Research
The Department of Politics has over 30 research active members of staff, as well as 150 graduate and research students. Our expertise spans the discipline – from early modern political thought to contemporary international security, from post-conflict development to global financial governance, from the politics of gender to the politics of the environment.
We aim to foster and sustain our internationally recognised research and teaching in a collegial environment. Our strength lies in the way we bring our diverse research interests to bear in our teaching.
The Department is home to the internationally renowned Morrell Centre for Toleration and the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit.
Research in the department takes place within four clusters:
- Political Philosophy
- Public Policy
- International and Comparative Politics
- Conflict, Security and Development
Members of staff also participate actively in interdisciplinary research. Examples include:
- the Centre for Applied Human Rights
- the Centre for Ecology, Law and Politics
- the Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
- the School of Politics, Economics and Philosophy
Our aspiration is to build on well-established and new research strengths and to be ranked consistently in the top ten leading UK politics departments in the UK Research Excellence Framework exercise. In addition, the Department will remain responsive to developments in its external environment to maximise the capacity of our staff to shape contemporary debates across the discipline and contribute to society more broadly.
We also endeavour to strengthen and cultivate our engagement and collaboration with the public, government and policy-makers, and the third sector to enhance social and cultural capital through making available the results of original research, sharing expertise and knowledge and promoting civic and public debate. We aim to produce research that brings theoretical insight to bear upon urgent practical problems.
