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 Anthony Ince

Mid-Career Fellow 2025-26

Dr Ludek Stavinoha

Mid-Career Fellow 2025-26

Professor Nick Megoran

Mid-Career Fellow 2025-26

Dr Thomas Raymen

Mid-Career Fellow 2025-26

Professor Yasminah Beebeejaun

Mid-Career Fellow 2025

Professor Phillip Ayoub

Mid-Career Fellow 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.

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

5 min

Trump’s tariffs are not the end of globalisation

Adam Smith

For historian Martin Thomas, trade tariffs and foreign aid cuts should be seen within the context of a wider story around decolonisation and the end of empire.

10 min

Reversing Helplessness

Christopher Newfield

In this monthly Director's Note, Christopher Newfield speaks to the feelings of anger that determine so much of British electoral politics.

15 min

On Refugees

Artur Kula

In this contribution to Bulletin 32, Artur Kula discusses the way themes of national belonging fit into Polish public memory and bear on current political discourse surrounding immigration.

11 min

Exploring the Contradictions of Planning in Post-War Britain

Yasminah Beebeejaun

In this contribution to Bulletin 32, ISRF Fellow Yasminah Beebeejaun explores the linkages between Britain's colonial legacy and post-war urban planning, focussing on themes of race, migration, and de facto segregation.

5 min

How the last 50 years of economic policy can help explain Labour’s latest benefit cuts

Adam Smith

The UK Chancellor’s Spring Statement is consistent with longstanding trends in social security and employment policy, as explored in great detail in Jay Wiggan's recent book.

15 min

Liberalism, Fascism and the Politics of Rights

Lara Montesinos Coleman

In this contribution to Bulletin 32, Lara Montesinos Coleman rethinks the relationship between rights, law, and resistance in the face of fascist resurgence.

12 min

Decolonization of Economic Policy

Christopher Newfield

In this Director's Note, Christopher Newfield draws on a forthcoming paper by Cornel Ban and Xuan Li to discuss why China has been able to stimulate green technologies where Western countries have so miserably failed.

12 min

What’s My Social Media Telling Me?

Dale Mineshima-Lowe

In this contribution to Bulletin 32, Dale Mineshima-Lowe looks at data on social media use in Myanmar to explore whether social media can facilitate climate change information and resilience.

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.

15th May, 2025

18:00 BST

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.

Learn more

Past events

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.