The Finsbury Institute is committed to building a community of externally engaged researchers across City St George’s, supporting colleagues to connect their work with policy, practice and public life.
Training
The Finsbury Institute offers a growing programme of training opportunities designed to support researchers at all stages to develop their policy engagement skills. These sessions provide practical guidance on how to communicate research to non-academic audiences, build relationships with policymakers, and navigate the institutions and processes that shape policy.
Delivered in collaboration with experienced practitioners (including former Members of Parliament and parliamentary officials), our training combines real-world insight with practical advice. Whether you are new to policy engagement or looking to deepen your experience, our training sessions are designed to help you translate research into meaningful impact.
1-2-1 Policy Engagement Support for SPGA Researchers
The Finsbury Institute is once again inviting Expressions of Interest from SPGA researchers seeking dedicated support from specialist policy‑engagement trainer and former Labour MP Huw Edwards to help translate their research into impact in the UK Parliament and/or the devolved administrations.
This opportunity will provide 1‑to‑1 support sessions with Huw for two selected researchers (doctoral level and above). It is aimed at colleagues with clear, actionable insights ready to inform policy.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:
- Possess concrete, original research findings (not speculative or exploratory).
- Be working on a completed project or one close to completion.
- Have a specific policy objective, such as:
- an upcoming Bill or piece of legislation (noting the new parliament will start on 13 May)
- a Select Committee inquiry
- an All‑Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) agenda item
- or another clearly defined parliamentary route.
How to Apply
If you are interested in Huw’s support with your work, please submit a short Expression of Interest (max 300 words) outlining:
- Your research area and key findings.
- The stage of your project.
- The specific parliamentary process, policy issue, Bill, inquiry, or APPG you aim to influence — and why your research is particularly relevant now.
Deadline: 5pm on Friday 29 May 2026
Support will be awarded to the two proposals demonstrating the strongest combination of policy relevance, clarity of objectives, and readiness for engagement.
Support Session Details
The 1‑to‑1 support will be delivered in person on the afternoon of Monday 15 June 2026. Applicants must be available to come to campus at this time. Successful applicants will be notified by Monday 8 June – one week before the session.
Submission
Please send your EOI for 1-2-1 support from Huw to the Director of the Finsbury Institute, clearly marked “EOI Policy Engagement Support”, at: diana.beech.2@city.ac.uk
Policy Engagement Training with former MP Huw Edwards, MBE
Enhancing your impact with policymakers and parliament, open to all academics in the School of Policy and Global Affairs – from PhDs to Professors.
A tailored session will be delivered on: Monday 15 June 2026
- Room: D427
- Time: 10am – 12pm
About the Trainer
Huw Edwards MBE, former Member of Parliament, brings decades of experience working across government, parliament, and the policy sector.
His interactive sessions will help researchers:
- Communicate research effectively to MPs, Select Committees, civil servants and Ministers
- Navigate the parliamentary process with confidence
- Strengthen the policy relevance and impact of academic research.
Interactive policy engagement workshops for academics and doctoral students
About the workshops
These interactive sessions introduce researchers to the UK policy environment and provide practical guidance on how academics can effectively engage with policymakers, parliament, and government. Participants will gain practical communication skills and learn how to translate research into policy-relevant insights.
Workshop Facilitator
Dr Mark Bennister
Policy engagement consultant and researcher, Visiting Reader at Queen Mary, University of London and Affiliate Researcher at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge.
Workshops
Understanding the Policy Environment
Date: 15 April 2026, 10am – 3pm
Location: Drysdale Building, room ELG02
Understanding How the UK Parliament Works
Date: 29 April 2026, 12pm – 4.30pm
Location: College Building, room AG02
(refreshments provided)
Understanding How the UK Government Works
Date: 20 May 2026, 10am – 3pm
Location: College Building, room AG02
Developing Communication Skills for Policy Engagement
Date: 3 June 2026, 12.30pm – 5pm
Location: Rhind Building, room D427
(refreshments provided)
Register
To register, fill in the form indicating which of the four workshops you would like to attend.
Location
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Clerkenwell campus
City St George's, University of London
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom
External resources
In addition to providing in-house training, the Finsbury Institute continues to draw together some of the most useful resources from across the UK policy engagement community to support researchers at City St George’s to engage confidently and effectively beyond academia.
These curated materials offer practical guidance, toolkits and insights for researchers at all career stages – whether you are taking your first steps into external engagement or building sustained relationships with policymakers.
- The UK Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit (KEU) provides a valuable starting point, offering accessible guidance on how Parliament works, how to engage with it, and opportunities to contribute research through evidence, briefings and fellowships. To supplement our training, the KEU offers online training through a series of webinars for researchers. We also encourage researchers to sign up to the KEU’s weekly round-up email of opportunities for the research community to engage with UK Parliament.
- Researchers looking to contribute ideas directly to the UK parliament can explore current select committee inquiries and calls for evidence, where Parliament actively invites input from the research community. Researchers are encouraged to search regularly for keywords relating to their work to find relevant opportunities. Submitting evidence to these inquiries is a key route to ensuring research informs parliamentary scrutiny and debate.
- Researchers may also wish to engage with policymaking across the UK’s devolved administrations. The Scottish Parliament invites contributions through its regular calls for views, which enable individuals and organisations to inform committee inquiries and the development of legislation.
- Similarly, the Welsh Parliament (Senedd) has committees, which normally post opportunities to submit evidence on their own web pages. Researchers are encouraged to read the Senedd’s advice on how to submit evidence to support scrutiny of policy and proposed laws in Wales.
- Finally, in Northern Ireland, the Assembly provides a dedicated calls for evidence portal, where committees invite input from researchers, practitioners and the wider public to inform their work.
Engaging with the devolved administrations offers valuable opportunities to shape policy development at a regional level and to contribute research expertise to diverse legislative and policy contexts across the UK.
We will continue to update this section with relevant resources which, together, reflect a growing policy engagement ecosystem dedicated to strengthening the connections between research, policy and practice. We encourage colleagues to explore, learn from, and contribute to these resources as part of their own policy engagement journey.