Networks of expertise and evidence
for public policy
Annual Report 2019/20
Introduction from the Executive Director
SPOTLIGHT ON:
Covid-19
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, CSaP has stepped up its activity to help policy makers in a time of complexity and uncertainty. We’ve hosted weekly workshops to discuss the impact of the pandemic; introduced a rapid response service to answer our Policy Fellows’ most pressing questions; and produced a podcast series on Science, Policy and Pandemics in partnership with the Cambridge Immunology Network and Cambridge Infectious Diseases.
SPOTLIGHT ON:
Green Recovery
This year, we have continued to grapple with the policy questions inherent in tackling the climate crisis. We hosted our annual series of climate seminars, in collaboration with Christ’s College, Cambridge, for the third successive year; we also convened a roundtable discussion for our Policy Leaders Fellows on getting to absolute zero carbon emissions; and we began an extensive collaboration with Cambridge Zero to support policy engagement in the transition to a net zero society.
SPOTLIGHT ON:
Social Cohesion
At a time when social cohesion in our societies is more important than ever, and when divisions have been exposed by both Brexit and the global pandemic, CSaP organised a series of seminars in partnership with the British Academy on issues from multi-culturalism to the measurement of wellbeing. Addressing regional inequalities in the UK also continued to be a focus for many Policy Fellows in their questions for researchers.
SPOTLIGHT ON:
Citizen Engagement
The last decade has seen a surge in the number and variety of projects where citizens can play an active role in research, innovation and the development of evidence-based policy. CSaP has organised several events to explore recent developments in citizen science and their potential to be taken up in public policy – with a lecture given by the Director of the Berlin Natural History Museum in September 2019; a virtual conference held in March; and a discussion on citizen science held as part of our online Annual Conference.
Policy Fellowships
The Policy Fellowship offers policy professionals an efficient and tailored gateway to diverse expertise relevant to the issues which each Fellow identifies. Three times a year we invite applications to join the Policy Fellowship – the applicants identify both the questions they wish to work on, and also the ways in which what they learn will lead to better public policy.
During 2019/20, 40 Policy Fellows began their Fellowships, including 25 from the UK public sector, four international Fellows, three from industry, and others from the academies and charitable organisations. In total, 833 meetings were held between Policy Fellows and researchers.
Benito Wheatley
POLICY FELLOW
Benito Wheatley
Special Envoy
British Virgin Islands Government
POLICY LEADERS FELLOW
Tricia Hayes
Director General, Crime, Policing and Fire Group
Home Office
Convening
CSaP supports researchers by drawing upon a thriving network of Policy Fellows – and upon established ways of convening policy professionals and academics – to increase the policy impact of research. These same ways of convening our network also allow us to respond to specific requirements from the policy community.
Services to Research
One way that CSaP supports academic engagement with policy is by being written into grant applications to deliver policy engagement activities. This past year, CSaP has organised Policy Workshops for academics including:
- The Brexit Effect for Professor Kenneth Armstrong (Professor of European Law at the University of Cambridge) - this workshop brought together regulatory experts, senior policy makers and leading academics to explore the challenges that Brexit poses for regulatory agencies.
- Measuring plastics, the circular economy and policy impact for the Cambridge Creative Circular Plastics Centre (CirPlas), which examined current plastics policies, and possible avenues for future innovation and improvement.
- Three TIGR2ESS roundtable discussions with senior Indian policy makers as part of the Global Challenges Research Fund project on Transforming India’s Green Revolution by Research and Empowerment for Sustainable food Supplies. These workshops explored questions of food and nutrition security in India, supply chain management and public trust in government policies.
- How can we get to Net Zero? – part of a series of workshops with Cambridge Zero.
CSaP also provides support and advice on policy engagement to research centres and initiatives across the University. This year we have provided support to Infectious Diseases, CRASSH, the Cambridge Immunology Network, Energy@Cambridge, Cambridge Zero, and the Partnership for Conflict, Crime and Security Research (PaCCS).
Supporting Policy Makers
In addition to helping academics to engage with policy makers, CSaP responds to requests from policy makers to convene discussions with academic experts – whether it’s to share new insights into the need for evidence, or to seek fresh approaches to tackling policy challenges.
Our Policy Workshops this year have included:
- The value of Real World Evidence in the context of the Life Sciences Strategy with the Department of Health & Social Care and the Office for Life Sciences in BEIS.
- The National Food Strategy with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.
- The impact of the 2040 UK ban on petrol and diesel on military operations with the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory.
In addition, we organised a series of Covid-related discussions with the Department for Education on the role of children in the transmission of Covid-19; levelling up places left behind; and mental health and wellbeing of adolescents – as well as three seminars in association with the Covid Commission, and a series of discussions with HM Treasury.
Professional Development
Through our Professional Development workshops and internships, CSaP helps researchers and civil servants experience the value of building links between evidence, expertise and policy making. We work closely with the Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) at Cambridge as part of their training programme, and with junior civil servants to give them an insight into the role of science and expertise in policy making.
Workshops
Professional Development workshop
CSaP’s Professional Development workshops give participants an opportunity to work together on some of the pressing challenges of our time. This year, we organised workshops for the NERC and ESRC DTPs at Cambridge; for the Borysiewicz Biosciences Fellowship; for the Churchill Scholarship; and for the Schmidt Fellowship in the USA. In these workshops, speakers drawn from CSaP’s network of policy professionals and academics discuss their own direct experiences of working together on policy issues, and offer advice on how to get involved.
Internships
CSaP’s policy interns are drawn from the UKRI policy internships scheme and the DTPs at Cambridge, and play an active role in our work – from helping to organise workshops and writing reports, to meeting with our Policy Fellows. This year we have hosted interns from Newcastle University, Imperial College and the University of Cambridge.
