Who We Are

PolicyScribe is a policy research consultancy that combines the methodological rigour of world-class academic research with the crystal clear analysis of a policy think-tank.

We are a consortium of independent social science researchers and policy analysts with expertise in a variety of social and public policy areas, including education, health care, migration and migrant integration, constitutional policy, refugee policy, European policies, gender equality and human rights. We are skilled in a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, analytical frameworks and social science methodologies, and we have a strong track record of producing rigorous, timely and relevant policy research.

Dr Eve Hepburn, Director

Dr Eve Hepburn FRSA founded PolicyScribe in 2017 after spending fifteen years in academia. Eve is an Academic Fellow at the Scottish Parliament and an Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh’s Europa Institute. She has held positions at world-leading universities throughout Europe and North America, and was most recently Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Edinburgh. Eve has authored nine books and over 50 refereed journal articles on devolved policy-making, European integration and immigration in the UK, Europe and North America. She has also provided policy advice and consultancy to a range of organisations including the Scottish Parliament, UK Parliament, Canadian Government, Sardinian Government and Aland Parliament. She is an Associate of 3rd Horizons, Trustee of the Articulate Hub Cultural Trust,  Associate Editor of Scottish Affairs and an Advisory Board Member for the Scottish Centre on European Relations (SCER). Eve undertakes comparative social science research and policy analysis using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, with a key focus on comparative research and lesson-drawing for policy-making. For more information about Eve, click here.

Rob Rae, Associate

Rob Rae is an Associate at PolicyScribe and Chief Executive of the Glasgow based consultancy 3rd Horizons. In his early career, Robert worked in the Scottish Government and then, for ten years, worked at the Scottish Parliament. Latterly, he was director of the Scottish Parliament’s think tank, Scotland’s Futures Forum. Specialising in scenario planning in the public sector, research and systems leadership, Robert has worked​ with over fifty organisations across the UK ​ for 3rd Horizons. He is a Senior Associate with The Staff College and sits on the Board of Vox Liminis, an arts-based organisation working in the criminal justice system.

Dr Colin Fleming, Associate

Dr Colin Fleming is an Associate at PolicyScribe and a senior researcher and Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. His research interests lie in Strategic Studies, UK defence Policy, Transatlantic and European Defence Cooperation, Defence Industries, as well as in debates surrounding the Changing Character of contemporary war. He remains a Fellow at the Centre of Constitutional Change, where he was project leader on ‘Scottish Defence Policy’ in the lead up to the Scottish Referendum on Independence. He has been a researcher on several major Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Leverhulme Trust projects, and between 2009 and 2010 won the prestigious Max Weber Fellowship at the European University Institute in Florence. He has written extensively on strategic affairs and defence and security policy and has provided expert evidence to the Scottish Parliament on defence cooperation and NATO. He has acted as a consultant to both the Scottish and UK governments, and during 2016 was a consultant to the Kurdish Government in Erbil, Iraq. He has also served as a Senior Policy advisor at the House of Commons in London.

Dr Jude Murison, Associate

Dr Jude Murison is an Associate at PolicyScribe and a senior researcher with over 15 years research experience in the global south.  Her research focuses on human rights, forced migration, health, rural livelihoods, land and agricultural production, elections, state-society relations, political governance and regulation. She has been Principal Investigator (PI), Co-PI and named researcher in grants of over £3.5 million from the Economic and Social Research Council, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Carnegie Trust, the Leverhulme Trust, the Department for International Development, and the European Commission. She is a seasoned Project Manager of international and multi-sited research teams in Africa, South-East Asia and Europe.  Jude continues to use evidence-based research to inform policy initiatives, and communicate with diverse stakeholders.

Eona Craig, Associate

Eona Craig is a multi-award winning, published arts and education development professional. She has spent 30 years working in the creative industries, with a focus on cultural regeneration, creative enterprise and inEona Craigclusive educational development. Eona has been pivotal in developing large-scale, high profile education programmes and capital projects across the public, private and education sectors. She has sat on numerous sectoral committees, presented at industry conferences and provided consultancy services to the Scottish Government, Skills Development Scotland and Education Scotland. She is also expert at defining strategies as well as building and leading teams in the delivery of concurrent programmes to achieve transformational change, realising potential and sustainable growth. Eona was previously Head of Lifelong Learning and Widening Access at the Royal Conservatoire Glasgow. She is Director of Articulate Scotland and Chief Executive of the Articulate Cultural Trust, which supports arts access for marginalised children and adults.

Emily Beardsmore, Associate

Emily Beardsmore has ten years of experience across the voluntary and public sector, including four yeaEmily Beardsmorers in challenging international environments. She is experienced in managing and motivating teams, proactive in sharing learning, developing evidence based policy and developing new systems and processes. She is a strong and experienced project manager with experience turning around underperforming projects, setting clear goals and systematically reporting on process. She brings people together to create a supportive and inclusive organisational culture working across diverse teams in challenging environments. She has managed complex multi-stakeholder projects including education programmes in Pakistan, Humanitarian  assistance projects in Sudan, and research synthesis work in the UK. She has worked both in delivering and monitoring projects for the government as a civil servant and also delivering complex government grants as interim CEO of a national youth charity.

Lewis Bloss, Associate

Lewis Bloss is a skilled and versatile researcher with an MSc from Leiden University and an MA from the University of Edinburgh, where he specialised in areas including UK devolution, direct democracy, and party systems across Europe. He has also led policy research projects for organisations including Common Weal and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association. Lewis enjoys utilising a wide range of different methods to conduct research, and has experience both in qualitative methods such as interviews and in quantitative methods including the statistical analysis of large amounts of data.