Politics and International Studies at The University of Warwick

On Friday 19 June, PAIS hosted its annual Policy Hackathon, bringing together 42 students from across Warwick to tackle the timely challenge of “greenlash.”

Led by Dr Kerem Oge, the event gave participants the chance to develop practical policy solutions while building key employability skills such as teamwork, leadership, research and presentation.

A huge well done to everyone who took part—our judges Nicki Scott (Warwickshire Green Councillor) and Dr Mitya Pearson commented on the outstanding quality of ideas.

We also extend our thanks to Luda Ruddock and Warwick Enterprise for hosting and supporting the event.

On 1 July, Professor Tom Long will speak at online event on the state of inter-American cooperation, hosted by Young Professionals in Foreign Policy and Pan American Strategic Advisors.
Prof Long will join the former US Ambassador to the OAS, Panama’s current Ambassador to the OAS, and the former US National Security Advisor for Latin America.
The event is free to attend, at 4pm UK time.
🔗 Registration link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__vQ92LeYSjK6TFgEKRtKdQ #/registration

Justin and our team of student ambassadors, and members of staff, are looking forward to welcoming visitors to our first June Open Day today.

If you visiting the university have a great day.

The University of Warwick has climbed to 68th in the world and 10th in the UK in the latest QS World University Rankings, reflecting its growing global reputation for research, teaching, and impact.

Within this success PAIS continues to shine. We are ranked among the top Politics and International Studies departments globally and achieving top 2 Russell Group rankings for student experience for a decade.

A huge congratulations to our staff, students, and community across the university who make this possible!

Fantastic news from the BISA Conference in Brighton last week!

PAIS PGR student Alba Priewe has been awarded the Postgraduate Excellence in Teaching International Studies Prize.

The judging panel praised Alba’s commitment to inclusive teaching and her ability to create a classroom where students feel supported, challenged, and confident in developing their own critical ideas. Her engaging and accessible approach is reflected in excellent student feedback, alongside her valuable contributions to departmental training and her role as Graduate Teaching Assistant Representative.
A huge congratulations to Alba on this well-deserved recognition!

📢 Calling PhD researchers in PAIS and related disciplines 📢
Warwick has recently become one of the co-organisers of the DoingIPS PhD Seminar Series (congratulations to Manjima Anjana, the PAIS doctoral student organiser!) which has just opened its call for papers for the coming academic year.
The seminar series is a friendly and interdisciplinary forum for PhD colleagues to present and engage with research at the intersections of politics, society, culture, economics, law, history, geography, gender and anthopology.
If your research seeks to understand global politics through social, cultural, and historical lenses, the DoingIPS Seminar Series is for you!

The deadline for abstract submissions is 6th July 2026, find more information here: https://www.doingips.org/news-events/doing-ips-phd-seminar-series-202627-call-for-papers

Hannah Owens is running various events during Refugee Week from 15-20 June in both Coventry and Norwich.

Coventry: The Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre have a wide variety of events throughout the week, including performances, stalls and even a treasure hunt for children. There will be a screening, art exhibition and workshop on Saturday 20 June (11am-3pm) for anyone in the area - no booking required. All events will be held at the Belgrade Theatre.

Norwich: With New Routes Integration, an organisation that supports refugees, migrants and asylum seekers, there are a range of exciting community events for all ages:https://mcusercontent.com/291817e21787f70337f43fc38/files/48106366-4c81-3e07-1f30-2d93ef356e07/Here_it_is._finalrwn25program.pdf

PAIS academics and PhD researchers will be out in force at this week’s British International Studies Association (BISA) conference in Brighton, showcasing the breadth, depth and cutting-edge quality of research taking place across the department.

Did you know that PAIS is one of the UK’s leading departments for International Studies, with internationally recognised expertise spanning international security, foreign policy, international political economy, climate politics, intelligence studies, migration, conflict analysis and international development? Our research shapes major academic debates, informs policy discussions, and addresses some of the most pressing global challenges of our time.

Find out more about our specialist MA programmes in International Security, International Relations, International Political Economy, International Development, and The Politics of Climate Change on the PAIS postgraduate study pages (https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/prospectivestudents/postgraduate/). Study alongside leading researchers and become part of a vibrant intellectual community at the forefront of contemporary international and global politics.

Happy times at the recent Warwick-Toronto workshop on the BIG open questions in wellbeing science.

The Hackathon style really worked! No paper presentations, just furiously brainstorming ideas and developing a paper (stay tuned!)

Wellbeing science is entering a new and more interdisciplinary phase. This new era will be characterised by the salience of *applications*. Governments, therapists, schools, self-helpers, care homes, the police, firms, charities, and many other stakeholders now want to apply wellbeing science in their work and lives.

Scientists need to take this seriously, especially the ethical and political dimensions of researching with practical intentions. This isn't about activism or advocacy, it's about recognising:

1) The normative element of your research: if you want real world impact you can't act like you're just a dispassionate scientist

2) That each practical context needs different things from wellbeing science. Treasury, for example, might want new cost-benefit analysis tools, but the science needed for this might be useless to town planners, who want something more multidimensional and systems-oriented.

This has implications for how we conceptualise and measure wellbeing. Challenges like response heterogeneity in life satisfaction research might not be so consequential for the long surveys used in therapy and quality of life assessment. Replacing the acrimony of the last 40 years of wellbeing research with greater pluralism might help us make progress in both science and policy.

Big thank you to co-organisers Sofia Panasiuk (Toronto), Caspar Kaiser (Warwick), Felix Cheung (Toronto), Mark Fabian (Warwick) and especially our Hackathon Dungeon Master Anthony McCanny (Toronto).