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Queen’s academic experts will support the delivery of the £3.75m project funded by the .  

at the will lead the consortium 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.  

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. 

 from the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen’s will lead the Northern Ireland Hub, with support from the Centre for Public Policy and Administration at Queen’s.  

Dr Taggart said: “Evidence Exchange will offer a step change in strengthening linkages between policymaking and research organisations across Northern Ireland and the UK more broadly. To date, policymakers have lacked a direct mechanism to engage with research institutions. I look forward to developing this policy-to-research infrastructure with partners across the public and civil service. In doing so, it will better enable policymakers to access and leverage evidence and expertise, ensuring that research and evidence-based policymaking make a constructive impact on public policy and people’s lives.”  

Professor Muiris MacCarthaigh, Director of the Centre for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA) at Queen’s added: “More than ever there is a need for policymakers to collaborate with researchers and research institutions as they seek collectively to address complex policy challenges at local, regional and national levels. Evidence Exchange will provide a welcome new infrastructure to enable this engagement. Colleagues at the Centre for Public Policy and Administration are looking forward to playing their part in sharing ideas, resources and good practice in the coming years.” 

The consortium includes King’s College London, University of Edinburgh, Swansea University, University of Manchester, University College London and Â鶹Íø. 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 Study of Existential Risk is also part of the consortium.     

The Evidence Exchange project will commence in February 2026.  

If you are interested in learning more about Evidence Exchange, please contact: j.taggart@qub.ac.uk (NI Hub Coordinator) or evex@csap.cam.ac.uk  

Press release adapted with thanks from the ESRC and University of Cambridge.

 

Media

Media enquiries to Zara McBrearty on email: z.mcbrearty@qub.ac.uk