School of Politics and International Relations

Research Projects

Our research is international in scope and covers many important aspects of our political and social world in the UK and abroad.

This is a selection of ongoing projects that reflect the research done in the school:

 Image of a light blue head outline on a dark blue circuit board

AI Campaigning in the 2024 US and UK Elections

Funder: The Leverhulme Trust 
PI: Dr William Daniel
Duration: July 2023 - December 2024

As part of the Leverhulme Trust’s Visiting Professorships, the Research Centre for the Study of Parties and Democracy (REPRESENT) will welcome Professor Barbara Trish (Grinnell College, Iowa) to the University of Nottingham for the 2024-25 academic year, under the coordination of Dr William Daniel. Professor Trish is a noted teacher-scholar in American politics, with particular expertise on US political parties and the use of digital technology in campaigning.

 gold and silver metal cogs

Assessing the Drivers and Consequences of 'Multi-Level' States' Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic in the G7

Funder: The British Academy 
PI: Dr Simon Toubeau
Duration: July 2023 - December 2024

As part of the British Academy's programme on 'Pandemic Preparedness: Lessons to Learn from Covid-19 across the G7', this project will assess why 'multi-level' states responded to the pressures of the time so differently, and consider how they can be helped to better coordinate their responses to future pandemics. 

 

research-projects-andrew-mumford-deterrence

Deterrence in the era of unconventional intervention

Funder: Research England - Research Policy Support Fund
Principal Investigator: Professor Andrew Mumford
Duration: August 2023 – June 2024

This research project aims to enhance understanding of how the rise of unconventional intervention has changed the nature of contemporary deterrence policy. ‘Unconventional intervention’ refers to how states leverage non-traditional means, including disinformation and sponsorship of proxies, to generate the ambiguous use of force. This project aims to deliver both conceptual innovation and policy impact by working with the main branch of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) responsible for forging advances in thinking about deterrence – the ‘Exploration Division’ of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). 

Spheres fading from black to grey

Inter-Minority Coalition or Conflict? Identity Formation and Inter-Minority Relations between Black and Asian Communities in the UK and US

Funder: British Academy
Principal Investigator: Dr Neema Begum
Duration: April 2024 – April 2026

Funded by the British Academy, Neema's project will use an interdisciplinary, cross-country approach to interrogate how identity formation and community has developed between Black and Asian communities in the UK and US. It will identify where interracial convergence and divergence exist in social and political attitudes, memory and popular representations.
The project will be implemented in collaboration with Dr Hannah Thuraisingam Robbins (Department of Music), Dr Uditi Sen (Department of History), Dr Tanika Raychaudhuri (Rice University) and Dr Nicole Burrowes (Rutgers University).  It will will start in April 2024 and run for two years. 

 

 research-project-andrea-nicholason-support-pathways340px

Pathways Through Liberation - Revealing Survivors' Support Journeys Outside of the UK National Referral Mechanism

Funder: Economic and Social Resource Council (ESRC)
PI: Dr Andrea Nicholson
Duration: Ends August 2024

In collaboration with 10 NGOs, and partnering with St Mary’s University Twickenham and the Office of the Independent Antislavery Commissioner, this ESRC funded project addresses the above knowledge gap. Undertaking a comparative study of survivors’ experiences across the UK, the research team are working with adult survivors to record and share their experiences of recovery and of their encounters with state and third sector services to better inform antislavery policy and the process of NRM transformation.

research-projects-will-340px

Queering the Commons: Overcoming polarisation with identity-based connections 

Funder: Leverhulme Trust
Principal Investigator: Dr William Daniel
Duration: February 2025- January 2026

This project, led by Will Daniel, explores how politicians from different political parties – but with similar personal backgrounds – use personal commonalities as a way of building professional connections that can ultimately relieve contentious forms of polarisation. The project takes inspiration from scholarship on ethnic and gender identity’s effects on political behaviour that has been less explored for sexuality. It argues that identities that divide us in one setting might bind us in another.

 

 Stack of arid rocks

Security, democratisation, and elite politics in the Sahel

Funder: Economic and Social Resource Council (ESRC)
Principal Investigator: Dr Eloïse Bertrand
Duration: February 2023-April 2026

Dr Bertrand's project is implemented in collaboration with the Institut Général Marc Tiémoko Garango pour la Gouvernance et le Développement (IGD) in Burkina Faso, the Department of Peace, Security, and Humanitarian Studies at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in the UK.

The project's findings will contribute to the evidence base informing civil society groups' and international partners' engagement in the region. 

Taiwan Research Hub

Taiwan Research Hub

Funder: Taipei Representative Office in the UK
Principal Investigator: Dr Chun-yi Lee
Duration: August 2023 – September 2027

The Taiwan Research Hub brings together researchers from different disciplines and career stages to improve our understanding of Taiwan. We look at the fields of politics, history, culture, society, international relations, and economy.

 

Colourful pattern created by oil paints

Women’s Rites: A Multidimensional Examination of Female Circumcision in Sierra Leone

Funder: British Academy
Principal Investigator: Dr Laura Martin
Duration: April 2024-April 2026

Laura's project explores the social, economic and political dimensions of why female circumcision (or FGC) rates remain so high (83%) in Sierra Leone. The project is partnered with a local Sierra Leonean NGO, Timap for Justice, and the University of Makeni, alongside local artists and will use arts-based and participatory methodologies to engage women about their experiences and perceptions of female circumcision, as well as local activists and campaigners working to eradicate the practice.

 

 

School of Politics and International Relations

Law and Social Sciences building
University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

Contact us