UCL hosts the UK’s leading conference on the future of evidence in policy making

Sponsored by UCL Public Policy, the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN) Conference 2026 welcomed more than 300 delegates over two days at UCL's Institute of Education in Bloomsbury, making it the largest UPEN conference to date and the first to be held over two days. 

The programme included panel discussions and sessions led by experts from universities, the media, the third sector, and governments from the UK and all four Home Nations and several local and regional English councils. 

Held under the theme In Evidence We Trust, the conference comes at a time when policymakers are navigating an increasingly complex information environment, with questions around public trust, misinformation, artificial intelligence and the role of expertise reshaping how evidence is generated, communicated and used in policy. 

UCL is a founding member of UPEN, and also currently hosts the UPEN team at our Bloomsbury campus. Its own knowledge mobilisation team, UCL Public Policy, was started fourteen years ago. 

UCL Public Policy’s Director of Research Strategy & Policy Sarah Chaytor said: “UCL has prioritised building collaborative approaches to support interactions between academic research and public policy across the university sector, recognising that this is the most effective way to respond to the needs of policymakers.”  

UCL’s consistent support for UPEN since 2018 and its leadership of the CAPE project from 2020-2024, which tested collaborative policy engagement mechanisms for the first time, demonstrate this commitment to championing academic-policy engagement for the whole sector. 

Professor Geraint Rees (UCL Vice-Provost, Research, Innovation & Global Engagement) said: "Research should not sit on a shelf - it should help address the challenges facing society. Universities have a responsibility to create meaningful pathways between expertise and decision-making, and UPEN provides an important space for that collaboration."

UPEN is a UK-wide network that brings together universities, policymakers and knowledge mobilisation professionals to strengthen the relationship between research and public policy. Its aim is to help ensure that academic evidence and expertise can be accessed and used effectively by policymakers to inform decisions and address complex societal challenges.

UPEN supports collaboration, shares best practice, develops skills and creates connections between researchers and policy professionals across the UK. UCL is a founder member.

Links

• Ms Sarah Chaytor's professional profile
• Professor Geraint Rees's academic profile
• UCL Public Policy 
• UPEN Conference 2026 
• UPEN

Media contact

Alexandra Middleton 

E: alexandra.middleton[at] ucl.ac.uk