Professor Nick Pearce joined the HEPI Advisory Board in June 2021 and is currently Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at the University of Bath. He has extensive experience in policy research and government policymaking and writes on a wide range of issues, from contemporary British politics, public service and welfare state reform, to Britain’s place in the world. His recent publications include Britain Beyond Brexit and Shadows of Empire: The Anglosphere in British Politics. He is currently Subject Editor of Science, Society and Policy, Royal Society Open Science, published by The Royal Society.
Before joining the University of Bath, Nick was the Director of Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), and between 2008 and 2010, Head of the No10 Downing St. Policy Unit, with responsibility for the formulation of policy advice to the Prime Minister. He led and managed the work of the Prime Minister’s 13 policy advisers.
Nick has also worked as special adviser in the Home Office, Cabinet Office and former Department for Education and Employment. He was formerly chair of the advisory board to the UK Chief Scientist’s Foresight Programme and served on the Equalities Review and the Teaching and Learning 2020 Review. In 2019/20, he was Chair of the Democracy and Civic Participation Commission for the London Borough of Newham.
Nick is currently Chair of Trustees at both Tavistock Relationships and the Early Intervention Foundation. He serves on the governing committee of the Youth Endowment Fund and on the advisory boards of the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy and the Wales Centre for Public Policy. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institution of British Architects.