Select committees currently accepting written evidence (compiled 12 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:

In partnership with AHRC, we are looking for an Arts and Humanities Research Fellow!

It’s the opportunity we’ve all been waiting for (well, some of us have been planning this for nearly a decade!) We are looking for an Arts and Humanities Research Fellow to help us do something great. Even if it’s no for you, please keep reading as it might be just the thing for one of your soon-to-finish PhD students or research assistants…

This 12-month Research Fellowship (minimum 3 days a week) is kindly funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It is open to junior researchers or knowledge exchange professionals with research skills who are employed by a university or one of UKRI’s Eligible Independent Research Organisations or Research Institutes.

In this role, you will develop and deliver a mixed-methods research project, culminating in the production of a report for policy audiences and an academic journal article for the research community. This will help establish and evidence the use of arts and humanities research in the UK Parliament and more broadly, make a valuable contribution in an area where there is a lack of evidence.

We will be running a virtual information session on MS Teams on Wednesday 26 March from 1-2pm, for you to find out more about this role, recruitment process and completing a fellowship at Parliament. Sign up here.

You can find more information about the role, including information on how to apply here.

The deadline for applications is 23:55, Tuesday 6 May.

Why should I engage? This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for someone who wants to play a pivotal role in supporting Arts and Humanities research to feed into policy. The opportunity will give the Fellow access to internal parliamentary data and information, with which they can make a new and impactful contribution to both the academic evidence base on the area as well as wider understanding and debate.

You’ll not be working alone on this, either! You’ll be working closely alongside members of the Knowledge Exchange Unit as well as our fantastic Arts and Humanities Thematic Research Lead, Dr Helen McCabe. 

British Psychological Society Fellowship 2025/26

POST and the British Psychology Society (BPS) are offering a 13-week fellowship to PhD students in a psychology-related subject and who are a Member of the British Psychological Society.

The successful applicant will be based in UK Parliament supporting its use of research evidence.

The fellowship lasts 13 weeks (full-time) or longer if part-time. It may be undertaken remotely, at POST’s offices in Westminster, or under hybrid working arrangements.

The successful applicant will start their fellowship by January 2026 or by April 2026.

The opportunity will be funded by the BPS and successful candidates will receive a one-off stipend payment of £7,922.50.

Read the application guidance document for more information.

Application deadline: Sunday 4 May at 11.59pm

Why should I engage?  POST’s PhD fellowships offer a once in a lifetime opportunity to view the epicentre of policy-making from the inside. By the end of their time at POST, fellows learn how to write for policy with balance and impartiality. They also develop a unique understanding of Westminster and forge important relationships with key stakeholders, while often delving into a novel and exciting topic of research. Find out more about  what a POST fellowship is like and the opportunities it can lead to

More information: Find out more about POST fellowships. Watch an interview with a previous POST fellow to learn about her experience. 

The Home-based Working Committee wants to hear from you 

The House of Lords Select Committee on Home-based Working has recently put out its call for written evidence. They have asked us to let you know that they are very keen to hear from researchers.  

You can find the call for evidence here.

The deadline to submit evidence is 10 am on Friday 25 April 2025. 

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 recommendations it makes to the Government. Find out more about why to engage with Parliament. You can also read more on engagement for impact.

Support 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“. 

You’ll never walk alone

A fortnight ago we put the word ‘Parliament’ under the spotlight. This week we are going Stateside, to explore the equivalent word used by our US counterparts (and indeed in many legislatures around the world): Congress. The word ‘congress’ comes from the Latin con- meaning ‘together,’ and gradus meaning ‘a step.’

In short, we can understand ‘congress’ to mean ‘to walk together.’  

So what? 

Have you ever asked yourself who are the people in Parliament you could ‘walk with’?  

Perhaps there might be a Library specialist who produces policy briefings that touch on your area? They might appreciate you sharing with them any new information or relevant updates to material in their briefings. They might also appreciate knowing they can call on you if they’ve got a technical question. 

How do you find that person? 

Spend some time exploring the kinds of briefings Library staff publish on the Library webpage. Once you start looking, you’ll see the names of the Library staff writing the briefings. If you can identify the person working on your topic then you’re nearly there.  

The next step is to draft a short (~250 word) email FAO the person, in which you outline your area(s) of expertise and the relevance to the policy areas they tend to write about. You might like to offer to provide them with any information that needs updating, or offer to review future drafts, or be an expert they can call on.  

Once you’ve done that, send your 250 words FAO email through to us in the KEU (on either of our email addresses! keu@parliament.uk or keu@email.parliament.uk) and we will forward it on to the person you would like us to send it to. You might not hear back from the Library staff member, but that doesn’t mean they’ve ignored your email; usually what’s going on behind the scenes is they’ve taken note if it and stored it for if/when the time comes