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Yesterday evening, our Vice-Provost for Research and Enterprise, Professor Mary Ryan, sat down with Professor Anjali Goswami, Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to explore what it means to be a scientist in government, in an event organised by the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Policy Forum.

An unlikely path into policy 

An evolutionary biologist and paleontologist by training, Professor Goswami admitted her background does not appear to be an obvious route into government or the world of policy. However, looking back, she reflected that her passion for the environment and her experience of working in the global South and identifying social and economic justice challenges was likely a major factor in eventually guiding her towards a role in influencing policy later in her career. 

Her first taste of government came through a , which placed her with a policy official for a week, giving her a clear sense of what working in government was like and how science fits into it. Shortly after, the vacancy for the CSA role at Defra opened and she decided to apply. She assumed that Defra would want someone with deep policy experience, however, she secured an interview, which obviously went well! 

What makes scientists well-suited to work in government 

Scientists, she argued, are well prepared for the challenges that policymakers face. They are not daunted by hard problems, they thrive in addressing complex challenges, they are used to messy data full of bias and uncertainty, and they know how to make decisions on incomplete information, which is the essence of government. 

Challenger, communicator, convenor 

She explained the wide-ranging nature of her role, which includes advising ministers, running Defra's R&D programme, overseeing more than 5,000 scientists across the Defra group, and engaging internationally. The central part of the job, however, is expressing how confident, or uncertain, the evidence is, and doing so at pace – something which she was tested on at interview. Ultimately, she sees the role of CSA as being a challenger: "it’s not worth damaging my scientific integrity for a pat on the head from a minister. And ministers support that."

Evidence in action 

The ideal, she explained, is evidence shaping policy from the start, though this isn’t always how it works in practice. An example of impact she gave from her still-brief time in the department so far was in climate adaptation. This summer, working with the Met Office and other arm’s-length bodies to Defra, she helped secure a government commitment to adapt society and infrastructure to two degrees of warming by 2050. The goal is "no worse than now" for heat-related deaths, travel disruption, the built environment and wildfires.  

Reflections so far on the role and working in government 

Anjali reflected, "The role has been fantastic – interacting with and informing people on a daily basis who are making really important decisions. Ministers and officials also really want to understand the evidence, which was a plesant surprise." However, one ask she has was for a scientist to always be in the room when major evidence-informed decisions are made, in the same way that a lawyer is always present, given the perspective and expertise they can provide. 

How you can get involved 

Anjali said that government always wants to broaden its list of "go-to" experts, including from early-career researchers. She also encouraged researchers to apply to government schemes and programmes such as the Colleges of Experts and R&D fellowships, and help to make an impact. 

If you are interested in future events like this, support in applying for advisory roles in government, or to hear about how you can work with the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Policy Forum to increase the impact of your research on public policy, contact the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Policy Forum: the.forum@imperial.ac.uk and sign up to our newsletter.