UofG Centre for Public Policy

22 April 2026: The University of Glasgow’s Centre for Public Policy (CPP) is now accepting applications for the 2026-2027 cohort of Practice Fellows, an opportunity for policy professionals to spend approximately 30 hours over eight months working with the Centre to access academic insights into policy questions they face in their roles.

Apply to become a CPP Practice Fellow

The University of Glasgow Centre for Public Policy (CPP) is now accepting applications for its 2026-2027 cohort of Practice Fellows. CPP Practice Fellows are policy professionals who spend approximately 30 hours over eight months at the Centre for Public Policy to gain insights into policy questions facing them in their roles. Fellows are professionals external to higher education in a policy-relevant role from the public, voluntary or private sector.

The Centre for Public Policy Practice Fellows programme aims to foster interdisciplinary engagement, collaboration and research activity by bringing policy professionals into the University of Glasgow. This Fellowship programme aims to collaboratively produce and mobilise knowledge for mutual benefit; to increase the CPPs research and engagement capacity and network while investigating pressing issues from policy organisations and building skills.

Why become a Fellow?  

Practice Fellowships offer access to leading researchers across a range of disciplines at the University of Glasgow to support the development of evidence-informed policy, offer innovative career development pathways, and foster collaboration between academics and policy professionals. Specifically, the Fellowship enables a professional to engage with evidence and expertise around a pressing question in their work.

Practice fellows also have access to the CPP office hub at the Advanced Research Centre, the University library resources and support from CPP team members to enable them to develop their project.

You can learn about the type of projects Fellows undertake by reading blogs from our first cohort of Fellows in 2025-2026.

Practice Fellows:  

• Gain access to expertise from the academic and policy communities from a broad range of fields aligned with CPP expertise, activities, and outputs.
• Have support from CPP team members to enable them to make connections and access resources they may need to progress their organisation’s work and their career.  
• Can use hot desk space at the CPP Hub at the Advanced Research Centre.  
• Will be given Affiliate Status and entitled to a University of Glasgow staff card, IT/email account and access to resources such as the University Library.  
• Have priority access to relevant CPP events and knowledge exchange activities.  
• Through association, benefit from the Centre for Public Policy’s positive reputation for building partnerships with the policy community, to foster joint working and evidence-based policymaking. 

Eligibility

The Centre for Public Policy welcomes applicants with experience of working within the public policy field as researchers, policy makers and/or practitioners, external to higher education institutions.

To be eligible to be a fellow, an applicant must have five years minimum experience in a policy-related role. It does not have to be five years with the same organisation. This can include those working at all levels of government, the voluntary sector or the private sector. The Fellowship is particularly suitable to those at mid-career level.

We will not appoint fellows who are currently working within higher education institutions, nor those who are working as a self-employed consultant. You must have organisational affiliation.

You must be based in the United Kingdom or Ireland to participate.

A Practice Fellow is not a paid staff member of the Centre for Public Policy. They undertake this fellowship with the approval of their line manager as a part of their regular role in their home organisation. The University of Glasgow does not charge a fee to participate in this programme.

Expectations

Fellows are expected to:

• Consult with their line manager on the aims and questions posed in their application. Fellowships should have alignment with the current work of the Fellow’s organisation alongside the Fellow’s personal career development 
• Participate in short monthly check-ins with the Practice Fellow programme lead 
• Participate in at least two in-person meetings with the entire Cohort, including an End of Fellowship Showcase at the University of Glasgow 
• Produce one output resulting from their Fellowship, usually in the form of a blog, on the CPP website in Spring 2027

How to apply

Please fill out our Application Form and complete a two-page CV and attach it to an email by Monday 1 June by 5pm to the Centre for Public Policy email address, public-policy@glasgow.ac.uk.

• Application form: CPP Practice Fellows 2026 - Application Form
• For more information on the Fellowship, please see our Frequently Asked Questions document: CPP Practice Fellows 2026 - FAQs

Information webinar - 13 May

There will be an online information webinar for applicants on Wednesday 13 May, 11am – 12pm. 

Sign up for the event via Eventbrite.

If you are unable to make this event, the recording will be posted on our website after the event.

If after reading the FAQs you have questions about the Fellows scheme, please contact the Centre for Public Policy at public-policy@glasgow.ac.uk.

 

---

This programme is funded by the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA).

First published: 22 April 2026