Applications have opened for the first round of policy fellowships funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport as part of the Covid-19 Commemoration Programme.
UK Research and Innovation has opened its call for the 2026 round of its policy fellowships, which are designed to improve the exchange of specialist knowledge between academic institutions and policymakers.
Fellows will spend 18 months embedded in one of 27 UK or devolved government departments, arm’s-length bodies and What Works Centres, where they will collaborate on research to address pressing national and global challenges.
"The fellowships aim to support career development and enhance fellows' understanding of applying research in government contexts," UKRI said in an announcement.
They will allow fellows to undertake "cutting edge research and inform decision-making on the most pressing policy problems of our time", the funding body added.
This year’s round includes funding from DCMS for fellowships focused on natural hazards to support future national resilience. The funding was announced in March as part of the Covid-19 Commemoration programme: a series of initiatives DCMS is coordinating to “commemorate the lives lost in the Covid-19 pandemic, recognise the sacrifices made by so many in support of our public services and mark this distinctive period in our history at a national and community level”.
It comes after the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration recommended that the government support a "prestigious UK-wide postdoctoral fellowship programme to enable early and mid-career researchers to work closely with policymakers to support preparedness for risks posed by natural hazards". Such an initiative would "serve to support the relationship between research and policymaking", the commission said.
The natural hazards and resilience policy fellowships are open to early and mid-career researchers and will be based within government or an arm’s-length body. The academics will “work closely with policymakers to focus on natural hazards and pandemic preparedness to help solve critical national and global challenges and work to guarantee the UK’s future resilience to situations that could cause or threaten serious harm to human welfare or the environment”.
Researchers will focus on natural hazards “with a clear focus on human impact”, such as health risks, flooding or loss of essential services like power, food, water, and telecoms.
Research projects for the hazards and resilience policy fellowships can have a full economic cost of up to £280,000, with UKRI funding 80% of that cost.
The 2026 funding round also offers funding for projects with a full economic cost of up to £180,000 for UKRI’s core policy fellowships and up to £220,000 for What Works innovation fellowships.
The core fellowships, which are also open to early and mid-career researchers, will be based in UK or devolved government or an arm’s length body. They will focus on one of the eight areas highlighted in the government’s industrial strategy – advanced manufacturing, clean energy industries, creative industries, defence, digital and technologies, financial services, life sciences, and professional and business services – or the government’s five missions: economic growth, NHS fit for the future, safer streets, breaking down barriers to opportunity and clean energy.
This category also includes gambling policy fellowships, focusing on delivery of the government’s statutory levy on gambling operators. Fellows will work with levy commissioners on research around public policy for the prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms.
The What Works innovation fellowships are open to researchers at all career stages. Fellows will be based within the What Works Network and will work to improve evidence on homelessness, policing and place. UKRI will fund What Works innovation fellowships with a full economic cost of up to £220,000.
All of the fellows will receive training, mentoring and networking opportunities with likeminded individuals, according to UKRI.
"Addressing the challenges and opportunities facing citizens, society and the economy requires an integrated, thriving and inclusive research-policy system that can act as a catalyst for innovation, social and institutional change. Central to this is enabling researchers and policymakers to collaborate and build relationships that are rich, deep and can be sustained," it said.
"Opportunities that help people move between research and policy communities to share and develop their knowledge and capabilities are a key mechanism to help develop this collaborative, connected system."
Applications close on 10 September.