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.
Placement Prospectus
Learn more and read about the placement offer in the IIPP MPA Placement Prospectus
IIPP is inviting Expressions of Interest from public sector organisations, both within its MOIN network and beyond, seeking to host eight-week placements for our MPA students in May and June 2026.
More than a degree: Industry placements student blog
Fernanda Torres Alam and Josefina Mas share their placement experiences at experiences at Innovate UK and Design Council in this blog on our Medium.
Building the future leaders of the Entrepreneurial State
Nora Clinton, Head of the Mission-Oriented Innovation Network, reflects on how our students are driving change in response to real-world policy challenges in this Medium blog.
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), but we welcome interest from all actors.
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 grounded in research.
Examples of past student work can be found here.
Our alumni’s placement 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.
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.
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.
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.
More information
- If you have further questions about the MPA and the application process, please contact our Senior Teaching and Learning Administrator: bartlett.pg-iipp@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.
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