Providing evidence to Government- measuring impact, staying neutral and retaining your sanity

Speaker: Gavin Costigan, CEO of  Foundation for Science and Technology

Providing expert advice to policymakers - or supporting others to do so - can be hugely important to getting high quality decision making by government. Both researchers and government are promoting more of it - and UPEN is a clear example of how universities are responding. But after the initial rush of excitement, how are we measuring the impact of all of this? And how do we offer advice, but walk the line of neutrality? In this session, Gavin Costigan will explore these issues, and show there are no easy answers to what can be increasingly tricky questions, but there are some things to guide you.

Gavin Costigan is Chief Executive of the Foundation for Science and Technology. He was previously Director of Public Policy|Southampton at the University of Southampton, and also spent 17 years as a civil servant in the UK Government. He was Chair of UPEN 2018-19.