Policy Fellowships

The Warwick Policy Institute's Fellowship scheme aims to build a network of impactful policymakers and Warwick researchers focused on addressing real-world policy challenges. These inward Fellowships offer Warwick researchers, centres, groups, or departments the opportunity to host externals from the policy domain to sustain or enhance policy engagement activity.

Warwick Policy Fellowships

This Fellowship scheme is funded via our Policy Support Fund and a grant from EvEx. There are three Fellowship streams, designed to offer routes to formalise established relationships but also foster new policy engagement networks:

In-Residence Fellows: with access to an engagement budget of up to £3,000 (regional/national), £5,000 (international)
Challenge Fellows: with access to an engagement budget of up to £3,000
Honorary Fellows: with access to an engagement budget of up to £1,000

Call deadlines and how to apply:

2 November 2026: Call opens

1 December 2026: Call closes

8 January 2027: Fellows and Hosts appointed

Nominate a fellow (Honorary or In-Residence) hereLink opens in a new window

Apply to be a challenge Fellow or Host hereLink opens in a new window

Scheme Details

Fellows should be non-academic stakeholders or collaborators from the policy world and not hold a substantive role at another Higher Education Institution.

In-Residence

In-Residence Fellowships will spend a small amount of time over a set period on campus (e.g., one day per month for two terms, or one three-day visit, etc. - see below example of a potential fellow plan). These fellows can belong to a department, research group, or centre, but must have a named Warwick staff member who will act as their Host. The Host will hold a policy engagement budget of up to £3,000 for regional/national fellows and up to £5,000 for international fellows.

At the point of application, a budget must be submitted for an engagement plan to host the fellow. This budget can be used to cover practical costs incurred by hosting the fellow (such as travel to and from campus, accommodation, and subsistence) as well as to support policy engagement activities and events involving the fellow and to maximise their time at Warwick.

Challenge

Challenge Fellowships are for researchers or policymakers looking to begin a new policy engagement relationship. Policy Fellows and Academic Hosts apply independently and are then matched by the Policy Institute team. To support matching and provide focus, these fellows will be expected to align to the UK Government MissionsLink opens in a new window

These Fellowships have a national remit and are not open to policy actors from outside the UK. Once matched, the academic Host and Fellow will agree a budget (up to £3,000) and engagement plan. This will be agreed via correspondence by the Policy Institute delivery team and must align with the scheme’s T&Cs (see below).

Honorary

Honorary Fellowships are light-touch Fellowships designed to support and recognise policy partnerships held by Warwick researchers.

Warwick staff are invited to nominate people for these Fellowships and, if awarded, fellows will be provided with the title of Warwick Policy Fellow. These fellows will be featured on the Institute website, invited to an annual Policy Fellows Dinner, and have the opportunity to attend a variety of policy engagement events hosted through the Warwick Policy Institute and elsewhere. A small budget of up to  £1,000 will also be allocated to support engagement activity involving the fellow. These Fellowships also require a Warwick staff member to act as their Host.

Fellowship timeline and associated cohort events

One of the core objectives of the Policy Institute Fellowships scheme is to create a cohort, allowing networking and connections to be drawn across policymakers and researchers. To facilitate this, a light-touch programme of events has been planned.

24 February 11:00-14.00	Welcome Lunch and networking event for Fellows, Hosts and Institute Steering Committee
17 March 13:00-15.00	(optional) Policy Institute Community of Practice event, bringing together fellows, external collaborators, and the wider researcher community.
26 May 10:00-14.00	Fellows' Showcase and Lunch – an opportunity to share Fellowship plans and discuss future collaboration and funding avenues.
May 31	Challenge Fellowships funded activities complete
July 31	In-Residence and Honorary Fellowships funded activities complete
July - August	Fellows’ feedback and evaluation of year.

Please hold these dates in your diary when applying. It is an expectation of the In-Residence and Challenge Fellowships that Fellows and Hosts will attend the Welcome Lunch and Fellows' Showcase. It is also suggested that this programme can be built into engagement plans; i.e., it may be sensible to cluster planned activity around these dates. In some cases, it may not be possible for Host or Fellow to attend these events: if this is the case, please let us know when applying if you are able to do so.

What could a Fellowship look like?

Example Fellowship Schedule

Visit Phase	Day	Core Activities & Expectations	Key Deliverables & Outcomes
Visit 1: Scoping (2 days on campus)	1: Connect	- Arrival at Warwick, Fellow and Host meet. Campus tour, followed by the Policy Institute Welcome Lunch and networking event.	Confirm aims and focus of the Fellowship. Meet the Policy Institute Fellowship cohort.
	2: Scope	- Meeting between Host and Fellow to explore the policy challenge, identify decision makers, stakeholders and beneficiaries. - Departmental seminar or similar other on-campus activity.	Agreed workplan and stakeholder network mapping
Interim Period (remote)	Ongoing Collaborate	- Remote collaboration to draft a co-authored policy brief or funding proposal	Draft output: First iteration of the core policy document finalised asynchronously
Visit 2: Impact (3 days on campus & London)	3: Engage	- Roundtable discussion with Warwick researchers, policy stakeholders and external partners -Dedicated writing and synthesis session on campus	Final Publication: Completed text for a high-impact, professional policy brief
	4: Share Knowledge	- Fellow to deliver a workshop, seminar or roundtable - Peer discussion and feedback session with relevant colleagues - Reflection meeting between Fellow and Host	Knowledge Exchange: Transfer of sector expertise to Warwick researchers
	5: Influence	- London Policy Briefing: High-profile dissemination event for Westminster stakeholders; departure	External Impact: Direct delivery of research insights to decision makers and influencers
Total	5 days	Summary: Focused hybrid model prioritizing rapid co-production and direct policy engagement.	Full Package: 1x Joint Policy Brief, 2x Campus Seminar, and 1x London Stakeholder Briefing.

