IIPP welcomes diverse and global talent through Policy Studio Scholarships

UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) has awarded four IIPP Policy Studio scholarships, which aim to bring diverse and global talent to IIPP. 

Two of the scholarships have been awarded to doctoral students – Fausto Gernone and Julie McLaren – and two have been awarded to students starting in this year's new cohort of Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Innovation, Public Policy and Public Value – Kavian Kulasabanathan and Sushanta Subedi. The scholarships stem from a multi-year partnership between IIPP and Laudes Foundation to drive movement for change, and are directly linked to the IIPP Policy Studio.  

The IIPP Policy Studio sits at the centre of IIPP’s policy work and is designed to bridge theory and practice, particularly in relation to IIPP’s research on new economic thinking and public sector innovation. It is a collaborative space where academics, policy practitioners and public bodies come together to co-design and test creative and scalable solutions to societal challenges in different global contexts. 

IIPP’s Deputy Director, Rainer Kattel says: “We are excited to be welcoming these new scholars to our multidisciplinary team. Our core ambition at IIPP is to contribute to the thought leadership and tools needed to address global challenges. The Policy Studio will play a central role by providing a space for experimentation and co-learning with policy makers and others so we can address real world problems together.”  

The students, chosen for their academic and professional merit, reflected a keen interest in IIPP’s research pillars rethinking public value, shaping innovation, transforming institutions, and redirecting finance. 

Fausto comes from the field of competition economics, working as a consultant on merger analysis. His research draws upon this experience, looking at the dominance dynamics of firms exerting exclusive control over the assets of knowledge which are relevant for their industry.  

Julie brings a broad knowledge of the UK innovation landscape from UK Research Councils (now UKRI). Her work on experimental approaches to innovation informs her doctoral research on the role of civic innovation experiments in the governance of urban transitions.  

Scholarship holders Kavian Kulasabanathan and Sushanta Subedi will join the fourth cohort of IIPP’s successful MPA programme. Kavian, an Eezha-Tamil physician, is interested in uses of the collective imagination, community-led models of care and place-making in journeying toward abolitionist, liberated futures. Sushanta, from Nepal, is passionate about using economics, and data analysis to solve public policy problems - both in the Global South, and the Global North. 

IIPP’s MPA programme combines the Institute’s alternative approach to policymaking, with a focus on structural change and innovation. It teaches ‘the grand challenges’ of the 21st century in a new way.  

The IIPP Policy Studio scholarship is available to two MPA students annually over the next couple of years. Applications for the 2023-24 scholarship are now open once again on the IIPP website.  

Kate Roll, IIPP’s Head of Teaching, says: “A vital strand of IIPP’s mission is to invest in the skills and knowledge of those who will go on to confront future challenges. We are delighted that these four have chosen IIPP. We will benefit from the skills and experience they bring to the IIPP, and we look forward to involving them in our global policy work.”