Announcing FINDS Fellowships
Are you a researcher in academia, a policy institute, or a think tank with an interest in economic, social, or health-related dynamics?
With up to £300,000 available, the FINDS Fellowships offer a unique chance to access cutting-edge deidentified financial data and secure competitive funding for policy-relevant research.
Research Funding Call: Using Deidentified Financial Data for Socio-Economic Research
Call for Applications Opens: 28 October 2025 | Deadline: 9 December 2025
Total Funding Pool: £300,000, to fund 3-4 projects.
Eligible Sectors: Academia, Policy Think Tanks, Research Institutes
Apply here
What are the FINDS Fellowships?
About FINDS
FINDS is the Financial Data Service, funded via UKRI’s Smart Data Research UK programme. One of six data services, FINDS provides the UK research community with free access to FINDS data and enables research that can transform our understanding of how economic shocks and policy interventions affect different communities, helping policymakers design more targeted and effective responses to economic challenges.
FINDS is a collaboration between Smart Data Foundry and the University of Edinburgh. Funding for this Fellowship is provided via our grant from SDR UK.
About the FINDS Fellowship
The FINDS Fellowship will provide funding to support innovative, data-driven research projects that use our secure, deidentified financial datasets to explore key societal challenges. The FINDS Fellowship is open to researchers across universities, think tanks, and other eligible research organisations, including those typically ineligible for UKRI funding.
Projects should align with FINDS’ missions and focus on one or more of our core strategic themes, including:
- Economic productivity, behaviour and trends
- Public health and wellbeing
- Social science and demographic dynamics
- Income and expenditure patterns
An overview of available datasets is available in our data catalogue (registration required), with additional datasets on income and spend dynamics, and SMB operations and finances coming soon.
Why Apply?
- Access to a £300k funding pot, to fund 3-4 projects
- Access to novel financial datasets that can inform real-world policy
- Open to researchers beyond academia, including think tanks and independent research organisations
- Collaborative matchmaking opportunities through our pre-launch webinar
- Quarterly engagement with impact-focused mini-publications
We aim to support at least three outstanding projects. Applicants are encouraged to request modest, efficient budgets to maximise impact and inclusivity.
Key Dates | Who Can Apply? | Data Availability | Additional Information |
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We welcome collaborative proposals across sectors and disciplines. Organisations unfamiliar with ESRC or UKRI processes will receive guidance and vetting support from our team. | Applicants may use any of the datasets currently accessible through the FINDS data catalogue. These datasets offer granular insights into individual-level financial behaviours and are ideal for work in economic inequality, SMB productivity, cost-of-living, behavioural finance, and beyond. Available datasets can be viewed in the FINDS data catalogue on myFoundry. Additional datasets will be made available soon, including:
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Application Pack
Webinar - What you need to know about the FINDS Fellowships
This webinar will walk you through everything you need to know to apply, from eligibility and funding structure to research themes and application tips. You’ll also hear how FINDS, part of UKRI’s Smart Data Research UK programme, is helping unlock the power of financial data for social good.
Whether you’re an economist researcher in academia, social scientist, or policy researcher, this is your chance to discover how FINDS can support your next big idea.
Webinar - FINDS unlocked – Exploring the data behind the £300k Fellowship
This deep-dive webinar will take you inside the FINDS Data Catalogue, showcasing the unique, deidentified financial datasets available to fellowship applicants.
This session will unpack what the data contains, how it can be used securely, and the kinds of socio-economic insights it can generate, from income and spending patterns to public health and behavioural trends.
You’ll gain practical guidance on aligning your proposal with available datasets and learn how to design impactful, data-driven research that can shape future policy.
Application queries
For queries, eligibility checks, or support with the application process:
