ESRC is a non-departmental public body principally funded through the Science Budget by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. We are one of seven research councils.
We began in 1965 as the Social Science Research Council, founded under a Royal Charter. Our early structure was of social science committees covering 14 disciplines ranging from anthropology to statistics.
In 1982 the Rothschild review recommended greater focus on empirical research and research related to public concerns. From 1983 we became the Economic and Social Research Council. Our new structure was of committees addressing six areas: economic affairs, education and human development, environment and planning, government and law, industry and employment, and social affairs.
The quality and success of postgraduate training became a major issue during the 1980s. In 1989 we introduced formal postgraduate training guidelines.
During the 1990s, we developed our thematic priorities to focus research on scientific and national priorities. These were later replaced and our priorities were defined in an extensive strategic review carried out in 2005.
Our budget has grown from £73 million in 2001-02 to £204 million in 2009-10.
For a detailed account of the ESRC's first 40 years see SSRC/ESRC: the first forty years (PDF).