Policy Fellows meeting
Scientific Leadership
CSaP’s Scientific Leadership is a programme designed for mid- and senior-career scientists and engineers in both academia and government. Delivered through a workshop and one-to-one mentoring meetings, this programme offers an introduction to the ways policy makers and academics interact, how to communicate policy-relevant advice, and the way expert knowledge is used in policy making.
Policy Fellows elected in academic years
2018/19 and 2019/20
UK PUBLIC SECTOR – WHITEHALL
Cabinet Office: Joshua Bailey, Rachel Cooper, Pamela Dow, Helen MacNamara, Jonny Matthews, Alwyn Spencer, Lucy Smith, Tracey Waltho
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy: Zoe Bond, Alex Chisholm, Laura Eden, Louisa Elias Evans, Vedantha Kumar, Esther Kwan, Bridget Micklem, Wendy Middleton, Sam Reed, Carolyn Reeve, Stuart Sarson
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport: Ben Greenstone, David Knight, Sam Lister, Gaia Marcus
Department for Education: Robert Arnott, Paul Kett, Helena Wright
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs: David Kennedy
Department of Health & Social Care: Monika Preuss, David Williams, Chris Wormald
Department for International Development: Juliet Chua, Tom Wilkinson
Department for International Trade: Shachi Amdekar, Matthew Grainger, Cindy Kim, Shabbir Merali, Mark Prince, Crispin Simon
Department for Transport: Richard Bruce, Paul Davison, Amanda Rowlatt
Foreign & Commonwealth Office: Nicola Davis, Jemima Hodkinson, Joy Hutcheon, Susie Kitchens, Caroline Wilson
HM Treasury: Jon Sell
Home Office: Rosalind Campion, Shona Dunn, Hannah Edwards, David Grahame, Colin Hindson, Luke Hughes, Scott McPherson, Salma Shah, Daniel Shaw
Ministry of Defence: Thomas Holman, Alex Randall
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government: Pedro Wrobel
Ministry of Justice: James Bowler, Ciara Jevon
Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street: Malcolm Reid
UK PUBLIC SECTOR – OTHER
British Business Bank: Matthew Gill
British Council: Daniel Shah
Cambridgeshire County Council: Amanda Askham
Food Standards Agency: Emily Miles, Rebecca Sudworth
Government Office for Science: Andrew Kaye, Patrick Vallance
Greater Manchester Combined Authority: John Holden
National Audit Office: Tom McDonald
NHS England: Julian Kelly, Amanda Woolley
NHSX: Matthew Gould
UK Government Investments (UKGI): Jonathan Gorrie
UK Research & Innovation: Elaine Morley
Welsh Government: Shan Morgan, Andrew Slade
West Midlands Combined Authority: Deborah Cadman
INTERNATIONAL
Department of Home Affairs, Australia: Adam Ingle
Dubai Future Foundation: Patrick Noack
ETH Zurich, Singapore: Adriana Banozic-Tang
European Parliament: Alex Mayer
Hacettepe University: Mustafa Cemaloglu, Meltem Sengelen
High Health Council, Jordan: Mohammed Tarawneh
International Rescue Committee: Mouna Mayoufi
Islamic University, Gaza: Khamis Elessi
King Hussein Cancer Center: Asem Mansour
Ministry of Health, Palestine: Samah Jabr
Ministry of Public Health, Lebanon: Ibrahim Bou-Orm, Hilda Harb, Nour Kik
Museum für Naturkunde Berlin: Johannes Vogel
Palestine Counselling Centre: Rana Nashashibi
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars: William Alexander Long
World Health Organization: Tasnim Atatrah
OTHERS
Academy of Medical Sciences: Rachel Quinn, Tom Livermore
Article 19: Paige Morrow
British Academy: Molly Morgan Jones
Centre for Progressive Policy: Zoe Billingham
National Autistic Society: Anna Bailey-Bearfield
Nesta: Eliza Easton, Nathan Elstub, Christopher Haley
PublicFirst: Vinous Ali
Reboot the Future: Keiran Goddard
Royal Academy of Engineering: Hayaatun Sillem
Royal Society: Richard Walker
STOP THE TRAFFIK: Sarah Brown
Tony Blair Institute for Global Change: Max Beverton-Palmer
Varkey Foundation: Vikas Pota
Which? Consumers' Association: Rocio Concha Galguera
INDUSTRY
Digital Science: Daniel Hook
Equifax: Rhona Parry
Google: Alina Dimofte, Katherine Oyama
Inmarsat: James Cemmell
KingsBay Capital: Daniel Shin
McKinsey & Company: Andrew Goodman
CONTINUING POLICY FELLOWS ELECTED IN 2019/20
Stephen Aldridge, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
Deborah Bronnert, Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Beth Chaudhary, Cabinet Office
Joanna Dally, BP
Ciaran Hayes, Northern Ireland Office
Adam Heathfield, Pfizer
Emma Hennessey, Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Dudley Hewlett, Defence Science & Technology Laboratory
Andrew Limb, Cambridge City Council
Neil Lindsay, Defence Science & Technology Laboratory
Liz McKeown, Office for National Statistics
Katie O'Donovan, Google UK
Graham Pendlebury
Julie Pierce, Food Standards Agency
Chris Pook, Government Office for Science
Simon Strickland, Cabinet Office
Elizabeth Surkovic, Royal Society
John Taysom, Privitar Ltd
Glenn Woodcock, Exeter City Futures
Emma Woods, Royal Society
Affiliations shown are correct as at the time of election to the Fellowship.