This is why the Policy Fellowship Network exists. It provides a space for the people supporting the design and delivery to ask questions, share resources, provide support, and think strategically about the academic-policy fellowship landscape. Without a shared baseline of understanding, misunderstandings creep in: terminology gets misinterpreted, contract negotiations drag on for months, and expectations around funding, objectives and outcomes become misaligned. Through this, our aim is to strengthen the infrastructure and practice of policy fellowships across the UK.
Brought together by a shared commitment to fellowship practice
What began as a one-day capability-building workshop in 2024 – organised by UCL Public Policy and Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (CAPE) – has since evolved into a growing network. Our initial workshop, convened to support university knowledge mobilisers, highlighted the need for more strategic, inclusive, and sustainable approaches to fellowship design, delivery, and evaluation.
It’s not only university knowledge mobilisers who are grappling with these questions. Funders and colleagues across devolved, local and national government who support or host fellowships are equally invested. Which is why the Policy Fellowship Network celebrates inclusivity.
The Network is for everyone involved in their development, delivery, and evaluation. This broad approach ensures that diverse perspectives are heard, and that the practical realities of running fellowships are acknowledged and addressed.
What unites us is a shared commitment to learning from one another and improving the processes that underpin fellowships. We are also striving to diversify and equalise the field. What we mean by this is ensuring that fellowships are designed in such a way to include a wider pool of candidates from different disciplines, career stage and demographics We want to measure and communicate the value of fellowships better within our organisations and to funders, and to embed these mechanisms more firmly within institutional infrastructure.
Practical support and shared learning identified as top priorities
To meet our aims, the Policy Fellowship Network has identified practical support and shared learning as its top priorities. Members highlighted a need for accessible, reusable tools and opportunities to learn from one another’s experiences.
Other key areas of support needed include:
- resource sharing (such as onboarding packs and evaluation templates)
- better approaches to measuring impact
- more spaces for collaboration and innovation to avoid duplication across institution
- greater visibility and coordination including a clearer picture of fellowship activity across the UK
- creating concrete case studies to help make the case to partners and funders
- an academic mentoring scheme to support professional services colleagues in contributing to academic literature and sharing insights from fellowship programmes
Evaluation emerges as an upcoming theme for 2026
In 2026, the network will be running regular workshops and drop-in sessions, with evaluation emerging as a potential anchor theme. There’s also interest in strategic planning: setting goals, identifying funding opportunities, and ensuring inclusive engagement across fellowship schemes such as those run by UKRI, Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST).
We are keen to engage with a range of networks to help understand the regional specificities of policy fellowships through joint research and mapping exercises, themed workshops and resource development.
Aspirations for the Future
Looking further ahead, contributors hope to see the network develop a recognisable brand, supported by clear messaging and promotional materials. Toolkits and guidance documents could help standardise and strengthen fellowship setup and evaluation across the sector.
How to get involved
If you’re interested in joining the Policy Fellowship Network, sharing resources, or getting involved in future workshops, we’d love to hear from you. You can contact Alice Tofts, Policy Fellowship Coordinator at UCL Public Policy (alice.tofts@ucl.ac.uk).
The Policy Fellowship Network is coordinated by Alice Tofts (UCL), Lisa Hodgson (Durham University) and Audrey Tan (UCL).
Related resources
Early Years Education and Care Research: Lessons Learned for Academic Policy Engagement
From Caravan to Campus: Storytelling as a Bridge Between Research and Policy
