Sandy Oliver

Why science for policy?

It helps define the policy problem and find underlying causes.

It helps reach trade-offs and compromises by understanding impacts.

It helps find out what works through evaluation.

Most of all, it helps earn trust in democracy by grounding it in facts and reality.

This really is a shame.

In times like these we really should be commissioning more engaging, informative evidence-based shows, not fewer.

The value of public R&D

Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...

Thank you to everyone who joined #Stage4 of #ThePeoplesReview. Now, our team working backstage are taking a closer look at the 699 possibly relevant studies to find the ones that answer the People's favourite question.

Stay tuned for #Stage5 coming soon...

I’ll be there - looking forward to it.

Oh dear - we desperately need better public understanding of science.

In this lecture, Catherine Clarke will re-visit the question of what makes history radical, asking what kind of radical history we need in our public life and contemporary context today. In particular, she’ll explore ways in which popular history – trade publishing for a wide public audience – has the capacity to be radical, drawing on experiences and examples from her own new book A History of England in 25 Poems (Penguin Allen Lane, September 2025). Catherine’s lecture will move towards a manifesto for how research-led, scholarship-driven popular history can and does make necessary, vital public interventions – from opening inclusive conversations and confronting the rise of AI, to modelling radical empathy and imagination.

I'm hugely honoured and very excited to be giving this year's Historical Research #Lecture at @ihr.bsky.social, on 'Can popular #history be radical? Historical research and writing for the #public'. Tuesday 4 November, all welcome. More info in AltText. Book here: www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

when autistic people talk about research that will actually help to improve autistic people's quality of life, this is the kind of thing we mean. this is a neat study.

Have a lovely time.

Unsolicited writing advice, no.976:
Read. Read for pleasure. Read out of curiosity. Read both in and outside your comfort zone. Read in order to a get a thorough understanding of the industry you’re getting into. No time? Find time. Writing without reading is like cooking without food.

👇🏻

Listening is a tool for health equity, not just a soft skill The medical establishment hasn't always listened to patients; nurturing this vital skill can help to tackle health inequalities, says Rageshri Dhairyawan Communication skills such as listening are of...

“Listening is a tool for health equity, not just a soft skill”

Had a wonderful experience writing this piece that was commissioned for The Student BMJ by editor @georgeawebster.bsky.social!

www.bmj.com/content/390/...

‼️HOT OFF THE PRESS‼️

⭐Updated Responsible AI use in Evidence Synthesis (RAISE) 3-paper collection on OSF: osf.io/fwaud/files/... ⭐

Now includes:
1️⃣Recommendations for practice for the main roles in the ecosystem
2️⃣ Guidance on building & evaluating AI tools
3️⃣Guidance on selecting & using AI tools

Navigating research on the performance of generative LLM-based tools in health and social care? The freshly updated Living Map of Generative LLM-Based Tools for Health and Social Care Applications by @eppicentre.bsky.social is your compass.
#AIHealth

Check out this summary of a Campbell evidence and gap map on interventions for improving informal support for victim-survivors of domestic abuse: a small but useful evidence base. Funded by the UK Economic Social Research Council

tinyurl.com/ytf9enb8

@sriucl.bsky.social @eppicentre.bsky.social

Check out this exciting master's degree option offered by our department!

This is such important work - and great fun!

The JLA is looking for independent consultants to train and work as Advisers!

You’ll support partnerships that bring together patients, carers, and clinicians to shape research priorities.

➡️Apply here: buff.ly/B9ba05R
🔁Please share this opportunity with your networks

Illustration shows a pregnant woman cared for by a midwife. Text reads 'Trusted partnerships with midwives promote a healthy labour and birth. When midwives provide care, women are involved and empowered each step of the way. Invest in midwifery care.'

Midwives make a difference! 💙

When women receive care from trusted midwives, they’re more likely to have a positive birth experience—choosing their birth position, moving freely during labour, and having their companion by their side.

NEW guidance: bit.ly/4kShgEQ

‘Godfather’ of AI Yoshua Bengio says latest models lie to users Turing Award winner warns recent models display dangerous characteristics as he launches LawZero non-profit for safer AI

Sigh. LLMs don't lie, because they don't know anything. What all LLMs do, including the latest models, is produce statistically plausible outputs that sometimes resemble the truth and sometimes resemble falsehoods. That's all the tech *can* do www.ft.com/content/2b3c...

I bought a hard copy - and couldn’t put it down. Definitely a ‘must read’. 👇🏻

You can study in London or online, full-time, or part-time over two or more years.

and
3. policy teams and researchers shaping studies together
4. systematic reviews combining different types of studies
5. collaborative approaches to suit different policy tasks and contexts

We discuss
1. tackling policy problems with different forms of knowledge
2. integrating research evidence into policymaking processes

Many of our students already have an established career in research or policy. So there’s learning for teachers as well as for students during our discussions about evidence for decision-making. If this sounds interesting, see our MSc Social Policy (Evidence Synthesis) www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-...

An absolute bargain. This is so worth reading!

Thank you so much for the writing non-fiction workshop. It’s so clear to me what changes I have to make to my writing now!

📚 Can schools help bridge ethnic divides?

This week’s #DEPStudyOfTheWeek from Turkey tested a classroom-based empathy program—and found big social impacts.

Less peer violence, more trust, better integration.

🔗 developmentevidence.3ieimpact.org/search-resul...

Oops, that should be Mikael Klintman.

So sorry to be missing Michael Klintman @hayfestival.bsky.social but I bought his very readable book anyway.