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.

Pluralism

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

Global Expertise

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 Networks

OxPo network

Programme for Global Leadership

Centre for Democratic Resilience

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Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

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Oxford Computational Political Science Group

Fawcett, L. (2026) “The Middle East amid the changing global politics of regionalism”, in P. De Lombaerde, A. Acharya, and B. Furtak-Cambell (eds.) Essays on Global Regionalism. Springer.

Ejaz, W., Sanford, M. and Fletcher, R. (2025) “How News Media, Climate Anxiety, and Trust Shape Pro-Climate Behaviour Across Eight Countries”, The International Journal of Press/Politics [Preprint].

Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612251377854

Miller, D. and Straehle, C. (2025) “Climate change, vulnerability, and cultural loss”, Ethics & Global Politics, pp. 1–15.

Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/16544951.2025.2578899

Gonzalez Ocantos, E. and Melendez, C. (2025) “Strong partisans, conditional democrats? Partisanship and reactions to electoral outcomes in Argentina”, Comparative Political Studies [Preprint].

Genovese, F. and Colgan, J. (2025) “Global Climate Politics After The Return of President Trump”, International Organization [Preprint].

Howlett, M., Dill, J. and Müller-Crepon, C. (2025) “Do Ukrainians Still Prefer Self-Defense Against Russia At Any Cost?”, Journal of Peace Research [Preprint].

Pamuk, Z. (2025) “Beyond transparency: democratizing algorithmic governance”, Journal of Politics [Preprint].

Available at https://doi.org/10.1086/738971

Ejaz, W., Vu, H. and Fletcher, R. (2025) “Who avoids climate news? Exploring individual-level drivers across eight countries”, Journalism [Preprint].

Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849251381613

Ketchley, N., Andersen, M. and Sending, O. (2025) “The Chinese are coming! U.S. think tanks and the Belt and Road Initiative in the Middle East and North Africa”, Review of International Political Economy [Preprint].

Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2025.2564680

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