OPEN Seed Fund

Diogo Gaspar Verissimo (School of Geography and the Environment) and Takahiro Kubo (National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan)

This project addresses a key policy challenge in biodiversity conservation: well-intended regulations can be undermined by human behaviour, such as responses to wildlife-trade bans or invasive-species controls. 

The partners will strengthen collaboration between Oxford and Japan’s National Institute for Environmental Studies to integrate behavioural science into biodiversity policymaking. Through seminars, structured meetings and a policy roundtable with Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, the team will co-design future research and produce a joint policy brief and academic analysis. The anticipated impact is improved capacity to anticipate behavioural responses, more effective conservation policy in Japan, and sustained international collaboration. 

Radhika Khosla and Gustė Gurcinaite (School of Geography and the Environment), and Tadhg O’Brian (Directorate General for Energy, European Commission)

The EU has committed to a just transition, yet policymakers lack practical tools to translate justice principles into action at national and local levels.

This project tackles that gap by developing a decision-making framework to help practitioners anticipate justice risks early in the policy cycle, compare policy options, and design equitable interventions. Through participatory workshops with European policy officers, regional policymakers and researchers, the project will co-produce and validate a framework for just transition mainstreaming in climate and energy policy design. With input from the European Commission, the anticipated impact is more consistent, informed and equitable implementation of just transition policies across Europe, with relevance for global transition efforts. 

Doyne Farmer and Thomas Youngman (School of Geography and the Environment), and Robin Ferdous and Rob Leck, Department for Business and Trade

UK visitor visa requirements must balance border security risks with trade, tourism and diplomatic opportunities. Policymakers face the challenge of balancing these risks and opportunities under uncertainty. 

This project will address that challenge by developing an agent-based model as a “policy sandbox” to test visa scenarios before Home Office decisions are made. Co-designed with government officials in the Department for Business and Trade and calibrated to public data, the model will trace how visa frictions affect people flows, consumption and trade. The project will support better-balanced decisions, define monitorable indicators, strengthen modelling capability in government, and deepen collaboration between academia and policymakers. 

Koen Pouwels and Zlatina Dobreva-Jackson (Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences) and Silvia Bertagnolio (World Health Organization)

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health threat, yet many countries lack the evidence needed to justify sustained investment in key control measures. 

This project addresses that policy challenge by generating country-specific estimates of the health and economic burden of drug-resistant bloodstream infections. Working with the World Health Organization and Ministries of Health in Kyrgyzstan and Malawi, the team will use existing survey data and targeted data collection to quantify healthcare costs, household expenses and productivity losses. The project should lead to improved methods for measuring the economic burden of drug-resistant bloodstream infections, stronger collaboration with national ministries, and, over the longer-term, evidence to support increased investment in infection prevention, surveillance, diagnosis, and appropriate treatment. 

Jennifer Castle and Jonas Kurle (Department of Economics, University of Oxford), Moritz Schwarz (Technical University Berlin) and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

This project will strengthen collaboration between Oxford’s Open Source Empirical Macroeconomic (OSEM) modelling team and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

 Through regular exchanges and technical work linking economic and energy system models, the partners will explore open, transparent approaches to integrated economic and emissions modelling. Overall, the project will support improved policy-relevant modelling capacity and progress towards more open and reproducible evidence for policymaking. 

Melinda Mills and Vincent Straub (Nuffield Department of Population Health), and Nick Isles (Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys)

Men and boys in the UK are experiencing poor health outcomes, including higher suicide rates, and are underrepresented in care professions, yet these related issues remain under-examined in public policy. 

This project addresses the gap between research evidence and policymaking by supporting a new collaboration between Oxford and the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys. The partners will share evidence, develop policy commentaries and promote the rewarding nature and benefits of caring roles. The anticipated impact is stronger research–policy links, increased awareness of the need for structural solutions that improve health and well-being, and evidence-based policy recommendations for the UK Government's Men's Health Strategy. 

Stuart Faulkner (Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences), Hugh McKinney (All Party Parliamentary Group for Respiratory Health) and the Centre for Applied Respiratory Research, Innovation and Impact (CARRii)

Respiratory tract infections are a major cause of NHS winter pressures and contribute to the overuse of antibiotics and threat of antimicrobial resistance. Despite growing evidence, policymakers have limited awareness of the antiviral potential of simple saline nasal sprays to reduce infection severity and spread. 

This project tackled this issue through a series of activities, including a parliamentary briefing at the House of Commons with around 50 researchers, clinicians and policymakers. Researchers shared evidence underpinning saline nasal sprays and participants discussed the implications for reducing NHS winter pressures and antibiotic use, and explored how simple, preventative measures could be better embedded into policy, guidance and self-management advice. Strong engagement at the briefing initiated a wider programme of work to translate this evidence into national impact.