Maria Solsona Gaya is an iCASE PhD student working on antimicrobial resistance. She spent the last three months of 2023 on an MRC funded policy internship at the Academy of Medical Sciences.

“I didn’t really know what science policy was before I did this internship. I applied to do this scheme as I wanted to learn more about science policy to help me consider career options,” says Maria.

Maria joined the policy team at the Academy of Medical Sciences, which has a vision of “good health for all, supported by top-quality research and evidence”. The Academy represents a prestigious Fellowship of 1,400 esteemed researchers from across the medical sciences who are central to its work, including careers support to researchers, awarding research grants, collaborating with patients and the public, and influencing health policy nationally and globally.

Bringing evidence to decision making

“I learnt that a key part of science policy is giving scientific evidence to multiple stakeholders and explaining why it is important to influence decision-makers. It’s a dynamic and impactful triangle between scientists, policymakers and politicians,” explains Maria.

She continues, “Everyone at the Academy was nice and welcoming. I got to be involved with lots of different areas of policy work with the Policy team. I also had the opportunity to be part of a grant panel and learn about the application process with the Grants team.”

Maria’s supervisor Policy Manager Monica Dahiya says, “Our interns have an amazing ‘access all areas’ pass to our policy work. No one else in the team works on the variety of projects they do, and Maria was no exception.”

During her placement, Maria worked on policy areas ranging from the implications of artificial intelligence on healthcare to child health inequalities to net-zero.

She reflects, “Before my placement, I was worried I wouldn’t know enough about areas of research outside of my PhD. But during the internship, I realised I had transferrable skills and I knew where to look for information.”

Antimicrobial resistance was one of the policy projects Maria worked on. She reflects, “I thought given my PhD is in this area, this would be the area of policy I would give most useful comments on. But actually, the policy team said that my comments in other areas of policy were useful too. I felt really valued in the policy team.”

Along with researching topics in policy areas, Maria gained experience in public affairs.

She explains, “I really liked that part. I did speech analysis of party conferences for both Conservative and Labour to see which topics they are interested in, that might be relevant to the Academy as areas to focus on in the future. It was a good three months to get policy experience because there was a lot going on in politics in the run up to the upcoming general election.”

She adds, “I also analysed the King’s Speech with my supervisor, that was interesting too.”

Inside the COVID-19 inquiry and parliamentary events

While Maria was on her policy placement, the COVID-19 inquiry was ongoing.

“Lots of Fellows from the Academy were called to give evidence. I listened to the inquiry live online, to see if the Academy or Fellows were mentioned, so there could be any immediate action if needed. I spotted a few things that were passed onto the President of the Academy,” highlights Maria.

As well as monitoring the COVID-19 inquiry online, Maria got the opportunity to attend events at the heart of Westminster, “I attended a speech on Artificial Intelligence delivered by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, I was sitting in the front row!”, says Maria.

She continues, “I thought most of the attendees would be science policy based but there were people from all sectors including lawyers, tech companies and other areas.”

International science policy

“Often, our interns arrive with an idea of what they might enjoy and end up discovering an interest that they never would have considered before, which is what the experience is all about. I know that Maria found a particular interest in working with international partners to tackle global health challenges,” says Monica.

From the Academy’s office in London, Maria dialed in to meeting with academies from across the world from Spain to Sweden.

Maria reflects, “Getting experience of UK policy was great and I learnt a lot about the parliamentary system, but I also enjoyed being able to attend meetings with the international team. The priorities of most academies are quite similar with focuses on health inequalities, child health, antimicrobial resistance, and artificial intelligence.”

Beyond research

Event organisation was another aspect of policy work Maria gained experience in, “I helped with event planning events and activities by bringing together different stakeholders including charities, the NHS, government and industry as part of the Academy’s FORUM”.

“Science policy is cross-sectorial. I saw how these events allow meaningful and impactful conversations across different sectors. Combined with my previous placement in industry at GAMA Healthcare, I’ve seen the importance of collaborations”.

Monica adds, “A recent example of an influencing success and collaboration is the UK’s association to Horizon Europe. The Academy joined other organisations in the sector to push for this over many years – it was fantastic to get this over the line last summer.”

Maria also attended policy meetings with the other UK’s National Academies (the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society), to bring together their visions on several areas.

Along with insight into the cross-sector work of policy teams, Maria learnt about the Academy’s policy work on research culture.

“I worked with the Careers team, and I saw how they interact with funding bodies to drive positive changes. They really care about us as scientists. I didn’t realise that the Academy worked so much with other funders until this placement,” says Maria.

Back at the Quadram Institute

Maria is back working on her PhD at the Quadram Institute.

“When I came back to working in the lab, the first thing I told my colleagues was how we should be able to communicate our science better. Sometimes as scientists we can be so focused on our research, and we can talk about what we are doing but we need to explain why it is important for society too”, says Maria.

She adds, “You can see changes in policy from scientists sharing their expertise. For example, at the Quadram Institute Dr Evelien Adriaenssens recently gave written evidence to parliament on the use bacteriophages to tackle antimicrobial resistances. Since then, the government are talking about phages much more.”

Commenting on the experience of hosting Maria in the policy team Monica says, “Supervising Maria was a joy. It is so brilliant to work with someone so enthusiastic and willing to throw herself in. At the Academy, we are a big champion of cross-sector collaboration, and this was a reminder of why. I learned so much from Maria. She brought ideas and fresh ways of thinking to the team from day one.”

She continues, “Not only did Maria gain an amazing understanding of policy work, she also reflected on how much her learnings linked to her PhD topic. She was keeping her lab WhatsApp group chat buzzing with the latest policy reports and Government announcements about research policy – long may it continue!”

“Finally, Maria taught me that I wasn’t adding olive oil to nearly enough foods, which I am forever grateful for,” says Monica.

On her future career plans Maria says, “I’m considering science policy as an option for my future career now. I like it because you can engage with the government, and multiple stakeholders. It feels like you are making a big impact.”

• Find out more about the Academy of Medical Sciences internship opportunities