The Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF) aims to advance the social sciences by fostering new modes of inquiry, developing interdisciplinary methods and expertise, and enhancing understanding of social entities and processes. Funded by private philanthropists since 2008, ISRF promotes social science development by offering funding opportunities, forming academic partnerships, and supporting research that ventures beyond existing explanations to refresh empirical problems with innovative theories or methodologies.
The ISRF's funding philosophy centers on supporting innovative research that challenges existing explanatory frameworks to freshly address empirical problems with inadequate current theories or methodologies. Emphasizing innovation, the foundation welcomes controversial theoretical approaches that critically challenge incumbent theories. Its aim is to foster interdisciplinarity by integrating and transforming empirical methods and theoretical insights from the social sciences, encouraging projects across all social scientific disciplines and interdisciplinary fields. Relevant applications from scholars in the humanities and natural sciences are also encouraged. Specifically, the First Book Grants target newly qualified post-docs within three years of their PhD award, aiming to support the conversion of their PhD thesis into a book. The grants offer stipends for full or partial relief from non-academic work for up to one year, with awards reaching up to €34,000.