World-leading Research

Our research looks at big and broad-ranging topics and answers important questions through rigorous analysis and strong theoretical approaches.

With access to expertise in a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods, our people apply their academic and methodological skill to help us understand the political worlds of today—and shape those of the future.

Funding opportunities

Research Excellence

REF

DPIR achieved excellent scores in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, confirming the excellence of our research. The proportion of Oxford’s research outputs judged to be world-leading has also risen significantly since the last REF exercise in 2014.

Research Community and Networks

DPIR's diverse community bridges International Relations, Comparative Politics, and Political Theory. It creates a rich intellectual environment for interdisciplinary engagement.

Research Projects

Our research community holds in-depth, area-specific expertise in the politics of Europe, Russia and the Former Soviet Union, the US, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

A nexus for big questions and big ideas. We develop innovative new ways for gathering, processing and analysing data; we create new theoretical frameworks; and our research projects tackle some of the most-pressing challenges around the globe.

Research Centres, Networks and Programmes

Centre for Advanced Social Science Methods

Programme for Global Leadership

Centre for Democratic Resilience

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Oxford Computational Political Science Group

OxPo network

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Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

Yeandle, A. and Doyle, D. (2026) “Migration, remittances and petty corruption in Africa”, International Studies Quarterly [Preprint].

Hussein, H. (2026) “The distributive water metric: A justice-sensitive diagnostic framework for water scarcity assessment”, Environmental Science & Policy, 184, pp. 104505–104505.

Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104505

Doumergue, E. and Hussein, H. (2026) “Beyond Membership”, Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations, 32(3), pp. 289–335.

Available at https://doi.org/10.1163/19426720-03203005

Miller, D. (2026) “Fair Equality of Opportunity, Basic Liberty, and the Constitution of the Person”, Res Publica [Preprint].

Available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-026-09786-7

Kayser, M., Rehmert, J. and Schleiter, P. (2026) “Policy as a bargaining outcome: coalition leverage and pledge fulfillment”, British Journal of Political Science, 56.

Available at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123426101641

Bejan, T. (2026) “Signs of a Misspent Youth: Hobbes and Milton (and Skinner) on Virtuous Teaching”, Hobbes Studies, pp. 1–20.

Available at https://doi.org/10.1163/18750257-bja10110

Ejaz, W., Kubin, E. and Fletcher, R. (2026) “What Makes Climate Change Feel Distant? Evidence from Eight Countries in the Global North and South”, Journal of Environmental Psychology, 114, pp. 103180 – 103180.

Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103180

Idler, A., Ruiz Olaya, I. and Vargas-Silva, C. (2026) “Trust beyond borders: the role of non-state actors in shaping immigration preferences”, World Development, 208.

Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2026.107547

Perez Sandoval, J., Power, T. and Rocha, V. (2026) “Correlates of subnational polyarchy: evidence from contemporary Brazil”, Studies in Comparative International Development [Preprint].

Available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s12116-026-09511-8

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World-leading Research

Research Excellence

Research News

Research Centres, Networks and Programmes

Research publications