Parliamentary Evidence Week

University of Plymouth’s partnership with Sense about Science (SaS) for Evidence Week in Parliament
Houses of Parliament, Westminster

Researchers from the University of Plymouth's Marine and Sustainable Earth Institutes briefed parliamentarians on pressing policy issues for Evidence Week in Parliament in 2025

Evidence Week is an annual opportunity for parliamentarians and researchers to come together to share knowledge and insights that will help politicians to scrutinise evidence and inform their policy-making decisions. At Evidence Week in January 2025, we showcased some of the University’s world-leading marine and climate education research.
Evidence Week in Parliament is hosted by Sense about Science and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), in partnership with the House of Commons Library, the House of Lords Library, the UK Statistics Authority, Ipsos, and research institutions across the UK.

Presenting the latest evidence

Three teams delivered briefings on secondary school climate education, artificial light at night, and regenerative offshore aquaculture

Climate communication workshop with secondary school students

A climate problem-solving generation
New survey material on what young people say they need at secondary school – with Professor Alison Anderson

Artificial light at night on the coast of Liguria with light pollution in sea water

Marine light pollution
Understanding and managing the impact of artificial light at night – with Dr Thomas Davies and Professor Tim Smyth (Plymouth Marine Laboratory)

Fish ropes

30,000 tonnes of mussels
What is required to reach the UK Government target? – with Dr Emma Sheehan and Dr Llucia Mascorda-Cabre

Evidence Week took place in the Jubilee Room in the Palace of Westminster. Our research teams shared quick-fire briefings with MPs and Peers to inform them about the teams' research and the implications it has for policy.

Explore our briefings from the previous Evidence Week

Marine litter and microplastics on the beach
Plastics and microplastic pollution
The magnitude of the global environmental challenge associated with plastic pollution was recently acknowledged by agreement among 175 nations, including the UK, to develop a legally binding agreement by 2024 – the UN Plastic Pollution Treaty.
Woman sat at computer in cyber-SHIP lab conducting cyber security measures on a screen that says 'virus alert'
How to be cyber secure at sea
As the maritime sector becomes more technologically advanced, there is an increased threat of critical national infrastructure to be compromised, essential services to be stopped, and both lives and livelihoods to be affected.
 
 
 

Our delegation

 
 
 

Discover our research institutes

Close-up wave
Marine Institute
A strategic research institute with one of the largest marine and maritime portfolios in Europe, and an international reputation for world-leading, transdisciplinary research
Aerial view from high altitude of little planet earth with small village houses and distant green cultivated agricultural fields with growing crops on bright summer evening
Sustainable Earth Institute
Advancing research, knowledge and innovation for a more sustainable earth