How to prepare for your first meeting with a policymaker

The Innovation & Research Caucus (IRC) is a network of innovation and research funding experts who work with UKRI stakeholders and policymakers to undertake research and other activities that increase the use of robust evidence, insights, and thought leadership in UKRI’s strategies and interventions. The aim is to generate positive impact in the way UKRI funds and supports research and innovation.

These research insights are used by policymakers to inform thought leadership, business cases, and spending reviews; demonstrate progress against policy objectives; and support the development and refinement of policy and investment design.

Often, the first meeting between academics and policymakers can feel daunting. To help build capacity and enable researchers to engage confidently with policymakers, we have developed the following guidance notes, drawing on input from our stakeholders, to help researchers make the most of their first meeting.

Take a look at our guidance notes for meeting with your UKRI Stakeholder liaison team below…

(The following notes have been prepared for Innovation Research Caucus researchers meeting with UKRI/DSIT stakeholders (e.g. in the context of the IRC these are ESRC, Innovate UK, UKRI or DSIT  project sponsors). UKR/ DSIT stakeholders optionally refer to these notes for context and background information about the meeting. To find out more about the IRC please visit our about us webpage).

The meeting with your UKRI stakeholder liaison team/DSIT contacts is an informal, light touch discussion with a focus on an introduction to the IRC flexible fund project, an opportunity for UKRI/DSIT stakeholder contacts to ask any questions about your project and allowing plenty of time for discussion. The discussions could, e.g., cover potential links the project may have with current strategic priorities/Strategic Development Plans (UKRI), dissemination of outputs, etc.

If you have any questions/queries for the UKRI stakeholder liaison team please contact Sachin Anand, IRC Knowledge Exchange and Impact Manager, (Sachin.A.Anand@wbs.ac.uk) who will either resolve your query internally or liaise with UKRI contacts on your behalf.

Pre-meeting preparations by researchers

• Meeting with IRC’s KE and Impact Manager to discuss Impact map and stakeholder engagement, is discussed internally within IRC and internal templates are completed before your meeting. This is to ensure that any potential opportunities for co-creation, dissemination and how to maximise the diffusion of your actionable insights with UKRI stakeholders and potentially, wider stakeholders within the research and innovation system have been explored.
• Use/ adapt your induction project slide to give the liaison team a five-minute overview of your research project focusing on the ‘so what’ of the project.
• For example, this slide would cover – what are the project objectives/what is the project trying to achieve/address andwhat does this project aim to contribute to the research and innovation system.
• The presentation should not focus on the ‘how’ i.e. the methodology. Although UKRI/DSIT colleagues will be interested to hear a brief summary of the project’s approach, they will be most interested in the project’s ambitions.

Structure of the introductory meeting

The IRC welcomes support from the UKRI liaison team/ (DSIT if applicable) in an advisory capacity. Projects Leads are not expected to make any major changes to what they have already planned.

Introductions

• Research team gives an overview five-minute presentation of their project.
• UKRI liaison team gives an overview of their role within UKRI/ DSIT and any potential links the IRC project may have with current strategic priorities.
• Liaison team may ask questions.

A few useful (optional) prompts to guide discussions are given below.

• Any specific questions for funders that may have come up during your discussions with IRC’s Impact and Knowledge Exchange Manager around impact/stakeholder engagement/communications planning.
• Explore opportunities for academic staff to enable/support UKRI/DSIT stakeholders to maximise the diffusion of each project’s output for example.
• Once an output is published, are there any meetings/conferences/ events where academics would benefit from presenting their output to maximise diffusion?
• Does the liaison team have any potential contacts whose input would be helpful in cocreating the format/language of the output?