How academia can work with government

Academic evidence and expertise can inform and improve government policy, but many academics find it difficult to contribute to policy making. As a result, policy influence too often remains the preserve of the few – particularly in central government. This is a waste. Universities, research councils and funding councils should improve the way they support policy engagement. This report sets out how.

Drawing on our work on the use of evidence and expertise in government, our experience of training academics in how to engage with policy making, and interviews with academics and civil servants, we set out five ways in which universities, research councils and funding councils can better support policy engagement:

1. Make academics easier to find
2. Train academics to engage with policy
3. Fund policy engagement
4. Reward policy engagement
5. Measure what is working.