Placements: Policy tools in action
Discover how our MPA students are applying new ideas in dynamic organisations to tackle 21st century challenges.
About our placements
In the final term of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Innovation, Public Policy and Public Value, our students choose between writing a research-based thesis or industry placement with our partner organisations. Our placements enable students to apply the new ways of thinking that they acquire during their studies on the MPA to real-world challenges. Students have the opportunity to work with a wide range of policy partners in the UK and around the globe and through this process students stretch and test their studies of the four disciplinary pillars of the course (economics, politics, public administration, and design).
Each year, our host organisations put forward challenges they face when driving public sector programmes and our students respond to their preferred challenge, based on personal interest, by collaborating in small groups under the supervision of faculty members at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. Through desktop research, literature reviews, workshops and internal and external interviews the students explore and refine the research question as well as develop and test potential solutions in collaboration with host organisations and faculty. The placement culminates with a graded presentation where students describe their research findings and propose recommendations for their hosts to tackle the challenge at hand.
Our students gain opportunities to closely observe how public sector organisations function and critically reflect on the application of new thinking in practice. They benefit from the practical application of core concepts and frameworks taught on the MPA, hone their research, written analysis and teamwork skills in a live policy environment, and they develop fruitful relationships with policy organisations, helping to build their both their professional profile and networks. These placements create shared benefits for students, faculty, and partners alike as partner organisations get closer to resolving the real challenges that they face when driving innovation towards meeting societal challenges.
Our placement partners
Placements take place with a wide range of organisations within the UK and around the globe. Many placement organisations are members of our Mission-Oriented Innovation Network (MOIN) which brings together over 100 public organisations around the world, including state investment banks, innovation agencies, strategic design units in cities, and other public organisations with that are engaged in cutting-edge policymaking.
The groups that evolve through the placement process are highly valued for their understanding of emergent concepts such as mission-oriented innovation and their ability to harness design, systems thinking, and other analytical tools. Ultimately, the placement culminates with a group presentation and individual written reports.
We match students and organisations based on both students’ interests and their professional and academic backgrounds and skills which results in a wide variety of projects that are are grounded in research.To date, we have placed 31 student teams in 27 organisations.
In 2024, our 10 student teams worked with 10 host organisations, including:
- Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)
- The Design Council
- The European Investment Bank
- Challenge Works (Nesta Challenges)
- Greater London Authority
- Climate-KIC
- The Centre Digital and Data Office
- Hackney Council
- Innovate UK
- Sussex Bay
Past placement projects have explored the following topics:
- Effective policy making in complex systems.
- Policy coherence across government silos.
- Organisational design and institutional collaboration in government.
- 21st century capabilities in government.
- New approaches to policy evaluation as a learning process.
- Designing mission-oriented public institutions.
- New governance structures.
- Effective stakeholder engagement.
Alumni experiences
I completed my placement with Digital Catapult, the UK’s digital innovation accelerator that helps tech startups grow and build networks in the innovation ecosystem. My placement project was highly instrumental in enabling a positive start to my current work with the work with the Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO)—which was initially a part of the Cabinet Office in the UK Government—as a Senior Technology Advisor.
Kirti Pathania, IIPP Master of Public Administration graduate
I did a placement with two MPA colleagues at the UK Space Agency in collaboration with the Satellite Applications Catapult and Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN). We used the frameworks we learned about in the MPA programme—specifically, the mission-oriented approach—to help our three placement organizations to think through what a new approach could look like and how they can bring it about.
Luca Kühn von Burgsdorff, Senior Advisor on Missions with the Government of Barbados
Effective policy-making — the kind that makes a real and positive impact on people’s lives — requires more than theoretical frameworks. It demands an open mind and the ability to navigate complex organisational environments, policy landscapes and speak different “languages” to appeal to different actors. There is no handbook to do this work, but the principles embodied by the IIPP community gave us a solid foundation on which to experiment with diverse applications. Our advice to future students would be to embrace the complexity and uncertainty as it is in these that the most meaningful learning occurs.
Read the blog 'More than a degree' on the IIPP Medium to discover alumni Fernanda Torres Alam and Josefina Mas' experiences on their placements with Innovate UK and Design Council.
What our partner organisations say
We had the pleasure of hosting a group of outstanding students for a two-month placement at our organisation, focusing on the issue of policy coherence. Throughout their time with us, the students demonstrated a profound understanding of the complexities involved in aligning diverse policy areas. Their work, which included extensive research and direct engagement with policymakers, provided invaluable insights into both the strengths and weaknesses of existing tools for improving policy coherence. The students presented their findings with great professionalism, engaging the audience through their ability to communicate complex ideas in an appealing and accessible manner. We are grateful for their hard work and dedication, and we look forward to seeing their continued success in the field of public policy.
- FAO (Rome), 2024
It was a real pleasure hosting the students and their work has added considerably to our understanding of a complex and nebulous topic. Their unique perspectives challenged conventional views in a constructive way that has presented a number of new opportunities we are now poised to act on. I would highly recommend hosting a student placement to any prospective hosts and would happily welcome another team of students back to Innovate UK again.
- Innovate UK, 2024
More information
- If you have further questions about the MPA and the application process, please contact our Senior Teaching and Learning Administrator: iipp.studentenquiries@ucl.ac.uk.
- If you represent an organisation that could benefit from our placement programme, please visit the MPA Student Placement Programme and Portfolio webpage.
Building the future leaders of the Entrepreneurial State
Head of the Mission-Oriented Innovation Network at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP), Nora Clinton, reflects on how the Institutes students are driving change in response to real-world policy challenges.
Contact
For information about studying at IIPP, please contact our Teaching and Learning Administration team at IIPP:
Email: iipp.studentenquiries@ucl.ac.uk