Working with the UK Parliament: resources for academics

The UK Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit (KEU) works hard to help academics engage with the UK Parliament.  They recently ran a training webinar attended by our Research Impact Manager, Dee Summers, who has compiled all of the resources which you can now access on the Impact Google Drive.

The UK Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit (KEU) provided an overview of the UK Parliament and ways to work with the institution including details on Select Committees, the House of Commons and House of Lords libraries, and POST, and explores working with individual Parliamentarians, including:

• UnderstandingParliament’s role and work, and the difference between Parliament and Government
• Learning how research is used in the UK Parliament
• Being able to identify and take up opportunities to feed your research into Parliament’s work
• Being aware of where to go for further support

The KEU team have kindly provided a recording of the session and other resources that can be accessed via the following links:

• Recording of the session and accompanying Parliament for Researchers training slides
• Here is a page of ‘how to’ guides from the UK Parliament, including:
  • Infographics on research impact at the UK Parliament and getting research into Parliament
  • Guidance on submitting evidence to a select committee
  • Tips on writing a policy brief
•  “What shall I do next” webpage to help you think through the steps in engaging with the UK Parliament.
• A-Z list of all UK Parliament select committees.
• all current open calls for evidence from UK Parliament select committees.
• full list of UK Parliament All Party Parliamentary Groups (Click on ‘Registers published in 2020’ and then the most recent register)
• POST website, including upcoming briefing topics, newsletter sign up and contact details for specialists.
• More information on academic fellowships from the UK Parliament.  (This includes PhD fellowships and those for academics later in their career)
• Here is where you can sign up for email alerts on topics which you choose. (This will include select committee inquiries and other opportunities/news)

If you are interested in engaging with Parliament around the COVID-19 outbreak and its impacts, please see the COVID-19 researcher engagement webpage outlining the most targeted, impactful ways that researchers can engage at the moment.