Month: September 2024

Policy to research policy fellowship programmes: forging connections and knowledge exchange between policymakers and researchers

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Nicola Buckley and Kathryn Oliver

This blog post is based on the Evidence & Policy article, ‘Evaluating Policy to Research Fellowship programmes’.

Policy to Research (P2R) Fellowship programmeshave been found toforge connections and relationships between policymakers and researchers in academia and beyond, develop skills and knowledge among policymakers and researchers and can develop collaborative projects.

In our Evidence and Policy paper, we found 24 P2R Policy Fellowship programmes to study, from the UK, Europe and North America. The cost of providing these fellowships was estimated at around £5,000 per Policy Fellow, which is comparable to, or in some cases less than other methods for academic-policy engagement (e.g. workshops, training, Research to Policy Fellowships, funding research collaborations). More evaluations are needed to understand the role these Fellowships can play in developing the evidence-for-policy system.

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Which staffers are worth forming relationships with to further science?

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Patrick O’Neill, Jessica Pugel, Elizabeth C. Long, D. Max Crowley and Taylor Scott

This blog post is based on the Evidence & Policy article, ‘Insight for knowledge brokers: factors predicting relationships with federal staffers’.

When it comes to furthering the reach of scientific evidence in policymaking processes, a large body of research has shown just how crucial personal relationships between researchers and policymakers can be. These personal relationships can help offset the overloading workload of policymakers and their staffers, especially considering they often rely on trusted sources for advice and information. However, there are often group norms, systemic differences, and other obstacles standing in the way of relationships between policymakers and researchers initially forming.

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