Cambridge ESRC DTC Annual Lecture 2017

Professor James Wilsdon, Professor of Research Policy and Director of Impact and Engagement in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Sheffield.

After Brexit, UKRI if you want to: a social scientist's field guide to the new research landscape

The ESRC DTC lecture is an established annual interdisciplinary event for all researchers in the social sciences. We are delighted that Professor James Wilsdon will be giving this year’s lecture, entitled "After Brexit, UKRI if you want to: a social scientist's field guide to the new research landscape".

We’re about to embark on the biggest shake-up in the organisation of UK research for a generation. Implementation of the Higher Education and Research Bill in April 2018 will see the seven Research Councils, Innovate UK and the research arm of HEFCE drawn into the warm embrace of Sir Mark Walport's UKRI (UK Research and Innovation). New multi-billion pound strategic funds - for global challenges and industrial strategy - are the main source of extra investment in the funding system, forcing universities to think creatively about the projects and cross-disciplinary teams they can assemble. The Research Excellence Framework is in the throes of a post-Stern Review revamp. And all of these reforms are taking place against the backdrop of the compound uncertainties of Brexit.

The external drivers are pressing, the funding system is changing, but the need for robust social science, novel methodologies and interdisciplinary analysis of social problems has never been greater. How can the social sciences prepare for the road that lies ahead? And what opportunities - as well as bumps - may lie around the corner? Drawing on his experience at the heart of UK research policy, James Wilsdon will offer a field guide to the shifting contours of the UK research landscape.

Professor Wilsdon's bio can be found here.

A drinks reception will be held in the foyer at 4.30pm, followed by the Lecture at 5.30pm.