THREE TIPS FOR ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS ENGAGING WITH GOVERNMENT POLICY MAKERS

Yesterday (11 June 2025) I enjoyed attending the UPEN annual conference at which Professor Dame Angela McLean DBE FRS the Government Chief Scientific Adviser gave the keynote address. Three key messages, resonated with me and my long experience of making policy within government. Some reflections :

1. You can use ARIs as a hook for engagement with policy makers inside departments.

Engaging in this way is critical to identifying what the other – non-ARI - policy questions are and where research or academic insight might fit in.

2. A good answer for a policymaker is not the same as a good academic answer.

The role of civil servants is to propose solutions to Ministers. They will welcome a well-researched paper but what they really want to know is how it will help them develop those solutions. Important therefore to tailor the presentation of academic findings to match the ‘so what’ of policy making.

3. Diversity of the evidence base is critical for robust policy making.

Civil servants will be weighing up a range of evidence alongside academic research – for example, stakeholder views, consumer attitudes, government modelling outputs or cost benefit analysis. Being able to articulate how your research fills a gap in the evidence base or complements other findings will be very valuable to them.