Yale students present STEM research on Capitol Hill

In March, a group of 29 Yale student researchers representing seven Yale schools — including four students from the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs — traveled to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to brief Congress and think tanks on their scientific research and advocate for pressing changes to STEM-related policy.

The pilot program was supported in large part by the Jackson School’s Deitz Family Initiative on Environment and Global Affairs and the Schmidt Program on Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technologies, and National Power, as well as Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Yale Planetary Solutions, and the Yale Quantum Institute.

The students traveled to Washington with policy priorities spanning quantum, climate, biomedical research, space, infrastructure, energy, and land management. Their proposals ranged from reauthorizing the National Quantum Initiative Act and establishing AI guardrails for biomedical research to strengthening financial rules that ensure companies clean up inactive oil and gas wells.

“Science and technology are reshaping our lives at an unprecedented pace, which is why we have to bridge the gap between the research lab and legislation,” said Maxwell Zhu MPP ’26, the lead organizer of the program. “This program enables policymakers to hear from leading researchers and enables these researchers to learn how their expertise can contribute to the policy process.”

In preparation for the trip, students participated in student-run workshops, conducted extensive policy research, and rehearsed their presentations through mock hearings. Along the way, they also received faculty feedback and heard from guest speakers. Their efforts culminated in 92 meetings with Congress, giving students the opportunity not only to share their research, but also to gain firsthand experience translating science into the language of public policy.

Trisha Gupta MPP ’27 said the experience made clear how academic work can take on new meaning in direct conversation with policymakers.

“Engaging with policymakers took what I’m studying from a theoretical concept to something tangible,” Gupta said. “We were able to present policy solutions that they hadn’t considered before and, in return, we learned about trade-offs, pressure points, and other feedback that helps us better advocate for our solutions.”

Yale Science Policy Hill Day launched as a pilot program in 2025.