Networks of expertise and evidence
for public policy

Annual Report 2019/20

Introduction from the Executive Director

“The case for more and better links between science and government has never been clearer.”

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

wheel
“My fellowship has been a great opportunity to be on the cutting edge of examining government policy, while working to develop ideas and solutions to various problems with the support of academic experts.”

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:

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.