The British Academy launches new Innovation Fellowships bringing sustainability expertise to Whitehall

The British Academy has announced a new cohort of Innovation Fellowships that will bring cutting‑edge social science and humanities (SHAPE) research expertise to the core of government policy making.

Beginning in March 2026, the 12‑month Fellowships are designed to strengthen evidence‑informed policymaking across several areas of government, with the cross-cutting theme of sustainability. The seven Innovation Fellows will be embedded directly into policy teams at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, and the Government Office for Science.

By bringing SHAPE research into the heart of government, the scheme builds on a successful model for collaboration between academia and policymaking supported by the British Academy since 2021. It will help build stronger bridges between research and policymaking, connecting SHAPE expertise with policy teams working on areas ranging from landscape recovery and climate change adaptation to public participation in environmental decision‑making.

Professor Christina Boswell FBA, Vice-President for Public Policy at the British Academy said:

“These new Innovation Fellowships will help bring rigorous research into the heart of policymaking on sustainability. The social sciences and humanities play a crucial role in addressing some of the key challenges we face: from climate adaptation to supporting communities to make the changes needed to reach environmental goals. As a national academy, we are proud to be able to connect and embed SHAPE researchers in government policymaking, to ensure that this rich expertise is helping to shape evidence-informed, inclusive and sustainable policy decisions for the future.”

Professor Anjali Goswami, the Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said: 

“The Innovation Fellowships create a powerful opportunity for researchers to work at the heart of policy. By embedding cutting‑edge social science and humanities expertise within departments, we can better understand how people engage with challenges like climate adaptation and net zero, and translate that insight into more responsive, evidence‑informed policymaking.”

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The British Academy’s policy work is enabled by funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). The policy insights and advice that emerge from Academy policy work are independent from the government.