Jodie Carson

Jodie Carson is a Professor of Strategic Policy in Practice at Ulster University. She was educated at the Queen’s University of Belfast and holds a Masters and PhD in Finance.

Dr Carson has served as a Senior Parliamentary Adviser in the House of Commons and as a Special Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Development in the Northern Ireland Executive.

Previously, she was a Senior Economist within the Economic Policy Centre at UU, and subsequently a Course Director at the Business School. She has also been a Senior Economist with Oxford Economics, an Economist in the Northern Ireland Civil Service, a committee subject specialist in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and worked in corporate banking.

She has been involved in negotiations between the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive on a financial package for the devolved government, and participated in political meetings with UK Ministers, including the current and previous Prime Ministers.

The Ulster University Strategic Policy Unit (SPU):

• offers influential strategic policy analysis in a public-facing space, based on a deep understanding of the political, economic and social landscape
• stimulates policy debate in key strategic areas for the benefit of society, both locally and globally
• works across campuses and faculties, complementing and harnessing the subject-specific policy centres already long-established at Ulster
• enables even greater collaboration between academia and political and governmental stakeholders and, with a focus on policy in practice, critically and impartially informs the environment for public policy discussion in Northern Ireland and beyond
• bolsters the strategic policy efforts of the already dynamic research community at Ulster and helps to boost impact in finding solutions to issues affecting society
• provides new opportunities to support students working in areas relevant to public policy by sharing experience and expertise to help the University to nurture the skills required of the next generation of policy leaders.