Smart Thinking brings together all the research, events and job opportunities from the leading UK think tanks.

We work with think tanks from across the political spectrum, covering the full range of policy areas.

Alongside sharing the latest think tank work Smart Thinking runs the first think tank membership network for those working within think tanks, offering a range of training, professional development and networking opportunities.

Latest think tank reports

Understanding the Plan 2 loan repayment system

This report from UK think tank HEPI offers an alternative model for student loans, which would be cost-neutral for the Treasury. New research by London Economics has found that following various...

Read more

Stuck on you: How to make social media good again

This report from UK think tank IPPR explores how to make social media good again. How social media has changed over the last 20 years...

Read more

Byte the Budget?

This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation investigates the state of digital transformation in universities across the UK. British universities are often...

Read more

Bye bye baby

This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation assesses Britain’s falling birth rate since the early 2010s. This briefing explores Britain’s recent baby bust...

Read more

Training

View our upcoming training courses

Read more

Reports

The latest policy reports
from UK think tanks

Read more

Events

Upcoming think tank events
across all policy areas

Read more

Membership

Join our think tank
membership network

Read more

Join the mailing list

I am interested in

Upcoming training

Writing for impact – marshalling your research and building a narrative

23 April 2026
9.00am – 1.00pm

This half-day training session is aimed exclusively at building and honing the skills of planning your writing and how you can effectively construct complicated narratives. The training will help you to produce clear, efficient and persuasive policy reports and briefings.

Members £220 (+VAT)
Non-members £395 (+VAT)

Public speaking training for think tankers

30 April 2026
9.30am – 4.30pm

Do you want to speak more confidently? Do you want to understand more about nerves and how to control them? Do you want to find out more about how to craft and structure a message? Then this training is for you!

Members £295 (+VAT)
Non-members £495 (+VAT)

Latest membership news

New Research Network launched!

Our new Research Network has now launched! This is the network for everyone working in research, no matter what area of specialty. We had an...

Read more

Devolution training with PolicyWISE

In March we welcomed the new and exciting think tank PolicyWISE to come in and run a session for members on how think tanks can...

Read more

Fundraising fundamentals training

A full house for our Fundraising Fundamentals training as we took a big group of think tankers through a whole of day of core fundraising...

Read more