like drones, toy bombs, rubber missiles and miniature tanks - all can be found at arms fairs, which are tightly guarded international trade shows for military equipment. Jill Gibbon's latest book takes readers behind the scenes to explore how the marketing of weapons functions as a way to obscure the destruction of war.

15 min

Must Creatives Run Screaming from the University?

Christopher Newfield

For some, education lies within the real world, where ideas and practice are bound together to spur creativity. Such work occurs outside universities — institutions that feed into a neoliberal system which commodifies art and creative practice. In this monthly Director's Note, Christopher Newfield examines the perceived binary between our educational system and creativity.

8 min

Negotiating the cuts: Reflections on a University Statutory Redundancy Consultation

Anonymous

Plans for university restructuring and cuts often follow the same pattern - an announcement of voluntary severance schemes, followed by risk of redundancy letters and then a 90-day consultation period. What happens during these negotiations? Our latest dispatch explores further.

6 min

How Ukraine’s strikes on Russian warehouses became a problem in Kyrgyzstan

Claudia Eggart

Ukraine's attacks on the Russian e-commerce platform, Wildberries, has had far reaching implications for traders across Central Asia. Claudia Eggart explains how small and medium sized business owners in Kyrgyzstan's are grappling with the trade disruptions.

14 min

The Two-Tier University

Eva Nanopoulos

What does it mean to work in the UK's higher education system today? For many academics, it involves confronting increasingly narrow career pathways, from teaching only contracts to conducting 'strategic' research. In this contribution to our Dispatches series, Eva Nanopoulos interrogates how the university's two-tier system divides staff, reinforces precarity and extracts more labour from academics.

8 min

UK Freeports: From Exception to Rule?

Alexandra Hall

Freeports are at the centre of the UK's post-Brexit industrial policy. While these Special Economic Zones (SEZs) encourage economic development, they also actively rework legal and institutional norms. Alexandra Hall explains how these rule-shifting governance arrangements fragment oversight, redistribute accountability and prioritise investor certainty.

13 min

No, AI Won’t Take Your Job—If Universities Do Theirs

Christopher Newfield

Much has been said about the difficult job market that university graduates now navigate in the face of the growing use of AI. What is the role of the university in preparing students for this new reality? In the monthly Director's Note, Christopher Newfield examines the debates around AI, labour and the value of a university education.

20 min

Kyrgyzstan’s Dordoi Bazaar: a world made from shipping containers and a city within a city

Claudia Eggart

When I left Ainura’s container-shop at the Dordoi Bazaar in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, I found the market eerily quiet. I had not noticed the passing of time, while she generously shared her life story with me.

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.

17th September, 2026

18:00 - 20:00 BST

Gifts from the Arms Trade

An in-person book launch and conversation supporting the publication of Dr Jill Gibbon's 'Gifts from the Arms Trade'.

Learn more

23rd October, 2026

18:00 - 20:00 BST

Constitutionalising Anarchy

An in-person & online book launch and conversation with Professor Ruth Kinna & Professor Alex Prichard, authors of 'Constitutionalising Anarchy'.

Learn more

Past events

16th Jul 2026

Generative Justice

An in-person & online book launch and conversation with Professor Mary Corcoran, Professor Fergus McNeill & Professor Beth Weaver, editors of 'Generative Justice'.

17th Jun 2026

Taming Egg Donors

An in-person & online book launch and conversation with Dr Anna Molas, author of 'Taming Egg Donors: The Egg Donation Reproductive Market in Spain'.

3rd Jun 2026

The Matter of Architecture

An in-person book launch and conversation with Dr Paul Dobraszczyk, author of 'The Matter of Architecture'.

Find out more about our events

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