Public Consultation on a Higher Education Research Policy Engagement Framework

The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science invites you to provide submissions on an open consultation to understand how researchers engage with policy makers.

The consultation is intended to:

• Gather information from individuals and representative organisations on current practices in researcher-policy practitioner engagement across the sector
• Determine areas of communication and engagement to be improved
• Inform the development of a national framework to support engagement and knowledge sharing.

Submissions are invited from researchers at all stages of their career in higher education institutions, research centres and research performing organisations.

Consultation paper

Please see the background paper above for further information on the consultation.

To make a submission, please provide your response on the link below.

Towards a Framework for Engagement

Closing date

The closing date for submissions is 5pm on 29 September 2023. We cannot consider submissions received after this time.

Initial findings in relation to the consultation revealed a need to promote understanding of the existing research and policy engagement in practice.

DFHERIS hosted a panel discussion in response to these findings at the SFI/IRC Research Summit, 2023. During the discussion panel members shared their experience of policy-research engagement in practice.

Panel members:

• Dr Jennifer Brennan, Research and Innovation Strategy Lead, Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
• Prof Lorraine Leeson, Associate Vice Provost for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Professor in Deaf Studies, Trinity College Dublin
• Prof Brian Ó Gallachóir, Director of the MaREI SFI Research Centre for Energy Climate and Marine, and Professor of Energy Engineering at UCC
• Ciara Pidgeon, Principal Officer, Research and Evaluation, Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

A recording of the panel discussion is now available here.

Data protection

Any personal information that you volunteer to this Department, will be treated with the highest standards of security and confidentiality, strictly in accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 is a regulation on data protection and privacy for all individuals in the European Union. It came into force across the European Union on 25 May 2018. It replaces the previous data-protection directive, which had been in force since 1995 and forms the basis of our new Irish data-protection laws (Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018).

Freedom of information

However, please note that the information provided in the submission form may be shared with relevant Government Departments and state organisations during the review process.

It is intended that all submissions received will be made available under the Freedom of Information Acts and as such may be published on the Department's website following the publication of the Strategy.