A new AI prompt to boost your policy impact

By Mark Reed

Many researchers want to influence policy but don’t know where to start. A new AI prompt can help you identify opportunities tailored to your work. By giving ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot links to your institutional profile, publications, and projects, you can generate a structured overview of relevant policies, evaluations, international comparators, and opportunities to apply your research. The prompt also produces a draft engagement plan aligned to the policy calendar.

Some universities only allow Copilot rather than ChatGPT. If you’re unsure, check your institution’s IT guidance or try logging in to ChatGPT with your university credentials. It’s best to run the prompt for one country at a time. If you work internationally, you can substitute a country with “international policy” or name specific policy bodies (such as the European Commission or UN Environment Programme). If your research spans multiple themes, you can use the second sentence of the prompt to focus the analysis by naming the specific area of your work that you think has the most policy relevance.

Here’s the prompt:

"I am a researcher and here are my institutional profile [URL], publications [URL], and key projects [URL, URL]. Based on this information, identify policy areas in [Country] relevant to my expertise. For each area: 1) List existing policies, strategies, regulations, or funding programmes; 2) Identify evaluations of these policies (government, academic, or third-party), highlight evaluation gaps, and note relevant studies I could build on; 3) Identify comparable international examples (e.g., from EU or OECD countries) of policies, strategies, guidelines, or regulation that could complement these; 4) Considering my research profile, identify opportunities for me to: a) evaluate or enhance implementation of existing policies; b) inform design of new policy instruments or standards; c) contribute to policy consultations or advisory processes. For each opportunity, recommend the best timings linked to the policy cycle and suggest potential entry points (e.g., government departments, agencies, committees, advocacy groups). Finally, turn this into a structured engagement plan with: key audiences, relevant partners, outputs (briefs, workshops, advisory roles), and indicators of impact, aligned to the national policy calendar." 

Why sense-checking matters

AI can surface useful opportunities, but it lacks the lived context of people working in and around policy. There may be very good reasons why an apparently strong idea has not been tried in practice: legal, political, financial, or operational barriers that aren’t obvious in documents. Before acting, share the output with colleagues who have more experience in policy, and test ideas with external contacts in your networks. These conversations will quickly give you a sense of what is realistic, what is already being discussed behind the scenes, and where your contribution can add the most value.

Challenges and opportunities 

Most researchers face the same barriers: policy systems are complex, evidence doesn’t always align with policy cycles, and opportunities often come with little notice. Yet the opportunities are real: policy-makers need timely, trusted evidence. By combining AI-generated insights with the practical wisdom of colleagues and networks, you can avoid missteps and build credibility while maximising your chances of influence.

Training and further resources

If you’d like to build skills to complement what AI can offer, Fast Track Impact provides policy engagement training alongside courses on influencing policy, evaluation, and impact culture. It also offers online workshops on using AI tools for data analysis, funding applications, survey design, and communications. For a deeper dive, see The Researcher’s Guide to Influencing Policy, which provides step-by-step tools and real-world case studies.