The programme, which was based on the idea of chief scientific advisers and funded by funded by the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), brought ‘thematic research leads’ into parliament to act as a bridge between the research community and parliament and help improve the flow of research evidence into scrutiny and debate.

The three thematic research leads hired in the pilot, which ran from January 2023 until this summer, were Tamsin Edwards, professor in climate change at King’s College London, Kristen Harkness, senior lecturer and director of the Institute for the Study of War and Strategy at the University of St Andrews, and Rick Whitaker, professor in politics at the University of Leicester.

The thematic research leads were involved in a wide range of knowledge exchange activities during the pilot, including organising seminars, running workshops, speaking at conferences, horizon scanning activities and producing learning materials.

Due to the success of this pilot, POST will be rerunning and expanding the programme from autumn 2024, bringing in a new cohort of eight thematic research leads in a wider variety of policy areas. Names of the eight new leads will be announced soon.

Oliver Bennett, head of POST, said: “The thematic research lead pilot programme has been an exciting innovation in POST’s work bringing research expertise into the parliamentary process, creating opportunities for new ideas and networks.

“We’ve seen some fantastic work come out of this first year of the programme, which has enriched knowledge exchange in parliament, and POST is very much looking forward to expanding it later this year from three to eight policy areas.”

James Canton, ESRC deputy director of public policy and engagement, added: “The initial three thematic research leads have brought impartial and insightful expertise to the work carried out across parliament, feeding the best available research evidence into scrutiny, legislation and debate on critical topics such as climate change, international affairs and constitutional issues.

“Building on the success and pioneering work of these researchers, UKRI is thrilled to be expanding the scheme with POST later this year.”