Session 3: What policymakers want from Academia - A panel discussion

Date:
26 November 2020
Time: 10am - 12pm AEST

REGISTER

Panel Discussants:

Rachel Nolan is the Executive Chair of the McKell Institute, Queensland, an independent progressive public policy thinktank.  She also sits on a number of commercial and NFP boards and develops and teaches programs on public administration for South East Asian Governments through UQ International Development. She has extensive experience in public policy focusing primarily on economic and sustainability policy. Ms Nolan was a Member of the Queensland Parliament from 2001-12 and served as Minister for Finance, Natural Resources and the Arts (concurrently).  She also served as Minister for Transport, a role in which she conducted a major economic reform program.

Dr Tim Seelig is Director of Strategic Policy in the Queensland Department of Environment and Science, where he provides high level strategic advice, policy analysis and support on a range of challenging and multifaceted policy and operational issues, as well as assisting with complex departmental strategies and initiatives. Tim is also Adjunct Associate Professor in the Centre for Policy Futures at UQ, and has extensive experience in public policy systems and decision-making, including policy analysis, social and environmental advocacy, political processes and engagement, and the linking of research and analysis with policy.

Alison May is Program Manager Cyber and Intelligence in the National Security Science and Technology Centre, Defence Science and Technology Group (DST). She is a social scientist, specialising in monitoring and evaluation, strategic planning and international relations.  She has academic qualifications in politics, Asian studies, international relations, program evaluation, and operations research (complex problem analysis and the psychology of decision making).  Her career began in performance assessment with the Australian National Audit Office, assessing the alignment of Defence acquisition and international activities with Government objectives.  In 2002, she joined Defence’s Strategy Group, working in strategic policy, long term capability development and assessment of ADF operations in Iraq. She then commenced as a DST Group analyst, leading research on information inputs to strategic planning, as well as culturally appropriate indicators of progress for evaluation of international engagement and stabilisation operations. This has included eight operational deployments to the Middle East and Asia Pacific.  She has spent much of the past few years in senior management roles overseeing DST’s Organisational and Social Sciences capability, or as the Group Lead for raising, training, managing DST’s direct support to Operations capability.

About Getting Research into Policy and Practice: Webinar Series

Join us for a three-part webinar training series about getting research into policy and practice. 

The Centre for Policy Future’s highly-regarded Getting Research into Policy and Practice (GRiPP) training is designed to help researchers better understand and navigate Australia’s policy landscape.

The GRiPP series will help you to explore and understand:

  • The importance of research impact and engagement in context of UQ’s Strategic Plan and Government higher education funding reforms
  • The respective roles and responsibilities of Australian federal and sub-national governments
  • The difference between the political and policy spheres
  • The relationship between politics and research funding
  • What ‘research-to-policy’ success looks like through exploration of case studies
  • What evidence-based policy means in practice
  • Shared experiences - good and bad - of interacting and engaging with the policy process
  • Ways to promote your research and engage with policy-makers
  • A panel discussion on what policymakers want from Academia.

Part of the HASS Faculty, the Centre for Policy Futures was established with the purpose to undertake policy-relevant and rigorous research; build capacity within the University by enhancing the ability of academics to engage with policymakers; and deliver research engagement programs for policymakers throughout Queensland, Australia and the Indo-Pacific region.

The series is facilitated by the Centre's:
Dr Greta Nabbs-Keller (Research Fellow Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific).  Greta is an international relations specialist who leads projects in the Security, Development and Foreign Policy theme at the Centre. She has extensive experience in strategic policy formulation, regional security analysis, defence diplomacy and international engagement.

Dr Pedro Fidelman (Senior Research Fellow).  Pedro leads strategic projects in the Environment, Energy and Sustainability theme at the Centre.  His research focuses on policy and governance with an emphasis on the role of institutions (systems of rules and norms) in addressing environmental and sustainability issues. He has contributed expertise to various national and international initiatives in his field, including the United Nations Global Environment Outlook 6.