These opportunities and resources have been compiled by UK Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit (KEU) to help you understand how to engage with Parliament as a researcher.

Take a look at the KEU’s webhub of information and resources for researchers. 

Jump to:

Select committees currently accepting written evidence (compiled 5 March 2025)

Please click the title of any inquiry listed below to be taken to a summary of that inquiry and the full call for evidence. Remember that you don’t have to answer every question posed in each call for evidence.

New calls for evidence:

All other inquiries currently accepting written evidence:

Why should I engage? 
Submitting evidence to a select committee can lead to further engagement, such as an invitation to give oral evidence. Your submission will be published on the committee webpage. Your insights may inform the committee’s conclusions or the recommendations it makes to the government. Find out more about why to engage with Parliament. You can also read more on engagement for impact.

More information
Explore all select committee inquiries currently open for submissions of written evidence. 

Resources
Find guidance on submitting evidence to select committees on the KEU’s ‘how to guides’ page. Watch our 30 minute online training session “How to work with select committees”

Another POSTnote seeking your contribution: Regenerative Agriculture

POST, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, is calling for research contributions and information relevant to the upcoming POSTnote on Regenerative Agriculture.

This POSTnote will summarise the challenges and benefits of using regenerative agriculture practices to address issues such as agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Regenerative agriculture has no agreed standardised definition. It can be described as a set of practices that focus on ecological restoration of soil ecosystems: keeping soil surfaces covered; maintaining living roots year-round; minimising soil disturbance; growing a diverse range of crops; bringing grazing animals back to the land, and sometimes reducing synthetic chemical inputs. There is some convergence in relation to environmental objectives for regenerative agriculture, but social and economic aspects of remain uncertain.

POST will accept contributions until 6 April 2025.

Updated guidance: contributing your research to POSTnotes and briefings

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) have simplified and updated its guidance for researchers to share their expertise and provide contributions to POST’s work, such as POSTnotes and briefings for parliamentarians.

Researchers can feed into POST research projects by following the instructions on the contributing to POST research as an expert webpage. Researchers need only submit:

  • Their name.
  • A link to their online research/expert profile.
  • A personal statement (maximum 250 words) describing:
    • your relevant skills, experience and knowledge,
    • key issues relevant to the project that you would like to make us aware of.
  • Links to papers, publications, or blogs you have written that are relevant to the project topic, where available. Please link to open access sources if you can.

Please familiarise yourself with the new guidance before submitting your contribution to the new POST projects.  

Reminder: your contributions can be emailed to post@parliament.uk until the deadlines stated above. 

Why should I engage? 
POSTnotes are used by Members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords and UK Parliament staff to navigate complex research. Contributing to a POSTnote is a good way of feeding your expertise into the UK Parliament as part of a trusted, impartial publication.

All contributors are acknowledged when the POSTnote is published. On publication, you and your organisation’s communications team will be notified to publicise the POSTnote and your contribution. Therefore your contribution can help raise your profile and promote your research. 

More information

Coming soon: Arts and Humanities Research Fellowship

We have an exciting opportunity coming up for junior researchers in the arts and humanities to conduct a fellowship at Parliament, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
 

Beginning in Autumn 2025, this year-long, part time fellowship will explore, establish and evidence how arts and humanities research is used to inform scrutiny, legislation and debate; predominantly in the UK Parliament, but also more widely. 

Interested?

We expect to open recruitment in the next couple of weeks, so look out for an update in an upcoming round-up.

We are unable to answer questions about this fellowship until the application window opens.

A load of rubbish

Parliamentary scrutiny is principally done by select committees, who scrutinise the work, policies and spending of the Government through inquiries. But what does it mean to ‘scrutinise’? 

The word ‘scrutiny’ comes from the Latin scrutari, “to examine, investigate, search.” Some suggest the original meaning of the Latin word may be “to cut into, scratch.” On the other hand, others indicate the original meaning could be “to search among rubbish,” from the plural scruta, meaning “trash, rags, rubbish.” 

Quite the insight, eh?! 

With this knowledge, we can see select committee scrutiny in a completely different light: a process of scratching away at the surface and searching among the rubbish to find the good stuff to examine.  

So what? 

Now, we aren’t for a minute implying that anyone would submit rubbish to a select committee inquiry. However, we do want to make sure that, when the committee staff are searching for the really good stuff, they come across your evidence submission.  

How can you ensure your select committee evidence sparkles? By following the steps in this catchy acronym we’ve just made up: SPHOTFAS-QY 

  • Short – keep it punchy. No-one likes reading looong documents. 
  • Plain English – no jargon. Those reading your contribution won’t be experts like you.  
  • Headings and numbered paragraphs – structure. Make it easy for the reader to scan and navigate.  
  • Original – not a copy. Don’t submit something that’s already been published. It needs to reframed and reworded. 
  • Terms of Reference – what it’s all about. Do address the Terms of Reference. You don’t need to answer all of them. You could also point out if you think something is missing.  
  • Factual information. Include understandable, meaningful data and information – particularly if it comes from your own research.  
  • Actions. Make suggestions for what you think the Government should do and how that will improve things.  
  • Send early – don’t delay. The sooner you send your evidence in, the more time the committee has to take it into account.  

And if you want to really go for it… 

  • Questions. You could indicate what you think the most important questions are for the committee to ask the Government  
  • You. Think about yourself, your research crew, your organisation: what is unique about your contribution? Make sure you indicate that.