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 7 May 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:

Contribute to a POSTnote: Multifunctional land use decisions: what role could collaborative governance models play?

Large-scale landscape changes are being driven by demand for housing, infrastructure, food, energy, nature recovery and climate mitigation and adaptation. The Government indicates some change in land use or management will be required to meet 2050 targets, whilst the Royal Society suggests more land would be needed than is available. 

Multifunctionality is described as the capacity of a landscape or ecosystem to provide multiple social, economic and environmental benefits to society. 

Decisions over land use and land change can be controversial. Different bodies have been developing and piloting collaborative models for multifunctional land use decision-making and governance. Such models can include co-production, where power is shared and different types of knowledge, expertise and stakeholders are involved on an equal basis as decisions or outputs are generated collaboratively. 

The POSTnote will summarise the challenges and opportunities in the development of new multifunctional collaborative land use governance models and the evidence these can support a more integrated approach to achieving the multiple and increasing land use demands. 

We will accept stakeholder contributions until Wednesday 11 June 2025, 23:59.

Please contribute to this POSTnote via this form. Remember to familiarise yourself with the new guidance before submitting your contribution.

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

Welsh Parliament: New Area of Research Interest: British Sign Language (BSL)

As you know, we are a collaborative bunch, so we are sharing this engagement opportunity, from our counterparts over in Wales, to engage with the Welsh Parliament. 

Senedd Cymru have recently launched an ARI Promoting and Facilitating the use of British Sign Language (BSL). This is to support work that Senedd committees might undertake on the proposed British Sign Language (BSL) (Wales) Bill if the Bill proceeds.

The committees are interested in exploring:

  • What are the information and communication needs of d/Deaf people in Wales, and how well are these needs being met;
  • How effective is the existing legislative framework at recognising and protecting the rights of d/Deaf people and BSL users;
  • Legislative and policy approaches to promoting and facilitating the use of Sign Language, and evidence of their impact;
  • Issues relating to the provision of interpreters, translators and other language and communication support professionals that work with d/Deaf people; and
  • Best practice in designing and delivering effective participation and consultation processes with d/Deaf people and BSL users.

Academics at all career stages, research institutions, and experts are encouraged to register their interest in this ARI, add their existing research and any planned research in this topic area to the ARI repository, and suggest questions that the Committee could be asking the Welsh Government in the short, medium, and long-term.

Why should I engage? 
Not everything happens in Westminster! In 1999, UK Parliament devolved some decision making to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The legislatures in these three countries have what are known as ‘devolved powers’. These are powers to make laws on a range of issues, or ‘devolved matters’. These include areas such as agriculture, education, housing and tourism. 

Just like in Westminster, in the devolved legislatures, Members scrutinise, debate and legislate. So, engaging with a devolved legislature is a great way to share your research with a policy audience.

Support resources: Find out more about devolution here. Watch our webinar on engaging with the devolved legislatures here.

Apply for UKRI policy fellowship funding (although it’s not to work with us!)

Whilst we are normally very strict in only publicising UK parliamentary engagement opportunities in this round up (and, as above, key opps to engaged with the devolved legislatures), today we are relaxing our rules a teeny because we think this opportunity from UKRI is too good for you to miss.

This is not an opportunity to work with UK Parliament, but it is an opportunity to work in other public policy contexts. 

The UKRI Policy Fellowships scheme, led by the ESRC Public Policy and Engagement team and UKRI Talent, will fund 42 opportunities for researchers to develop their career and enhance their understanding of applying research in public policy-focused contexts. This exciting opportunity allows researchers to embed themselves in a UK or devolved government host or in the What Works Network to undertake cutting edge research to inform decision-making on the most pressing policy problems of our time.

Three types of fellowships are offered:

Core policy fellowships: open to early and mid-career academics, focusing on key public policy priority areas and, where applicable, aligning to the government missions.

Natural Hazards and Resilience policy fellowships: open to early and mid-career academics, helping build resilience against natural hazards; extreme natural events or situations that could cause or threaten serious damage to human welfare.

What Works Innovation fellowships: open to all career stages and based within the What Works Network to increase the supply of and demand for evidence to address priorities in the hosts’ policy areas.

For further information, get in touch through ukripolicyfellowips@ukri.org

Why should I engage? 
This high-profile initiative provides a route for you to bring your expertise to bear on critical policy challenges facing governments across the UK, as well as to generate new insights into how to best support effective collaboration and knowledge exchange that will shape your career as well as support wider change.

Find out more about the UKRI policy fellowships programme

Reminders

Say what you see!

Whilst the iconic British gameshow Catchphrase has been around since 1986, it seems the concept of ‘say what you see’ (the catchphrase of Catchphrase, for those who aren’t familiar with the show) has been around a lot longer. ‘Black Rod’ is the title given to the senior officer in the House of Lords who is responsible for controlling access to, and maintaining order within, the House and its precincts. It’s a title which is over 500 years old. It’s also not the full title, which is in fact ‘Gentleman / Lady Usher of the Black Rod’.

But why ‘Black Rod’? Well, because the staff of office of the post-holder is a golden-lion-topped ebony staff or, in common parlance, a black rod. 

So what?
Black Rod’s duties include controlling access to the House: you might say Black Rod is a rather high-end gatekeeper. But she’s not the only gatekeeper in Parliament. MPs employ small teams of researchers/staff who, amongst other duties, manage their inboxes and influence their diaries; in so doing influencing who has access to the MPs. The thing about gatekeepers is they don’t just keep gates closed, they also open then. So when you’re thinking about sharing your research with an MP, remember you’re likely to have to go via their researchers/staff in the first place. Take some time to get to know what MPs’ researchers do and how they work, and think about how you can ensure they open the gate for you to engage with their MP. A good starting point to find out more about MPs’ researchers is the site many of them use – W4MP.

More details
Check out for more information on W4MP, a resource for anyone working for a British Member of Parliament or with an interest in how Parliament works.