Tenth Annual Report 1 August 2009 – 31 July 2010
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Tenth Annual Report 1 August 2009 – 31 July 2010 www.politics.ox.ac.uk annual_report_cover_10.indd 2 20/09/2010 14:46 Tenth Annual Report 1 August 2009 – 31 July 2010 Annual_Report_10th_2010_v2.indd 1 20/09/2010 14:42 Table of Contents Introduction … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …3 Vision … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …4 News and Highlights … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 5 Teaching … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …10 Graduate Studentships and Bursaries … … … … … … … … … … … …13 Research … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …14 Awards, Fellowships and Prizes … … … … … … … … … … … … … …28 Administration … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …30 Finance … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …31 Staff … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …32 Academic Visitors … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …34 Acknowledgments … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …Insidebackcover 2 Department of Politics and International Relations Annual Report Annual_Report_10th_2010_v2.indd 2 20/09/2010 14:42 Introduction H e DePARTmeNT has had another extremely Tsuccessful year. In most external rating scales, we continue to be the top-ranked Politics Department in the UK. On the financial front, we have returned to balance after a few years of planned deficit, and have substantially expanded postgraduate research student funding for coming years. Research funding applications continue their rising trend, with a number of very substantial successes. Undergraduate and post-graduate applications are extremely healthy. Our courses continue to draw excellent students and their evaluations suggest that they have a happy and productive time with us. The Department, for the first time, had an artist-in-residence who, in addition to leading a seminar on art and politics, mounted an exhibition of paintings in the manor Road Building that completely (and positively) transformed the space in which we work. We should do that again. As I find every year, individual achievements are too numerous to cover fully here. Among the highlights: Christopher Hood’s exemplary eSRC Public Services would like to wish them every success in the next stage Programme wound up officially in a highly successful of their professional lives. closing conference in London in December. It is fair to Several challenges face us in the next year. One is, say that the Programme has taken the study of public of course, the prospect of deep cuts in public funding services in the UK to an entirely new level. Jan Zielonka of higher education and the possible reorientation of has established an extremely promising eRC-funded the funds that remain towards the STem disciplines. interdisciplinary project to study the interface between Addressing these risks will require careful strategic politics and media in Central and eastern europe. David planning. A second is the need to accelerate preparation Levy and his colleagues succeeded in having the core for the 2013-14 Research excellence Framework. funding of the Reuters Institute renewed and increased Block grant research funding is a critical element of for at least three years. our financial strategy. Although the eSRC has yet to Among honours won by Department colleagues, the announce the results of the interuniversity competition Légion d’Honneur was awarded to Vernon Bogdanor, for Doctoral Training Centres, we shall face substantial Giovanni Capoccia won the Best Paper in Comparative reorganisation of doctoral methods and skills provision Democratisation award at the 2009 APSA convention, whatever the outcome of that competition. The recent Geoff evans received the PSA’s 2009 Harrison Prize, establishment of the Blavatnik School of Government Seth Lazar received the Frank Chapman Sharp Prize is exciting and welcome, but it will require careful of the American Philosophical Association, and maya consideration of questions relating to curriculum, the Tudor won the APSA’s 2010 Gabriel Almond Prize. extent of colleagues’ involvement in the activities of the Congratulations to them all. It is a privilege to work School, and financial relations between the Department among such accomplished colleagues. and the School. Finally, the Department still needs to find It has been a quiet year in recruitment, although we its niche in the University’s accelerating development have invested in the hiring of two extremely promising efforts. Although this is a complex agenda, the early-career specialists in the Politics and International Department is in good shape to take it on. And the new Relations of the middle east in order to address growing Head, Stephen Whitefield, has my full confidence as we demand in that sub-field. In addition we shall be look to the future. joined by two senior appointments in theory and in This is my last introductory note. It only remains for international relations in the coming year. We are losing me to say that it has been an honour to have had the two colleagues to retirement this year, Vernon Bogdanor opportunity to head this Department for five years. and Gavin Williams. We have benefited greatly from I am grateful for the support and consideration of my their wisdom and commitment for a very long time. I colleagues. Annual Report 3 Annual_Report_10th_2010_v2.indd 3 20/09/2010 14:42 Vision OLITICAL STRUCTUReS and processes have The Department is committed to providing graduate Pprofound impacts on the distribution of resources and undergraduate training that grounds our students necessary for human life, on the degree of autonomy in the discipline, and that encourages innovative which human beings enjoy as they pursue their research and writing, based on rigorous reasoning individual lives, and on people’s and communities’ and careful reflection. We encourage our students capacities to live free from the threat of violence as to explore a variety of qualitative and quantitative they go about their affairs. methods in their research. We recognise that research Our Department produces research of global quality design belongs to the researcher; our role is to provide in all of these crucial areas. We seek to deepen scholarly the knowledge and skills to enable them to make their understanding of politics and international relations, choices. Our teaching relies heavily on Oxford’s small and to produce research that is useful in addressing group and tutorial methods, but is enriched with a practical policy problems. Our community is pluralistic number of newer techniques. We seek to train our in approach and method. We are outward-looking, students not only for academic life, but for a variety of seeking to build research ties across disciplinary other public and private sector careers. boundaries within the University and enthusiastically participating in european and international networks of research excellence. 4 Department of Politics and International Relations Annual_Report_10th_2010_v2.indd 4 20/09/2010 14:42 News and Highlights DPIRA ST ff In The MeDIA The 41 research projects the This year has seen staff from the Department making Programme commissioned have frequent media appearances on a wide variety of produced many discoveries issues, and being particularly in demand on discussions about who sees what as good concerning the UK General election, the coalition public service performance, how government and the implications of the global economic performance can be measured crisis. Professor Vernon Bogdanor and Professor and managed and what the causes Christopher Hood have made numerous contributions and consequences of good or bad performance are. For instance, we Professor Christopher to programmes on BBC Radio 4, and to publications such Hood as the Financial Times and the Guardian. Professor Iain know for the first time how public mcLean has written articles for attitudes to public service management compare across the Guardian and the Independent the countries of the UK, we know much more about how on the implications of a British managers and professionals respond to various kinds of coalition government, and been incentives, and we know much more about the scope interviewed by international and limits of performance metrics in public services. media on the subject. Professor Such findings are now appearing in top journals across Ngaire Woods has been quoted the world; they have been presented on five continents in the Financial Times on global Professor Iain McLean and the Programme’s director Christopher Hood has economic policy, and won an picked up three international awards for his work over online debate in The Economist defending fair trade. the past three years. Professor Rana mitter has been a frequent commentator on Chinese affairs, as has Professor Avi Shlaim on conflict in the middle east. The DePARTMenT AnD The UnIveRSITy of oxfoRD ARe ToP-RAnkeD The Department of Politics and International Relations and the University of Oxford have again topped UK university league tables. The Department of Politics came top in The Independent’s ‘The Complete University Guide’ 2011 rankings, and the Guardian’s ‘University guide 2011’. In The PSP team from left to right: Rikki Dean, Bryony Gill, Deborah both rankings, the Department received a total score of Wilson, Mat Kladney, Ruth Dixon, Gail Savage 100, the highest possible. The University of Oxford has been named top But the Programme has been more than the sum of its University in the UK for the ninth year in a row. ‘The Times parts. Over the past five years it has mounted 100-odd Higher Education’ - QS World University Rankings 2009 – conferences and meetings devoted to analysis of public