FAQ

Policy Fellowships is an inspiring professional development programme for policymakers across the UK.

Each year the Academy selects exceptional policymakers to become Policy Fellows. This intensive development programme builds stronger connections between policymakers and the technical community in support of better evidence-based policymaking.

Policymakers confront increasingly complex and connected challenges, often with a strong technical element. The Policy Fellowships programme equips policymakers to meet those challenges in three ways: 

Better Policy

• Identify blind spots and make rapid progress through your policy challenge
• Test different approaches to define and solve problems. Source new insights to support your evidence base
• Share and apply learning with your team and organisation 

Networking

• Expand your personal network with our community of innovators and leaders 
• Engage with and influence the work of the Academy and its partners 
• Build a new network of contacts to support you and your team’s future public policy work 

Developing Professional Skills

• Learn how engineers solve problems and use techniques such as systems thinking  
• Leverage advice and support from across the technical community 
• Benefit from mentoring and engineering advice to rapidly develop your knowledge and skills

Successful Policy Fellows are senior civil servants or public servants with responsibility for policy or service design in any sector.

The Academy is committed to diversity and inclusion, and we welcome applications from a range of backgrounds for example: economics, politics, sociology, planning, digital, science or engineering.

Please see the How to apply page, or email [email protected].

There are two cohorts each year. Applications typically open in September and March.

Each cohort has a limited number of seats to ensure the highest quality of the experience. Typical cohorts will have 5-12 Policy Fellows.

Policy Fellows are selected as part of a competitive process on the strength of their application. Successful Policy Fellows have: 

• A well-defined policy challenge which will benefit from engineering expertise 
• Clear expectations of how they intend to apply their learning within their organisation 
• The support of a sponsoring manager and employer commitment to fund your participation in the programme. Please note that there is no option to self-fund your enrolment at this time
• A commitment to play an active role as a Policy Fellow and future alumni of the programme 

Applications are assessed by a Selection Panel and results are communicated to applicants shortly after. We may offer deferred places on the programme to help with the balance of a cohort.

Yes, there is no restriction for unsuccessful applicants.

The Policy Fellowships programme focuses on policy questions that participants are interested in. The selection of topics below are illustrations of the kinds of policy questions that Policy Fellows might wish to discuss:

• What factors influence the private sector’s ability and willingness to invest in innovation, commercialisation and growing new markets?
• How can the UK drive productivity in sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture and construction?
• How does government ensure that regulatory approaches can accommodate future trends in new technologies, work demographics, threats and health hazards?
• How can policy ensure safety and ethics are embedded in the deployment of automation, AI and machine learning?
• How can we ensure that infrastructure decision-making, design and delivery is fit for the demands of the future?
• How can society take a systems approach to addressing air quality within UK cities?

You may break a challenge into several related questions or provide a narrative to frame one key question.

NOTE: In light of COVID-19, we have adapted this programme so it can be delivered online, without compromising on the quality of engineering  input and expertise.

Over the course of four months, Policy Fellows engage in an intensive programme including:

• On-boarding call: Refine your chosen policy challenge and discuss your bespoke programme. (1h)
• Kick-off workshop: An introduction to the core programme with an interactive online seminar, where you can meet your peers, hear more from our alumni about their experiences, engage with engineers and explore how to apply systems approaches to policy. (1 day)
• One-to-one meetings: Connect with up to twelve leaders in engineering through a series of tailored one-to-one video calls, which have been specially matched to your policy challenge. (6 days)
• Bespoke coaching: Make the most of your programme and engage in small group coaching sessions on applying systems approaches to policy. (1h)
• Reporting workshop: Share your experiences and what you have learnt on the programme with peers through an interactive online seminar. (3h)
• Programme report: Reflect and capture your personal experiences in a written programme report, with the option to co-create an insights publication which captures your experiences with your peers.

Alumni from the programme access the following benefits:

• Mentoring: Improve your links with the engineering community through mentoring from world leading engineers.
• Events: Access a mixed programme of online and onsite activities, including a series of engineering policy panels, deep-dives into systems approaches, workshops and roundtables.
• Engineering policy work: Influence and shape live policy work undertaken by the National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC).
• Academy networks: Expand your professional networks, and strengthen your evidence base, with special access to Academy’s networks of leaders and a selection of exclusive events.
• Alumni network: Join with peers to nurture and grow a talented alumni network to foster closer connections between government and engineering.

The programme fee is currently set at £3,100 per Policy Fellow. 

The Policy Fellowships is not a full-time development programme. The core programme involves eight days of activities over a four-month period, including: a full-day workshop in month 1, a half-day workshop in month 4, six days of your choice reserved for one-to-one meetings over four weeks in months 2 and 3, and a few shorter sessions and social meet-ups.

We also recommend making time for reflection throughout the programme and for writing a short programme report at the end. The intensity is in the reflection time, which is strongly recommended to make the most of the programme.