Linking the ivory tower to the sausage factory: Placing academia at the service of society

What is the role of universities in the policy process? Should they focus on basic research, publishing in journals, and expect that work will be read by others who will incorporate the relevant findings into the decision making process? Or should academia actively focus research on the most pressing policy decisions of the day and advocate their work directly with the decision makers? These are two ends of a spectrum and neither of them is ideal. The first is often ineffective or slow with errors in translation likely. The second asks the academics to spend a significant amount of effort on activities which are not part of their full time jobs, and to turn advocate, which can take away one of academia’s greatest assets, its apparent lack of bias. Many academic institutions are expanding their work in applied and interdisciplinary research and building new ways to reach outside audiences. There are a couple of existing models, but many more are entering the game. In the last few years a number of initiatives in the areas of environment and energy have sprung to life, ranging from more traditional academic programs to new models of academic partnership with the outside world.  Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions is one new model. After only a couple years in operations it has spurred significant interest, has had some initial successes, and is continuing to learn new and better ways to link academia and the policy process.