This project centres on communicating research evidence to a broad audience, to showcase how evidence informs policy. The intern will take source material from internal presentations and external policy-related publications from the last 2-3 years. They will use this to write a narrative briefing note telling the story of how evidence has shaped policy design, delivery and evaluation in a priority area (Programme for Government priorities: eradicating child poverty; growing the economy; tackling the climate emergency; ensuring high quality and sustainable public services). The objective is to demonstrate evidence-informed policy making in action, by communicating how evidence has underpinned policy in these priority areas. The outputs should be accessible and engaging for a broad audience including policy officials, Ministers and external stakeholders.
The intern will be based in the Office of the Chief Researcher, which is the central support unit for the Chief Social Researcher Dr Audrey MacDougall and coordinates initiatives for development and advocacy for the social research profession across Scottish Government. The intern will also engage with colleagues in specific policy areas and in the communications team, who will provide strategic guidance for this work. This internship is an excellent opportunity to gain insight into how research works in government, and to help build links across professions in government and between government and external stakeholders.