School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy

About Us

The School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy has 33 full-time academics , making it by some distance the largest institutional centre for the study of these subjects in Ireland and one of the largest in the UK.

The UK Research Assessment Exercise – RAE 2008 – has produced very impressive results in its assessment of research carried out in the School .  Over 50% of the research was judged to be ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, and the School performed very well in relation to Departments in other UK Universities.   Of 58 UK Politics Departments, QUB came 11^th, in terms of the average grade for research multiplied by the number of people submitted; within the prestigious Russell Group, QUB Politics was ranked 8^th.   Queen's Philosophy was also confirmed as excellent, with 65% of its research activity rated either in Category 4* or Category 3* (i.e. world leading or internationally excellent). These impressive results reinforce QUB’s position as one of the leading centres in the UK for world-class research in Politics, International Studies and Philosophy

We have five areas of distinctive research strength: Philosophy; Political Theory; Irish Political History; Governance and Public Policy; and International Politics and Ethnic Conflict. Lists of members of staff and their research interests can be accessed here.

In each of these areas, important and pioneering work has been published by members of the School (with leading academic presses and in journals with high international standing), and major projects of research are ongoing in all of these fields. Several of these projects are funded by research councils in the UK and Ireland and by the EU. In addition to research carried out by academic and research staff, we are committed also to the supervision of high-quality research students in our areas of expertise, and have a vibrant postgraduate research culture. For further information on current projects, please see our research student pages . The School also hosts various paper series, and is affiliated with various research networks .

Across the School we pride ourselves in the high quality of our teaching, and this was reflected in the very positive outcome of our Internal Periodic Review in 2008. We have a large and lively group of students taking undergraduate programmes (Single Honours, Major, Joint and Minor) in Politics, Philosophy, International Politics and Conflict Studies, and in 2009 we introduced the Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) degree programme.The School also has a thriving, cosmopolitan group of postgraduate students. Many of these are working under the supervision of leading scholars on research degrees (MPhil or PhD) while the others are taking one of our MA programmes in Politics; Political Philosophy; Irish Politics;; Comparative Ethnic Conflict; International Politics; European Integration and Public Policy, Cognitive Science; Gender and Society; Violence, Terrorism and Security; Legislative Studies and Practice, or a Masters in Research.

We are located in five recently refurbished Victorian houses near the middle of University Square. The General Office is on the ground floor of 25 University Square (locate us here ). The office is normally open Monday-Friday from 9.00 am - 4.00 pm, (closed Tuesday 2pm to 3pm).