On 22 November 2021, CAPE hosted the first of its quarterly sharing sessions, themed around the ‘Incoming Policy Fellowship Model’. Sharing sessions examine each of the CAPE academic policy engagement mechanisms so we can discuss learning with the sector on what works.

The session provided an opportunity for 40 public policy professionals and researchers to share their experiences and reflections on the incoming policy fellowship mechanism and its role in the policy engagement landscape. The presentations and discussion considered evidence of policy fellowships and introduced case study examples of successful fellowship schemes.

What is the incoming policy fellow model?

Incoming policy fellowship schemes allow policy stakeholders to visit universities to talk to researchers and research services staff about policy pertinent questions. Initial visits tend to last from 1-5 days and form the start of a programme of engagement between policy fellows and research organisations as well as other organisations with access to expertise.

Find out more about the CAPE policy fellows here

What we know about incoming policy fellowships from the research evidence

Kathryn Oliver and Chilombo Musa presented two research projects evaluating research policy-engagement and focused on key findings regarding incoming policy fellowships. Both noted the limited research evidence base to date.

Key findings of Kathryn Oliver’s project ‘Mapping research-policy engagement internationally’  include:

• Successful policy fellowships can create communities of practice around knowledge interests.
• Organisations which employ  policy fellows find it hard to take advantage of the learning of these individuals, so embedding changes in the organisation post fellowship as a result does not always take place.
• Good fellowship governance can contribute to the success of a fellowship scheme.

Chilombo Musa’s research project highlighted the following learning points:

• Incoming policy fellowships can facilitate knowledge transfer between academia and policy makers and can build continuing, long-term relationships and networking opportunities, beyond the initial interactions.
• Evaluation criteria for policy fellowship programmes should include direct effect on policy outcomes, observable and shared experiences, established outputs, and sustainability of relationships.

Existing fellowship models

The CAPE knowledge sharing session looked at four successful examples of incoming fellowship programmes: CAPE policy fellowship, CSaP fellowship (Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge), Royal Academy of Engineering Policy Fellowship Programme, and IPR policy fellowship (Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath).

A lively discussion identified benefits of running incoming policy fellowships:

• Policy fellow cohorts can promote learning and networking, which can be further promoted through regular online seminars and in-person networking opportunities. In particular, mixed cohorts with fellows from different settings can be beneficial.
• Incoming policy fellowships can help fellows communicate technical knowledge more effectively to ministers and other civil servants.
• Policy fellowship programmes can initiate and support ongoing relationships between government departments and university departments.
• Alumni programmes can support emerging communities of practice.

Best practices

The presenters also highlighted best practices that had emerged over the past years:

• Collaboration and continuous evaluation have the potential of making fellowship schemes more diverse and inclusive.
• Conversations with policy fellows at the start of the process are important to understand what they could do with the outcomes of their questions, and whether their questions would benefit from further focus.
• It can be helpful for organisations to focus incoming policy fellowships around areas of institutional expertise.
• Developing virtual programmes during the Covid-19 pandemic has opened new avenues for attracting a more diverse range of policy fellows, including from overseas.

Open questions

The discussion also highlighted open questions for future research and discussion, which focused on how to make fellowships more effective:

• What makes a good policy question?
• Do focused policy questions at the start of a fellowship potentially lead to more tangible policy outcomes at the end?
• How can the impact of incoming policy fellowships be measured?
• How can evaluation address the differences between hosting a fellow virtually and in person?
• How can the impact of incoming policy fellowships be measured?

Overall, the knowledge sharing session highlighted that there is a good knowledge base regarding best practices but also identified areas for future research, including continual learning, the contribution to sector-wide knowledge and formalised evaluation. CAPE will be addressing some of these questions through its activities and mechanisms.

Attendants

The event was chaired by Stephen Meek, Director for the Institute for Policy and Engagement at the University of Nottingham. Speakers included:

• Kathryn Oliver, Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• Alex Holt, Senior Policy Adviser, Cabinet Office
• Nicola Buckley, Associate Director, Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge
• Chilombo Musa, PhD researcher, University of Cambridge
• Marine Shah, Senior manager, National Engineering Policy Centre, Royal Academy of Engineering
• Amy Thompson, Head of Policy Programmes and Communications, Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath
• Jenny Hasenfuss, CAPE Coordinator, Northumbria University

We were pleased to welcome attendants primarily in knowledge broker roles including those from the Universities of Exeter, Essex, Durham, Leeds, Oxford and York, as well as representatives of Government departments including Department for Transport and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.