Junior Policy Fellowship
The Centre for Science and Policy is currently piloting a new offering for early-career policy makers, the Junior Policy Fellowship.
Building on the success of the existing Policy Fellowship Programme (which is aimed primarily at the Senior Civil Service), the Junior Fellowship is designed to inspire the next generation of policy makers and researchers to build connections which will grow and develop with them as they go forward in their careers. In line with the objectives of the Civil Service Reforms, the Fellowship will promote the value of evidence, and progress the move towards open policy making by opening up new ways of thinking and fresh perspectives, exercising “open minds” throughout policy making process, and creating engagement between policy, expertise and delivery. By selecting from the most promising young policy makers and matching them up with the leading young researchers of their generation, it will create a joined-up cohort of ambassadors for the value of scientifically-literate policy making.
Adapting the model for a Junior Policy Fellowship is intended allow high-flying early-career policy makers (selected, for example, from the UK Civil Service Fast Stream Programme, and similar initiatives elsewhere) to accelerate the building of their personal networks, and develop links with their peers in relevant research disciplines, in other departments and administrations, and in industry. At the same time, it will enable early-career researchers to understand the potential impact of their research on policy priorities, and to build the exploration of relevant issues into their research methodologies.
As with the existing Policy Fellowship Programme, the critical starting point of the two-year programme is the identification of the questions which the Fellow brings to Cambridge, and the bespoke programme of meetings with researchers designed to address those questions in an initial residential visit. For Junior Policy Fellows this initial visit will be for three days, with a further two days of meetings arranged in the second year, giving the chance to take account of changes in policy areas and responsibilities. Introductions will be mostly to postdocs and research associates, with the aim of building a network of policy makers and researchers who will move through their careers in step. The two years of the Fellowship will provide ongoing opportunities for the Fellow to convene discussions and initiate collaborative research into critical questions, as well as to interact with other Fellows and members of the senior network at the Centre’s scheduled events.
The first Junior Policy Fellows in the pilot scheme are Mitchell Harris, then of the MoD and now at the Cabinet Office (pictured above at CSaP's Annual Reception in 2012); Chris Ganje of BP; and Frank Davies of the Child Poverty Unit. For Mitchell's own account of the value of involvement with CSaP see here.
The Junior Policy Fellowship Programme will develop sustained and meaningful relationships between researchers and policy professionals in industry and government at a key formative point in their careers. In 30 years time the benefits of the Fellowship, and of CSaP’s other Professional Development activities, can be expected to be visible at the very highest levels of policy making, as the alumni of the scheme progress from the “fast stream” to the very top of government.
The fees, terms and conditions and application procedures for the Junior Policy Fellowship are the same as for the core programme (see here).
To download a summary of the objectives, structure, benefits and costs of the Junior Policy Fellowship, click here.
