Bram Public Policy Lab

Established in 2025, the Bram Public Policy Lab is a non-partisan center for interdisciplinary research, immersive learning, and collaboration with policymakers and community partners in Maine and beyond. The lab works to better understand how policy is experienced in practice—and how democratic governance works in the face of disagreement. 

Through research, internships, and applied projects, students work alongside public officials, nonprofit leaders, and community partners on real policy challenges. These experiences are designed to develop careful judgment—an understanding of how evidence is produced, how policy is interpreted, and how competing perspectives shape what is possible in a diverse democracy. Connecting research, training, and practice, we build tools, gather data, and share perspectives in order to promote democratic decision-making at the local, state, and national levels.