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1. Find an academic
The Faculty of Engineering has some of the brightest minds in the world, a hotbed of talent and expertise – including a wide array of academics and researchers keen to support the policy process and policymakers.
If you are looking to connect with an academic in the Faculty to discuss research, contribute to a consultation, act as a critical friend in policy development including stress testing ideas, invite to join a stakeholder board, or otherwise feed in expertise or evidence for your policy area – we can help connect you to the right person.
Please contact PIU with some details about your policy area, and what you are looking for, and we will do our best to help. For more information on the types of policy area covered in the Faculty, you can click here.
To find a UCL expert in another faculty you can use UCL Public Policy’s tool here.
2. Visit the Faculty
One of the best ways to understand and work with UCL research, is to experience it for yourself!
Where possible, and with the support of UCL Public Affairs, we are happy to facilitate visits for policymakers to see facilities and research up close and personal - and speak directly to experts.
This could include hosting a team of UK policymakers, an international delegation, or a Ministerial visit. Recent examples include:
- Shadow Science Minister visits UCL to discuss future of artificial intelligence
- Government Minister visits UCL to chair panel on future of semiconductor industry
For visits outside of the Faculty of Engineering, please contact Public Affairs directly.
3. Engage with evidence
STEaPP offer a range of professional education programmes, designed specifically for policymakers.
You may also be interested in the Engaging with Evidence Toolkit created by NESTA in partnership with CAPE and the Chief Scientific Adviser’s (CSA) Office at the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) – with expert input and design from STEaPP’s Director of Public Policy, Dr Ine Steenmans. The Toolkit aims to help you understand how to harness data, information, knowledge and wisdom (aka evidence) to inform live problems and understand what ‘good’ and ‘better’ evidence use means in policy practice.
4. Collaborate with the PIU
The Policy Impact Unit are keen to collaborate with policymakers at a regional, national, or international level where there is a relevant link to research at the Faculty of Engineering.
This could include scoping a policy issue or problem together, helping to identify relevant evidence, or producing a policy briefing on a particular issue. We are also happy to give talks to policy teams about how to engage with evidence from UCL Engineering, such as at team away days or Departmental ‘lunch n learn’ sessions.
We are also keen to collaborate with policy partners on novel approaches to knowledge exchange, including co-design and delivery of events such as our Future Forum series.
If this is of interest to you please get in touch to discuss further.