King's College London

The Policy Institute and School for Government at King’s College London are part of a new consortium led by The University of Cambridge's Centre for Science and Policy to develop new UK-wide infrastructure and networks which will enable more universities and research organisations to offer ‘Policy to Research’ opportunities for civil and public servants. This work is funded by a new £3.75m grant from the Economic and Social Research Council.

The Evidence Exchange consortium includes King’s College London, the University of Edinburgh, Swansea University, Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Manchester and University College London. Project partners include the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN), the Scottish Policy Research Exchange (SPRE), the Resolution Foundation and Apolitical. At the University of Cambridge, the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk is also part of the consortium.

Launched on 1 February 2026, the Evidence Exchange project will:

• Develop a Digital Campus to promote academic and policy exchange schemes and courses for public and civil servants, making opportunities easier to find and access.

• Create professional development initiatives to equip public and civil servants with the skills and knowledge needed for effective public service today.

• Introduce innovative methods to develop communities of co-creation, including policy hackathons, sandpits, workshops and policy labs.

• Build relationships through extended Policy Fellowships and secondments for public and civil servants, and a new project matching policy contacts to research projects UK-wide – a Research Programme Policy Exchange.

• Extend capacity in the nations and regions of the UK, working with project partners and commissioning activity, while building a UK-wide, sustained community.

These activities will help improve public policy decisions and outcomes, drawing on research expertise and evidence from across the UK, and sharing learning and skills development between researchers and public and civil servants.

Professor Michael Sanders, Director of the School for Government at King's College London said:

"We're excited to be a part of this new programme which will help people working in policy anywhere in the UK - be that national government, devolved administrations, or local government - access high quality resources from research organisations. Our mission is to help create a world led with intelligence, integrity and innovation, and this initiative will help supercharge efforts towards that goal."