Policy committees
Details of the committees that govern British Academy policy work and roles.
The Academy’s public policy programme of work is overseen by the Vice-President (Public Policy), Professor Christina Boswell FBA, drawing on advice from the Public Policy Committee (PPC). The Committee is chaired by Professor Boswell and includes Fellows as well as external stakeholders amongst its members.
Membership
Professor Christina Boswell FBA (Chair)
Professor Fiona Stafford FBA
Professor Peter John FBA
Professor Sonia Livingstone FBA
Professor Susan Owens FBA
Dr Amy Orben (external)
Professor Carol Tannahill (external)
Halima Khan (external)
Jamie Agombar (external)
Kate Dommett (external)
Stephen Aldridge (external)
(Secretary: Dr Adam Wright)
The Research and Higher Education Policy Committee takes an overview of, and approves priorities for, the Academy’s research funding, higher education and skills policy. The committee is chaired by the Vice-President (Research & Higher Education Policy), Professor Margot Finn FBA.
Membership
Professor Richard Blundell FBA
Professor Roberta Gilchrist FBA
Professor Charles Forsdick FBA
Professor Ed Page FBA
Professor Peter Mandler FBA
Professor Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad FBA
Professor John Scott FBA
Professor Isabel Torres FBA
Dr Valeria Skafida (external)
Michelle Doyle Wildman (external)
Dr Hannah Gibson (external)
Professor James Wilsdon (external)
The Higher Education Policy Development Group shapes and informs policy projects in the area of research and higher education. Following strategic advice from the Research and Higher Education Policy Committee, the committee supports the policy team in developing policy work.
Contact
The group is chaired by Professor Peter Mandler (University of Cambridge) and the secretariat is Connor Mckenzie, Deputy Head of HE Policy. If you have any questions about this group, would like further information, or are interested in becoming a member, please contact [email protected].
These forums bring together senior representatives across organisations that fund, use and commission social science, arts and humanities research, in order to facilitate discussion about the major issues and challenges facing these disciplines. They provide an arena for debate at the highest level, to enable the needs of the social sciences, arts and humanities to be addressed and tackled.
Strategic Forum for Social Sciences
The Forum was established in 2001, originally hosted by the Economic and Social Research Council. Since October 2009 the British Academy has convened the Forum.
Chair: Professor Mike Heffernan FBA, Vice-President (Social Sciences)
Strategic Forum for the Humanities
The Strategic Forum for the Humanities was established in April 2017 in response to the longstanding success of the equivalent body for the social sciences.
Chair: Professor Judith Still FBA, Vice-President (Humanities)
The secretary for both Strategic Forums is Eleanor Hopkins, Deputy Head of Research Policy at the British Academy.
The Humanities and Social Sciences Learned Societies and Subject Associations Network is convened by the British Academy to bring together interested parties and academics from across the arts, humanities and social sciences in order to discuss a range of issues and policy developments pertinent to these disciplines. The network meets annually at the British Academy and includes invited speakers from relevant stakeholders to offer insight into areas of debate and policy activity.
The network is also used to disseminate information of relevance to learned societies and subject associations, as well as to collect input on the Academy’s policy work by email in between meetings.
The secretary for this network is Joanna Thornborough, Senior Policy Advisor (HE & Research) at the British Academy.
The Advisory Committee for Languages sits within the Academy’s formal governance structure and reports to the Research and Higher Education Policy Committee. It meets to discuss languages policy work of the British Academy and provide advice and direction to the Higher Education and Research Policy team. The Committee also provides a forum for communicating the Academy’s work on languages, and for sharing information.
Chair: Professor Charles Forsdick FBA, Lead Fellow for Languages at the British Academy.
The secretary for this committee is Marta Kowalewska, Senior Policy Advisor (HE & Research) at the British Academy.
Membership
Professor Charles Forsdick FBA, University of Cambridge (Chair)
Professor Wendy Ayres-Bennett, University of Cambridge
Professor Janice Carruthers, Queen’s University Belfast
Professor Claire Gorrara, Cardiff University
Vicky Gough, British Council
Professor Neil Kenny FBA, University of Oxford
Professor René Koglbauer, Association for Language Learning / Newcastle University
Professor Aditi Lahiri CBE FBA, University of Oxford
Fhiona Mackay, Scotland’s National Centre for Languages (SCILT)
Suzanne O’Farrell, Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL)
Professor Wen-chin Ouyang FBA, SOAS University of London
Lisa Panford, St Mary’s University
Dr Christopher Stone, University of Wolverhampton
Leilah Tott, Department for Education
Professor Li Wei FBA, Institute of Education, UCL
Katherine Warren, Arts and Humanities Research Council
John Worne, Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL)
The Open Access Advisory Group provides advice and strategic oversight of the Academy’s policies, procedures and positions on the issue of open access. It ensures that the overall position of the Academy is outward facing and coordinated across policy, publishing and funder issues, and championing ways to make open access work for the SHAPE disciplines by providing sector leadership. The group is chaired by the Vice-President (Publishing and Conferences), Professor Lindsay Farmer FBA and includes both Fellows and external stakeholders amongst its members.
The secretary for this group is Dr Joanna Thornborough, Senior Policy Advisor (HE & Research Policy), at the British Academy.
Membership
Professor Lindsay Farmer FBA (Chair), Vice-President, Publishing and Conferences
Professor Margot Finn FBA, University College London
Richard Fisher, Former Managing Director, Cambridge University Press and VP of the Royal Historical Society
Professor Simon Green, Aston University
Professor Jane Ohlmeyer FBA, Trinity College Dublin
Dr Catherine Souch, Head of Research and Higher Education, Royal Geographical Society
Professor Chris Wickham FBA, University of Oxford
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