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Examples of questions asked by our Policy Fellows
- What are the conditions which foster the development of technology clusters? What can policy makers do to facilitate this?
- How can uncertainty – and the likely costs of action vs inaction – be communicated?
- How can more be made of the UK’s strengths in science to improve our economic performance and strengthen our society?
- What role can be played by the promotion of “social justice” in achieving the objectives of security policy?
- Why do policies fail? What can be done about it?
- How important is land as a contributor to economic growth and well-being?
- What role does public perception play in policy making and what account should be taken of it?
- How can one measure and quantify sustainability?
- Where and how might it be appropriate to undertake randomised control trials to evaluate the impact of policy, and what are the limits to such approaches?
- What could policy makers do to create the right environment for emerging technology innovation required for the transition to a more sustainable energy future?
- What do we know about the social connectivity of older people? How does the connectivity of older people vary across the population?
- Which types of growth are wellbeing-enhancing and which are not?
- What does research show about the ways in which social policy (e.g. the benefits system) supports or deters entrepreneurialism and innovation? How might this be improved?
- How do people reach decisions under conditions of uncertainty? What other sources of influence play a part in decision-making?
- What are the pros and cons of "open data"?
- Under what circumstances can decentralisation of power and funding increase the ability of organisations, communities and individuals to be resilient?
- What does the latest research have to say about techniques for noise mitigation?
- How best should politicians draw on "the wisdom of the crowds"?
- How should the overall economic value to the national economy of investments in aviation infrastructure be assessed?
- What does research tell us about the nature of societal and economic systems in which innovation flourishes?
- What factors influence public understanding and acceptance of scientific advice, and why do people tend to be more sceptical of some issues than others?
- What approaches might be adopted from the culture of entrepreneurship to make better use of public sector assets?
- How can we get better at foresight of technical areas that are critical for defence and security?
- What should the respective role of government and industry be in the identification and protection of the discrete and systems-level elements of a nation's critical national infrastructure?
- What factors determine the growth of cities relative to the nations of which they are part (e.g. national administrative factors, place in broad industrialisation cycle, connectivity)?
- What new ways of delivering educational services will be supported by new technologies and business models? How will this impact on the role of education in the UK economy?
- How can the global supply of food and other commodities be secured and expanded against the backdrop of rapidly increasing demand from fast growing emerging economies?
- What factors could push people to change travel patterns (or stop travel) through the use of technology, thereby making a positive environmental contribution?
- Are policies designed to address conflict of interest issues proportionate to the problem?
- What models other than “economic rationality” might be used to explain or predict behaviour?