Placement with the Autonomy Institute
by Timothy Pallot, CHASE funded doctoral researcher at the University of Sussex
My placement with The Autonomy Institute was incredible. It met and exceeded all my expectations, both with my personal experiences in the organisations and as an entry way into the field (think tank research). But more crucially, the freedom and trust I was given in undertaking work as part of pre-established teams and projects, as well as developing my own work was a crucial part of my experience. The experience has both been fundamental to my professional development as well as being a fantastic part of my wider CHASE life as a PhD student.
The Autonomy Institute is a relatively new radical left-wing think tank, which focuses on topics such as the future of work/post work, universal basic income, universal basic services, urban and workplace design, 4-day weeks etc. In my role as research, I worked on three main projects. First, I spearheaded and wrote up a report to be published on CEO to employee pay ratios and their relationship with economic inequality. Second, after an EDI site visit - with Autonomy as part of a wider UKRI project – to the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, and having been given the freedom to, I created, developed and wrote up a future work programme on the future of disabled workers rights’, which Autonomy can utilise in future work. Finally, I did more broad research and literature reviews for the research team working on Universal Basic Services.
I initially desired to do my CHASE placement with a think tank, both to get first-hand experience for my CV etc, but more importantly to see if it would be a possible career for me, and on both counts it was a resounding success. I was incredibly lucky to have come across CHASE advertising this placement, and the whole CHASE placement scheme itself is such an invaluable opportunity which everyone should undertake if they are able. One thing which truly aided my experience during my placement, was the enthusiasm and willingness to tackle any research/work given, as well as developing and suggesting my own work which the organisation might benefit from.
Overall, I am exceedingly happy and shocked at how well my placement went, how welcome I was made to feel, how smoothly the process with CHASE and my university went. My only regret is that I only did it for 3 full-time months rather than 6.