The Economics and Social Sciences Research Council (ESRC) has awarded the Software Sustainability Institute funding to conduct a study that improves the understanding of how software and data are used by projects in the social sciences research areas. 

The first phase of the project will see the development of a survey that gives us an understanding of trends, gaps and differences in the use of digital research infrastructure in the area. During the second phase, we will conduct interviews to tease out the results from the survey. Finally, a report will be written and submitted alongside the data to ESRC. This report will help inform future digital infrastructure strategy and funding

This is a great opportunity for people interested in shaping policy. We will be looking for contributions to the shaping of the survey from December 2021 onwards. These will be collected through a short questionnaire and/or a short interview. The survey itself is likely to be circulated to the community in February 2022. 

If you're a researcher in the social sciences, you can choose how you’d like to get involved in the form below, whether that’s opting to have only a short interview, both a questionnaire and an interview, or just replying to the survey once it’s circulated. 

In return for your participation, there will be three prize draws:

• 5x £30 shopping vouchers for people who respond to the questionnaire.
• 5x £30 shopping vouchers for people who respond to the survey.
• £50 shopping voucher for each person who participates in an interview – please note that we’re likely to limit the number of interviews we conduct. 

Sign up to participate in the shaping of the survey and for updates when the survey is circulated.