Bennett Public Policy Prize

The Bennett Public Policy Prize 2024 is awarded by the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge and supported by Prospect. It aims to showcase the thinking and ideas of early career policy professionals and researchers on some of the biggest challenges of our turbulent times. The Bennett Institute is committed to bringing findings and insights generated by rigorous interdisciplinary research to the attention of a wide, policy-engaged audience.

This year’s question was: How can AI be implemented to improve public services?

Congratulations to the early career policy professionals and researchers who entered the Bennett Public Policy Prize for their well-written essays.

We are pleased to announce the Prize winner and three runners-up:

Winner:

• Samantha Field, Bupa
  Public Health gets personal: The case for an AI-driven personalised prevention platform

Runners-up:

• Viviana Angely Bastidas Melo, University of Cambridge
  Architecting public services: A socio-technical perspective on AI deployment

• Dr Larissa da Silva Marioni, NIESR
  The AI revolution and public services transformation

• John Francis, Alan Turing Institute
  Have you met CHARLIE? The Crown’s Helpful AI Representative for all things pubLIc sErvices

Congratulations to the six shortlisted entrants:

• Matthew Cleevely, Tech policy
• Stuart Mills, University of Leeds
• Luke Richards, UK Civil Service
• Louisa Shen, Australian National University
• Sarah Stearne, Local Trust
• Joshua Thorpe, UK Department for Business and Trade

This year’s judges include:

• Prof Diane Coyle, Bennett Professor of Public Policy and Co-Director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy
• Prof Neil Lawrence, Inaugural DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning, University of Cambridge. 
• Michael McNair, Global Managing Director of the advisory team at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change 
• Alan Rusbridger, Editor, Prospect

One winner receives:

• £5,000
• Publication on the Bennett Institute website
• Publication in Prospect online
• The possibility of sharing their thinking with influential stakeholders
• Invitation to the Bennett Institute’s Annual Conference 
• A year’s subscription to Prospect magazine and digital access

Runners-up each receive:

• £1,000
• Publication on the Bennett Institute Public Policy website
• Invitation to the Bennett Institute’s Annual Conference 
• A year’s subscription to Prospect magazine and digital access

Shortlisted finalists each receive:

• A year’s digital access to Prospect 

Entry process:

Entries can be in the form of a 2,500-word essay or a short film of no more than 10 minutes from any early career researcher or policy professional in their first five years, from any nationality and based anywhere in the world.

Eligibility:

• Within five years of having submitted a PhD and started a research based career OR
• Within five years of starting work in a policy focused career
• Within five years of starting work in a policy focused career but undertaking part-time postgraduate studies.
• Co-produced entries of no more than two people will be accepted subject to all parties meeting the full eligibility criteria. Please ensure all names are included on the entry form. Judging is anonymous but the number of collaborators will be disclosed to the judges.
• Previous Bennett Prospect Public Policy Prize entrants may enter
• Work must be previously unpublished and unplagiarised

The following are NOT eligible:

• Current full-time Undergraduate, Masters, PhD and DPhil students
• Holder of a tenured academic position
• Current and former affiliates of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy