About the Lab

At the UCL Policy Lab, we look beyond the status quo. It's why, from the start, we have done things differently. We bring together extraordinary expertise and everyday experience, connecting them with the tools and resources required to bring about real social and policy change.

And you would not expect anything less of UCL. For nearly 200 years, UCL has been creating new opportunities for people, whatever their backgrounds, and generating new debates that have shaped the world.

Today, our work connects people across the UK and further afield with those developing new policy ideas and possibilities. We bring together the most famous decision-makers in the country, with some of the most celebrated scholars and those who have direct, lived experiences of issues on the front line. In our collaborative conversations this year, cabinet ministers and shadow cabinet ministers have sat and debated alongside community campaigners, business leaders, philanthropists, and researchers from economics and political science. They have been joined by political strategists, pollsters, and community organisers.

At a time when the world faces a growing raft of challenges, this is more important than ever. Building new connections, allowing people both to disagree well and to forge new alliances, putting issues on the table that otherwise might not be there, and standing ready to help policymakers of all kinds as they grapple with the problems facing us all. Bringing together all the tools needed for social change. That’s what the Lab is all about. And we can’t wait to build it all with you.

You can check out the latest summary of our work here. 

Marc Stears, Director, UCL Policy Lab