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 focuses on funding innovative research that challenges existing explanatory frameworks to freshly address empirical problems lacking adequate theory or methodology. It encourages controversial theoretical approaches and interdisciplinarity by merging and transforming empirical methods and theoretical insights from social sciences. The foundation supports projects across a wide range of social scientific disciplines, interdisciplinary fields, and also welcomes relevant applications from humanities and natural sciences. Specifically, the ISRF offers support through its Flexible Grants for Small Groups competition, aiding small groups of scholars in collaborative efforts like workshops, working-in-pairs, or short academic visits, aiming to facilitate face-to-face group work to advance their research initiatives.