91Ö±²¥

How we can help

Our team identifies, creates and promotes opportunities for policy-makers and researchers to engage at every level, raising awareness of the various ways this can be achieved and the real-world impact it can generate.

Promoting opportunities

Connecting policy-makers to academic research - at the local, national and international levels - can lead to better, evidence-informed policy outcomes with stronger societal impacts. The team is equally passionate about establishing strong talent pipelines into government, ensuring that the brightest minds are tackling the biggest challenges.

We connect researchers across the University with relevant opportunities.  For policymakers, we facilitate connections with 91Ö±²¥ researchers in several ways. These include informal conversations, seminars and roundtables, upskilling programs for civil servants, and placements, secondments, and graduate recruitment. We can help policy-makers in local, national and international government gain access to high quality research and expertise across a wide range of areas. 

91Ö±²¥ Policy Campus

The is about creating opportunities and connections for researchers and civil servants working on national policy (based in this region) to collaborate on policy making, enhancing the policy evidence base and improving outcomes. 91Ö±²¥ is the largest centre of national policy making outside of London, with around 1,000 civil servants based in the city. The Policy Campus brings together the University of 91Ö±²¥, 91Ö±²¥ Hallam University, further education colleges, local government and regional offices of central government departments, including the Department for Education (DfE) and the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP); and others with a smaller presence such as the Home Office, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Ministry of Justice. The Policy Campus initiative also aims to create exciting and dynamic policy career options for our graduates.

The University has a longstanding partnership with the Civil Service who provide up to 65 work experience opportunities per year via easter internships, summer, and year long placements in their 91Ö±²¥-based offices such as the Dept. for Education and Dept. for Work and Pensions. This work is through the 91Ö±²¥ Policy Campus and aims to decentralise key government roles, opening the Civil Service up to talent across the country and boosting regional economies. Interns through these schemes have gone on to be successful in securing placements as gap year students and in the Civil Service Fast Stream. The 91Ö±²¥ Policy Campus enables civil servants to develop careers that can progress to the highest levels of the civil service within the region. This partnership is inclusive for students and we aim to demonstrate that a career in policy is a possibility for all, no matter your degree subject or background, and without requiring you to be based in London.

Our students

Through the partnership we have the following high profile opportunities (all of which come with a financial bursary) for undergraduate students to gain paid work experience in the Civil Service right here in 91Ö±²¥, whilst simultaneously establishing a pipeline of emerging talent into the 91Ö±²¥ Policy Campus:

Easter Internships (exclusive to the University of 91Ö±²¥)

Two-week internships for students with little to no work experience to gain hands-on project work experience in the Civil Service. Projects are typically hosted in the Department for Education (DfE), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and some other Government agencies in the region, working on live project briefs whilst being linked to a senior supervisor.

Summer Placements (exclusive to three partner universities)

10-week paid placements at the Department for Education (DfE) or Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) through which students are embedded in the 91Ö±²¥ Policy Teams and work on live policy assignments with colleagues from Yorkshire and London. 

Year-long Placements  (exclusive to three partner universities)

Year-long paid placements give students the opportunity to work as Policy Officers in the Department for Education (DfE) and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Tailored support

Tailored support is offered to students who want to engage with the above opportunities, and a pipeline has been created to ensure we give students the best possible chance of succeeding. This includes:

Policy Challenge: A simulation day led by the Head of Long-Term Strategy at the Civil Service where students act as Policy Advisers to the government.

Civil Service panel event: Students hear from representatives at the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), Department for Education (DfE), Home Office, and Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to gain insights into local and national government.

Intensive 1:1 placement application support: Students hear from representatives at the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), Department for Education (DfE), Home Office, and Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to gain insights into local and national government.

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Over the past few years, we’ve built an excellent relationship with the University of 91Ö±²¥ 91Ö±²¥ Policy Campus Team, particularly the student skills lead, to deliver a range of outreach and engagement sessions with students, culminating in the summer internships and 12-month placements. This is central to our work to develop a future talent pipeline into the Civil Service across our northern hubs and is the flagship offer within the 91Ö±²¥ Policy Campus. The quality of students has been consistently high, and they have brought energy, enthusiasm and fresh perspectives to key work areas in the DWP and the DfE."

Sophie Malendewicz, Head of Long-Term Strategy, DWP

 

Hear from student Sana about her experience at the DfE

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Support for Policy Makers

The University's world-leading research spans a wide-array of disciplines, drives intellectual advances and addresses local, national and global challenges. 

Navigating the expertise at our University can be daunting. Our team simplifies this process by connecting policy makers directly with the experts they need.

The support we offer includes:

• Support with consultation responses
• Bespoke briefings on Areas of Research Interest (ARIs)
• Briefing papers
• Seminars
• Roundtables
• Informal conversations

From tackling ageism in the arts to exploring the take up of low carbon technologies, read more about how policy makers work with our researchers to make evidence-based policy decisions:

Whatever your interest, we will endeavour to find the best person in the University of 91Ö±²¥ for you to talk to.

Examples of our work with policy makers