What is proposed here is a 5 day fellowship schedule, divided into two visits by the Fellow to Warwick campus. However, Fellows and Hosts are encouraged to design the schedule that best suits the policy objectives they are trying to fulfil. Spending some of the Fellow's time at Warwick is encouraged, but the Policy Institute team may be open to other Fellowship models: for instance, funding a researcher to be based in a policymaking context for a few days, or a research group or department hosting a Fellow as a collective. The working group will review such models, and approval will rely on Host departmental support

Eligible costs

The Fellowships awards can cover enablement costs for the Host and/or Fellow and research/dissemination activities.
These could include: reasonable travel, accommodation, and hosting costs to facilitate the Fellow’s attendance at the University or other locations necessary for the engagement plan. Funds can also be used to organise and deliver policy engagement events as part of the planned Fellowship.
Fellows are encouraged to request travel costs from their substantive employers where possible.
Fellowships cannot cover salary or workload buyout for either Fellow or Host. Honoraria are not possible in line
with broader university policy.

How are Policy Fellows appointed?

In Residence, Honorary and Challenge Fellowships will have two different application strands, designed to accommodate the two possible pathways to these Fellowships: those who have established or newly established relationships they would like to formalise and sustain; and those looking to build new relationships to achieve policy change in a specific research area.

Strand 1: In-Residence and Honorary - a Host researcher with a pre-existing relationship can complete a short Expression of Interest (EoI) form (see above) to nominate a Fellow. They arrange the relationship with the fellow and agree the terms of the Fellowship (e.g., three meetings and a wider stakeholder engagement event in May on the Warwick campus). These Fellowships are not tied to a particular theme or government priority area, but are intentionally broad in their definition of policy to support the broadest range of researchers possible.

Strand 2: Challenge - researchers and policy makers apply independently to be a Host or Fellow, providing some detail on their research interests and potential areas they would like to connect with someone on; for example, ‘SEND education provision in the West Midlands’. These themes will be expected to connect to one of the UK Government Missions:

Kickstart Economic Growth
Make Britain a Clean Energy Superpower
Take Back Our Streets
Break Down Barriers to Opportunity
Build an NHS Fit for the Future

There will be a process of matching applicants based on research/policy fit. These Fellowships will be awarded on the bases of the potential of the match, but fellow and host will be expected to submit a plan and budget for the Fellowship schedule which will need to be agreed by the Fellowship Working Group and authorised by Chair’s action (by the academic lead). This will be agreed via correspondence.

Need inspiration?

Meet our current Policy Fellows

You can find out more about our Policy Fellows and their work here.

T&Cs

For Honorary and In-Residence Fellowships all funded activity must be completed by 31 June 2027; for Challenge Fellowships all funded activity must be completed by 31 May 2027 (this is a requirement of the respective external funding bodies and is non-negotiable).
Fellows should be non-academic stakeholders or collaborators from the policy world and not hold a substantive role at another Higher Education Institution.
All above costs should be in line with University guidance and PSF T&Cs 2026-27 (alcohol cannot be expensed). If using external service provides for any part of your Fellowship activity, please ensure this is in line with University financial regulations. If unsure, please query with your departmental administration/finance team, or the Policy Institute team prior to arrangement.
For Honorary and In-Residence Fellowships, a fully costed budget should be provided at the point of application. If awarded, any changes to the agreed budget must be communicated to and signed off by the Policy Institute team.
For Challenge Fellowships, Fellows must be national in remit and there is a cap of £1,000 per Fellow for travel, accommodation and subsistence across their 5 days of visits. The remaining budget must be utilised for other policy engagement activities.
All Fellows must have a named Warwick Host. This person can be a Warwick researcher or research enabler, and they must be on a contract that will outlast the Fellowship duration. The host will hold the budget code for the Fellow and their engagement activity, and will hold primary responsibility for end-of-fellowship reporting.
It is expected that all nominated Fellows will have been consulted and agreed to their nomination prior to an application being submitted.
Departmental sign-off: For In-Residence and Challenge Fellowships, departmental sign-off by your Head of Department is essential (you will be asked to tick a box to confirm this when applying and awards will be subject to confirmation of this). We advise that for all Fellowships where some form of in-kind departmental support is required, however light, that this is discussed with departmental administrators prior to applying. For instance, if you wish to arrange card access or desk space for your Fellow for a couple of days.
Final decisions regarding the appointment of Policy Fellows will be decided by the Policy Institute Steering Committee.

^{EvEx Evidence Exchange support the fellowships scheme.}

Any questions?

If you have any questions or issues, please email