The Policy Engagement Team
Guided by a University-wide Policy Engagement Steering Group, the Policy Engagement Team works with Divisions and Departments across the University to enhance support for researchers' engagement with local, regional, national and international policymakers. This includes support for related learning and development, sharing of good practice, and brokering new opportunities.
What can the Policy Engagement Team do for you?
The Team facilitates engagement between researchers and local, regional, national and international policymakers, and establishes mechanisms to support research-uptake for the benefit of public policy design, delivery and evaluation.
The Team can provide support in a number of ways, by:
- Offering guidance on formal opportunities for policy engagement
- Highlighting funding programmes and fellowship schemes for policy engagement
- Providing guidance notes and tips for policy engagement
- Facilitating engagement with policymakers, where we have the networks
- Delivering training programmes for early career researchers and DPhil students
- Delivering targeted seminars on skills for effective policy engagement
- Facilitating the sharing of experience and learning from policy-engaged academics
If you’d like priority access to these benefits, you can sign up to join the Oxford Policy Engagement Network.
You can also follow the Policy Engagement Team on twitter or email the team at researchandpublicpolicy@admin.ox.ac.uk
Policy Engagement Team
Will Pryor, Head of Policy Engagement
Prior to joining the Policy Engagement Team, Will advised government departments and agencies, in and outside the UK, and worked with the Organization for Security & Co-operation in Europe, as well as the International Crisis Group.
Email: william.pryor@socsci.ox.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1865 (2)70401
LinkedIn
Jessica Hedge, Oxford Policy Engagement Network (OPEN) Coordinator
Jess is responsible for broadening and deepening membership of OPEN, ensuring members receive regular updates about the latest opportunities for engagement, professional development and funding, and facilitating internal funding calls and awards. Jess completed a PhD in viral evolutionary biology and postdoctoral research into antibiotic resistance evolution, and has joined the Team from a staff development role in the Medical Sciences Division.
Email: jessica.hedge@socsci.ox.ac.uk
LinkedIn
Jessica Simkiss, Humanities & Public Policy Officer
Jessie is our first point of contact for OPEN members in the Humanities Division and those in the policymaking community wanting to engage with them. A former researcher and report writer in New Zealand’s public sector, Jessie completed an MSc in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology in 2020.Jessica Simkiss, Humanities & Public Policy Officer
Email: jessica.simkiss@humanities.ox.ac.uk
LinkedIn
John Styles, Information Systems Lead for Business & Policy Engagement
John helps the specialist Business and Policy Engagement Teams to develop and make use of systems that can assist with identifying, targeting, connecting, tracking and more broadly delivering insights across the spectrum of engagement activities.
Elizabeth Crawford, Research Communications Officer
Liz supports the Policy Engagement Team in their communications with both internal and external audiences; amplifying researchers' policy engagement activities, as well as opportunities for engagement, across a range of platforms, in liaison with colleagues across Divisions, Research Services, and the Public Affairs Directorate.
Email: elizabeth.crawford@socsci.ox.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1865 (6)14869
Eliya Lucks, Communications Officer
Eliya produces and delivers a wide range of creative content showcasing the policy engagement experiences of researchers at Oxford in collaboration with colleagues across all Divisions, Research Services, and the Public Affairs Directorate.
Email: eliya.lucks@socsci.ox.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1865 (6)14888
OPEN Steering Group
The Steering Group includes representatives of all four Divisions and is chaired by the Academic Champion for Policy Engagement, Professor Christl Donnelly.
