Briefing Notes

The Policy Brief program with GAC is designed to provide students an opportunity to gain mentorship and guidance from senior scholars as they advance their own policy research and writing skills.

Under the program, clusters of three to four students are selected to participate in projects led by BSIA faculty that engage them in both independent and collective research and policy analysis. The program is divided into three phases. The first is the research phase, during which students develop a high degree of substantive expertise on the subject matter of the project. The second phase is the policy brief stage, when students co-author a briefing note that draws on their collective research from the first phase. The third phase is the presentation phase, which includes a day of oral briefings at Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa. Students will be given an opportunity to present their briefing notes and the findings of their research to, and receive critical feedback from, policy experts with global experience. Following the presentation in Ottawa, students are invited to revise their briefing notes based on the feedback they received prior to submitting the notes for publication.