Why engage with Parliament?

• To support Parliamentarians in their work of scrutinising the Government, legislating, debating important issues and checking and approving Government spending
• To shape and change policy and the policy agenda
• To have demonstrable research impact
• To raise the profile of your research and broaden its dissemination
• To get a different perspective on your research
• To develop new research questions and projects shaped by 'real-world' questions
• To grow your network
• To be presented with new opportunities and have new experiences

Supporting researchers to engage

In the summer of 2017, we conducted a survey to better understand academics’ perceptions of barriers to engaging with Parliament. The biggest barrier was lack of knowledge or guidance on how to engage, whilst other barriers included lack of confidence, time or support. In response to the survey findings, we’ve been taking a number of steps to support researchers. These include creating this research impact web hub, developing multimedia resources and sharing first-hand stories from academics who have worked with Parliament. You can find out more about the survey and its findings here.

This research impact hub is continually evolving, so if you have ideas on how we can improve it, do drop us a line. 

Parliament and the Research Excellence Framework

Find out more about Parliament and the 2014 and 2021 Research Excellence Framework exercises.