Aston University, in association with the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN), is holding a series of annual International Policy Engagement Summits, aimed at helping UK academic researchers to find out how best to collaborate with international organisations in one broad policy area.

Economic growth and prosperity are widely shared policy goals, but they are set against a complex backdrop, with policymakers, central banks and international financial institutions contending with global market shifts, advancing technologies, and a volatile geopolitical climate.

Academic research has therefore never been more important as a tool to help policymakers and organisations understand and manage this shifting landscape, and to help shape evidence-based strategies and policies that contribute to long-term economic stability and growth for the UK and beyond.

The 2026 edition of the Summit will therefore focus on the field of global economic governance, as a timely and valuable examination of how academic research can engage with this sector, either directly with international organisations, such as the IMF and the European Central Bank, or indirectly by helping to shape the UK’s engagement with the global landscape, such as in the field of international trade policy.

This event will also give UK-based academic researchers, particularly early career researchers, practical advice on the role of different international organisations in this space, how they use academic research, and how to engage with and communicate your research to such external stakeholders.

The event will feature guest speakers and contributors, including academics, from a variety of relevant organisations who have all worked in global economic governance, and can therefore offer ‘insider’ perspectives and expertise.

This is an in-person only event aimed at UK-based researchers. A full event report will be produced and shared on our website following the event.

Practical Information

We are seeking to make the event as inclusive and accessible as possible. The event will be held at Conference Aston, which is a state-of-the-art conference and hotel venue located on Aston’s University’s attractive, green and secluded campus in the heart of Birmingham, with easy links to Birmingham's three central railway stations.

The summit will be funded through Aston University’s £1.25m Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account, and it is free to attend.