Extension of funding for the UK in a Changing Europe

由阿南德·梅农教授领导的英国在变化的欧洲(UKICE)倡议旨在促进对英国与欧盟之间复杂和不断变化的关系进行严格、高质量和独立的研究，并为那些寻求有关英国和欧盟关系的信息、洞察力和分析的人提供一个权威、无党派和公正的参考点，而不是围绕辩论的政治。它主要通过以下方式做到这一点：活跃的在线存在(包括社交媒体、播客、视频以及发布简报、评论和博客)；针对非学术受众的忙碌的活动计划(会议、简报、圆桌会议、小组讨论)；以及通过与ESRC的其他与英国退欧相关的投资密切合作，包括高级研究员、英国退欧优先赠款持有人以及那些由英国退欧后治理计划资助的投资。该倡议最初的资助期限为五年。这份申请是为了让伦敦国王学院的UKICE主任中心从2019年4月起再工作三年。学者、记者、政策制定者、政界人士和其他利益相关者普遍认为，就理解与脱欧公投和英国脱离欧盟进程有关的问题而言，UKICE一直是一个至关重要的资源。它通过展示以事实为基础的方法如何为公众辩论提供信息，提高了社会科学的声誉，并在发展ESRC与媒体和政策制定者的关系方面发挥了重要作用。自2014年2月以来，成功的指标包括：来自60多个不同机构的225多名学术撰稿人为博客、政策文件和研究论文撰稿；100多篇政策文件/博客在线访问；5600多次媒体露面(仅主任一人就进行了近800次媒体露面，并为印刷媒体撰写了63篇文章)；近11 000名新闻通讯订阅者；在欧盟公投运动期间超过240万的网站浏览量；近15,000名推特和1,600名YouTube订户(后者产生了超过20,000小时的浏览量)；来自200多个政府部门的2,000多名官员参加了大师班和研讨会；英国ICE相关研究人员的近350篇学术成果(书籍、章节、期刊文章)；2000名学生(12-19岁)参与其中；主任与50多个商业协会和个别公司举行了会议；主任和高级研究员向议会委员会举行了120多次简报，其中4人被任命为特别顾问。脱欧公投和随后的英国退欧公投为这一ESRC倡议提供了一个独特的、可以说是有利的背景。政治环境意味着，未来三年--不仅包括过渡期，还包括下一次大选和紧随国家调整的过渡期--重点将转移，这取决于英国退欧谈判的结果，以及目前正在展开的英国-欧盟关系重组的政治、经济和社会后果。在编写本报告时，快速变化的政治背景的结果尚不确定：然而，仍迫切需要以研究为基础的证据，以便为政策选择以及公众和政治辩论提供信息。UKICE已成为政客、公务员、企业、第三部门组织和媒体分析和意见的“首选”来源。这个重新承诺的应用程序的目的是在这一成功的基础上再接再厉，展示了“什么是有效的”。其目的是：保留和扩大核心团队，提供更多能力；扩大我们出版的产品组合；增加我们面向公众和政策的活动的数量和范围；继续我们创新的国会议员调查；以及更多地吸引国际受众和官员参与。

Led by Professor Anand Menon, the UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) initiative aims to promote rigorous, high-quality and independent research into the complex and ever-changing relationship between the UK and the European Union, and to provide an authoritative, non-partisan and impartial reference point for those looking for information, insight and analysis about UK-EU relations that stand aside from the politics surrounding the debate. It does this primarily through: an active online presence (including social media, podcasts, video, and the publication of briefings, commentaries and blogs); a busy programme of events (conferences, briefings, roundtables, panel discussions) aimed at non-academic audiences; and by working closely with other ESRC Brexit-related investments, including the Senior Fellows, Brexit Priority Grant holders, and those funded under the Governance after Brexit programme. The initiative was initially funded for five years. This application is to recommission the UKICE Director's Hub at King's College London for a further three years from April 2019.There is widespread agreement from academics, journalists, policy makers, politicians and other stakeholders that the UKICE has been a vital resource in terms of understanding both the issues in relation to the EU Referendum and the process of the UK leaving the European Union. It has enhanced the reputation of social science by demonstrating how a fact-based approach can inform public debate, and has had a major role in developing a significant presence for the ESRC in terms of relationships with the media and policy makers.Since February 2014, indicators of success include: more than 225 academic contributors from more than 60 different institutions to blogs, policy papers and research papers; more than 100 accessible policy papers/blogs online; more than 5,600 media appearances (the Director alone conducted nearly 800 media appearances and wrote 63 pieces for print media); nearly 11,000 Newsletter subscribers; more than 2.4 million website views during the EU referendum campaign; nearly 15,000 Twitter and 1,600 YouTube subscribers (the latter generating more than 20,000 hours of views); more than 2,000 officials from more than 200 government departments have attended masterclasses and seminars; nearly 350 academic outputs (books, chapters, journal articles) by UKICE-related researchers; 2000 school students (12-19 y/o) engaged; meetings between the Director and more than 50 business associations and individual firms; more than 120 briefings to parliamentary committees by the Director and Senior Fellows, including four appointments as Special Advisors.The EU referendum and subsequent Brexit vote provided a unique - and arguably favourable - context for this ESRC initiative. Political circumstances mean that the next three years - encompassing not only the transition period but also the next General Election and the period immediately post-transition as the country adjusts - will shift the emphasis, dependent on the outcomes of the Brexit negotiations and the political, economic and social consequences of the reconfiguration of the UK-EU relationship now unfolding. At the time of writing, the outcomes of the rapidly changing political context cannot be certain: however, there will remain a pressing need for research-based evidence to inform policy choices, and public and political debates. UKICE has become a 'go to' source of analysis and opinion for politicians, civil servants, businesses, third sector organisations and the media. This recommissioning application aims to build on this success, having demonstrated 'what works'. The intentions are: to retain and expand the core team, to provide more capacity; to expand our portfolio of published outputs; to increase the number and extend the reach of our public- and policy-facing events; to continue our innovative MPs survey; and to do more to engage international audiences and officials.