Open Innovation Team (OIT) PhD Placement Scheme 2026: Apply Your Research to Real-World Policy Challenges

The UK authorities’s Open Innovation Team (OIT) is now accepting functions for its extremely regarded 2026 PhD Placement Scheme, providing a transformative expertise for doctoral researchers searching for to apply their expertise past academia. Since 2016, OIT has welcomed greater than 150 PhD college students into placements, a lot of whom have gone on to form impactful careers in authorities departments, suppose tanks, and coverage institutes.

This prestigious programme offers an immersive three-month placement expertise the place PhD college students work instantly with policymakers, educational consultants, and authorities officers on real-time coverage improvement and analysis.

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About the Open Innovation Team

OIT is a cross-government unit primarily based within the UK that helps departments and public companies by harnessing insights from academia to handle complicated coverage challenges. Their work spans a broad spectrum of points together with well being, justice, schooling, sustainability, power, synthetic intelligence, and worldwide improvement.

New for 2026, OIT has additionally launched an Evaluation Services Unit (ESU)—a devoted division that employs each quantitative and qualitative methodologies to assess the impression of presidency insurance policies. PhD college students positioned within the ESU will contribute to evaluations utilizing a mixture of strategies, supporting evidence-based coverage design and implementation.

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What the Placement Involves

Placements run all through the calendar 12 months in 4 cohorts, with roughly 30 alternatives obtainable yearly. Each placement lasts three months and is obtainable full-time.

Successful candidates will:

• Contribute to high-impact coverage and analysis tasks

• Engage in planning and facilitating policy-focused occasions

• Synthesize complicated analysis proof for policymakers

• Collaborate with skilled officers and exterior educational consultants

• Gain publicity to the interior workings of UK authorities

• Learn how to body and talk educational findings in sensible coverage codecs

Participants may also help the event of OIT’s new services, promote its work, and assist ship coaching for educational audiences.

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Who Should Apply?

This alternative is open to present PhD college students enrolled at UK universities who will nonetheless be enrolled prior to their anticipated viva date. You don’t want prior expertise in policymaking or policy-related analysis; the programme values numerous educational backgrounds and is designed to introduce researchers to authorities coverage processes.

Applicants should:

• Be pursuing a PhD at a UK establishment

• Be in a position to commit to a full-time 3-month placement

• Obtain monetary help from their college, doctoral coaching centre, or different establishment

• Be eligible for BPSS security clearance

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The Application Process

Applications for our 2026 placements in each coverage and analysis at the moment are open.  To apply, please full the application form.

Application deadline:
Tuesday, 1 July 2025 at 12:00pm (UK time)

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Informational Sessions

To assist candidates higher perceive the location scheme, OIT will host two digital Q&A drop-in periods. Interested candidates are inspired to attend:

These periods supply a great opportunity to hear from previous placement college students and OIT employees and to ask questions on what to anticipate from the programme.

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Why Apply?

The OIT PhD Placement Scheme is a uncommon alternative to achieve insider expertise in how proof and analysis are used to form public coverage. It offers a priceless platform for doctoral college students to:

• Develop policy-writing and communication expertise

• Work on urgent social, technological, and environmental points

• Build a community of policymakers, analysts, and analysis professionals

• Enhance future profession prospects inside and outdoors of academia

Whether your educational work explores machine studying, well being techniques, justice reform, or international improvement, this scheme gives an unparalleled alternative to apply your experience in service of public good.

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Apply for our 2026 PhD placements scheme here.

Take your analysis past the college. Join the Open Innovation Team and assist form insurance policies that make a difference.

For extra alternatives, please go to the web site of Opportunities For Youth.