How does government work and what are the opportunities to engage and influence policy decision-makers in your work? How do you plan for policy impact, and where do you start?
If your research has potential application for policy and you are keen to develop your skills in this area, a new training opportunity delivered by the IPR has just been announced.
Launched as part of the pilot Bath Policy Engagement Academy, cohort and select policy engagement training, delivered by Prof Nick Pearce and Amy Thompson, will provide early career researchers with advice and best practice for how to engage with UK policymakers.
Online sessions will introduce participants to topics such as how government and Parliament works, how policy is made, communicating with policymakers, and introduce some of the mechanisms of policy engagement. They will also include one-to-one sessions to help individuals develop a policy engagement strategy appropriate to their research.
The programme will include four online training sessions, each lasting approximately two hours. Policy engagement training sessions will also be complemented with new policy engagement online resources, and one-to-one policy engagement coaching for select high level bids, as part of the Bath Policy Engagement Academy (BPEA).
Associate Pro-VC (Research), Professor Julie Barnett said: “Given the importance of policy impact, initiatives under the Bath Policy Engagement Academy will help researchers to better position their research to reach and engage with relevant policy audiences.
“This inaugural training is an opportunity for academics to learn from Prof Nick Pearce and Amy Thompson in the IPR who can share their experiences of policymaking processes, and provide advice and guidance on how to maximise your chances for policy impact success.”
A limited number of spaces are available for ECRs who have little or limited experience of policy engagement, academics on probation, or academics looking to apply for external programmes such as UKRI Future Leaders funding, or policy placements (such as with the Royal Society).
For researchers keen to learn more or who wish to take part please email Amy Thompson (at712@bath.ac.uk) by 9am Friday 2 February, including:
- Your name
- Your job title and department
- A short biography including any previous policy engagement activities (none is also fine)
- An outline of your research interests
- Your availability for training dates on: Tuesday 20 of February (10:00-12:00); Tuesday 12 of March (10:00-12:00); Tuesday 23 of April (10:00-12:00)
Successful candidates for this inaugural cohort policy engagement training will be notified by Wednesday 7 February.