In winter 2025, I spent three months on placement with the
Open Innovation Team (OIT) in London to gain hands-on policy experience. The Open Innovation Team is a cross-government unit that works with experts to generate ideas for policy, review evidence, engage experts and evaluate impact. The OIT was founded in 2016 and has delivered more than 120 policy projects for clients across government, including the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Education and many others. The team is part of the civil service and operates as an in-house consultancy on a cost recovery basis, delivering a range of tailored, policy-focused outputs, including deep dives, rapid reviews and interactive workshops.
I joined the OIT to learn more about how academic and expert evidence feeds into the policy process and how to foster bridges between academia and the world of policymaking as well as exploring career paths in policy. I had the opportunity to work on two projects during my placement, the first on improving cybersecurity practices in primary healthcare with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the second with the Department for Education (DfE) on the potential and risks of using AI for personalised learning in schools. The projects primarily involved conducting literature reviews and interviews with both academics and practitioners, searching for and analysing relevant datasets as well as synthesising the insights and developing recommendations.
While most of the workload at OIT is directed towards these types of projects, the remainder is spent working with their university partners. In my case, this involved co-organising a policy school challenge for MSc and PhD students at the University of Surrey’s Institute for People-Centred AI aimed at increasing accessibility in the media and creative industries through AI solutions. I also helped deliver several impact advice clinics for academics from OIT partner universities to support them in engaging with local and national government and maximising their policy impact. The research specialisations of these academics varied widely, ranging from brain injury rehabilitation and food security to legal assistance for immigrant families, and it was very exciting to not only learn about these fascinating fields of research but also to consider how to better frame this important academic work to meet the needs of policymakers.
Coming from a quantitative background, the placement was particularly beneficial in helping me develop key skills in policy writing, stakeholder engagement, and qualitative research, broadening my capabilities as a mixed-methods researcher. At the same time, I found that my technical and quantitative expertise was highly valued within the multidisciplinary environment of the OIT, allowing me to contribute significantly across several projects. The opportunity to collaborate on a wide range of projects with a motivated team, each bringing a unique area of expertise, is one of the best parts of working at the OIT. Moreover, having spent the first two years of my PhD immersed in a narrowly defined area of research, the placement offered a stimulating change of pace, enabling me to work on broader policy questions that call for both interdisciplinary thinking and a focus on practical implementation.
One of the aspects I most appreciated during the placement was the welcoming and inclusive team culture at the OIT. The work environment is highly collaborative, with a strong emphasis on constructive feedback and support, fostering a sense of shared ownership. PhD students are fully integrated into the team from the outset, and it is evident that the OIT places a high priority on supporting their professional development. If you are interested in how academic evidence informs policymaking – and in contributing to that knowledge exchange within a dynamic and driven team – I highly recommend you apply to the Open Innovation Team.
