ESRC The UK in a Changing Europe Initiative Research Coordinator

A UK-based coordinator will map every university and institute in the country that studies the EU and UK-EU relations, then commission nine expert reviews to reveal which topics are well-covered and which have been neglected. This matters because, after Brexit, the UK’s relationship with the EU remains unsettled and politically charged. Policymakers, businesses, and civil society groups need reliable, up-to-date social science evidence to make informed decisions—but that evidence is scattered across hundreds of research teams, often working in isolation. Without a coordinated picture, important questions go unanswered and research effort is duplicated. If the initiative succeeds, it will create a clear, shared map of what is known and what is not. Academics will connect with each other and with policymakers, so that research on trade, migration, regulation, and security directly informs real-world decisions. The coordinator will also help researchers communicate their findings to the people who can act on them—MPs, civil servants, business leaders, and journalists. This project is not fundamental science; it is a practical coordination exercise. Its impact is to make existing research more visible, more connected, and more useful to the people who shape UK-EU relations.