Training for university researchers

Research impact and policy engagement

Getting research in front of the people who make policy.

Huw Edwards MBE trains university researchers to promote their work to Parliament and policymakers. He is the Industry and Parliament Trust's Training Consultant for universities, a former MP for Monmouth and a former Senior Lecturer in Social Policy.

Enquire about a course See the impact

A group of university researchers with Huw Edwards on the steps inside the Palace of Westminster, beneath a large stained glass window. — **At Westminster**University researchers on a course at the UK Parliament.

8Years a Select Committee member

5Universities where he lectured in social policy

2005Training consultant since

2024Appointed MBE, New Year Honours

Impact in practice

From a training course to a Westminster Hall debate

One researcher's route from a policy engagement course to research cited in Parliament.

Attended a Research Impact and Policy Engagement course.Course
A one-to-one coaching session with Huw, and an action plan.Coaching
Prepared briefing papers on her research with her university.University
Contacted her MP, and spoke at a Westminster reception.Westminster
Her MP tabled Parliamentary Questions on endometriosis.Commons
Her work was cited in an Early Day Motion on endometriosis care.Commons
Gave evidence to a Women and Equalities Select Committee inquiry, and was mentioned in its report.Committee
Her MP referred to her work in a Westminster Hall debate on endometriosis, April 2026.Westminster Hall

The course

Research Impact and Policy Engagement

Training that supports university researchers in promoting their work to Parliament and policymakers, from engaging with MPs and Select Committees to briefing civil servants and Ministers.

The approach

Every research subject has a policy focus.
Engaging with Parliament and policymakers is essential, despite the difficulties.
Parliament and government departments are a rich source of primary research material.
Training and coaching in policy engagement can support all researchers, in all subjects, in all universities.

Parliament

Where the scrutiny happens

How Government Bills pass through the Commons and the Lords
Oral and written Parliamentary Questions, and how to draft them
Select Committee inquiries: written evidence, giving evidence as a witness, and advising a committee
Early Day Motions and All-Party Parliamentary Groups
House of Lords select committees and special inquiries
Hansard, the Commons and Lords Libraries, POST and the Knowledge Exchange Unit

Government

Where policy is made

Identifying the key departments, Ministers and public bodies for your work
How civil servants advise and Ministers decide
Responding to government consultations
Working with departmental Chief Scientific Advisers
Areas of Research Interest: where government is asking for research
Advisory groups, scientific advisory committees and working in the civil service

Briefing MPs

What do you want me to do?

What an MP looks for: constituency, political and campaigning interests
A two-page briefing that leads with the killer facts
A clear answer to the question every MP asks: what do you want me to do?
The MP's toolkit: letters, meetings with Ministers, questions, motions and debates
Print, broadcast and social media

Devolution

Four nations, many routes

The parliaments and governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
What is and is not devolved
Metro Mayors and Mayoral Combined Authorities in England

Huw Edwards with a group of researchers standing around tables in a modern seminar room, with a presentation on screen. — **Sheffield**A course at Sheffield Medical School, June 2026. Courses run at the UK Parliament, on campus or online, for Early Career and Senior Researchers.

Experience

A researcher and a parliamentarian

A career that has moved between the university and the House of Commons.

Huw Edwards's career, by year, in Parliament and in universities
Year	Parliament	University
Earlier		Postgraduate researchUniversity of York, MA and MPhil.
Earlier		Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Social PolicyCoventry, Sheffield, London South Bank, Manchester Met and Brighton. His work on inequality and low pay contributed to the campaign for a national minimum wage.
1991	Elected MP for MonmouthFirst elected as Labour MP at a by-election in May 1991.
1992		Back to BrightonAfter the 1992 General Election, returned to the University of Brighton as Senior Lecturer in Social Policy.
1997 to 2005	Re-elected MP for MonmouthA Select Committee member for eight years, and on the National Minimum Wage Bill Committee.
2005 to today	Training consultantParliament, Legislation, Democratic Governance and Devolution, now specialising in Research Impact and Policy Engagement training for university researchers.
2024	Appointed MBENew Year Honours, for services to music and charity with Monmouth Male Voice Choir.
Today	Industry and Parliament Trust, and LampeterIPT's Training Consultant for universities, and Practitioner Researcher at the University of Wales, Lampeter, where his doctoral research is ‘Wales and Westminster: the parliamentary debate on devolution from the 1880s to the 1990s’.

Portrait of Huw Edwards, smiling, in a dark checked shirt against a wooden wall. — **Huw Edwards MBE**Training Consultant for universities, Industry and Parliament Trust.

Recent courses

At Westminster and on campus

A selection of recent courses and sessions with university researchers.

Huw Edwards presenting to researchers seated at laptops in a University of Hull teaching room. — **University of Hull**Doctoral College.

Huw Edwards standing beneath the City St George's, University of London sign, with autumn leaves on the ground. — **City St George's**University of London.

Huw Edwards and a colleague beside a banner for the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University. — **Aberystwyth University**Department of International Politics.

Huw Edwards working one-to-one with a researcher at a desk, beside a banner for Metropolis, a research-led think tank. — **One-to-one coaching**Manchester Metropolitan University.

Researchers working at laptops around tables in a seminar room during one of Huw's courses. — **In the seminar room**Researchers at work during a course session.

Questions

Before you enquire

Anything not covered here, ask Huw directly.

Enquire about a course

Who are the courses for?

University researchers. Courses can be delivered for groups of Early Career and Senior Researchers and across academic disciplines, or tailored for specialist research institutes.

Where are courses held?

At the UK Parliament, at a university, or online.

What will participants learn?

Practical routes into Parliament and government: drafting Parliamentary Questions and Early Day Motions, submitting evidence to Select Committees, writing the two-page briefing an MP wants, responding to government consultations, working with Chief Scientific Advisers and Areas of Research Interest, and how devolution shapes who to approach.

Does the training support the REF?

Yes. Huw supports universities as they prepare for the next REF, through training on research impact and policy engagement for their researchers.

Who is Huw Edwards?

Huw Edwards MBE is the Industry and Parliament Trust's Training Consultant for universities. He was MP for Monmouth and a university Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, and is currently Practitioner Researcher at the University of Wales, Lampeter, researching the parliamentary debate on Welsh devolution.

How do I enquire about a course?

Call 01600 713021 or 07967 007701, email huwedwards53@btinternet.com, or contact Huw through LinkedIn.

Enquiries

Talk to Huw about a course for your researchers

Call or email Huw with a little about your researchers and what you would like them to achieve, whether that is a course at Parliament, on campus or online.

01600 713021 Email Huw LinkedIn