Image: Craig Nicholson for Research Professional News
Earma 2024: Universities advised how to help their researchers shape policymaking
Universities that want to help their academics influence policymaking do not need to incentivise this work, but merely avoid discouraging it, according to an expert.
Euan Adie (pictured), who runs Overton, a UK-based company that tracks policy influences, told the annual conference of the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators that universities should realise that any time spent engaging with policymakers is time academics cannot spend researching or teaching.
This ought to be reflected in any evaluation of the academics’ performance, Adie implied.
To help sugar this pill, he suggested institutions might want to consider the benefits that could come from policy engagement besides advantageous shaping of the policy itself.
Such benefits could include increased chances of success in future grant applications, gaining experience or skills, alignment with an institutional mission, or the development of valuable case studies, he said.
Things to consider
Institutions should bear in mind that academics and policymakers “come from different worlds”, Adie said. They will probably be used to working at different timescales, and policymakers may need input in a form that is “more pragmatic” than academics are used to providing.
Academics may also worry about their work being misrepresented by policymakers, without having an opportunity to set the record straight, he warned.
Any institutions wanting to go further than passive encouragement of their academics to work on influencing policymaking could consider hosting matchmaking events for policymakers and their staff, Adie suggested.
He flagged that Overton is building a free index of policy engagement opportunities in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, which the company is supplementing with matchmaking tools.