DPIR alumna Cecilia Corsini awarded the 2025 ACUNS Dissertation Award
Congratulations to DPIR alumna Cecilia Corsini (DPhil IR, 2019) who has been awarded the 2025 Academic Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS) Dissertation Award.
The ACUNS Dissertation Award recognises graduate students of extraordinary potential who have successfully defended a doctoral dissertation on a topic of direct and demonstrable relevance to the United Nations and/or the UN system.
We caught up with Cecilia to ask her all about winning the award and what it means to her:
Can you tell us more about what your thesis is about?
My thesis investigates why and how international organisations (IOs) with a humanitarian mandate compete against one another. Focusing on the UN system, it challenges existing theory by demonstrating that inter-organisational competition persists despite institutional differentiation and a well-established division of labour through mechanisms like the Humanitarian Cluster System. This competition endures because donor states perceive niches of specialisation as interchangeable, thereby threatening the survival prospects of individual IOs.
The thesis identifies two competitive strategies adopted by IOs operating in a resource-scarce environment such as the humanitarian sector: competitive horizontal expansion and competitive issue framing. The strategy each IO adopts depends on its organisational type, either specialist or generalist. Specialist IOs pursue competitive issue framing by aligning salient policy problems with their existing expertise. In contrast, generalist IOs engage in competitive horizontal expansion, using their adaptability to fill operational gaps and meet donor demands, even when doing so extends beyond their original mandates.
How was your thesis developed?
The research draws on extensive fieldwork conducted in Geneva (Switzerland) in 2021 and 2023. I conducted interviews with representatives of international organisations, recipient and donor governments, as well as independent experts of humanitarian affairs. In addition, I undertook archival research and direct observation of numerous meetings and interactions between IOs and donors. This enabled me to test my argument and develop several policy recommendations, including enhancing funding predictability, empowering the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to lead impartial needs assessments, and strengthening local community involvement.
How do you feel to have won this prize?
I am truly honoured to receive the 2025 Dissertation Prize of the Academic Council on the United Nations System. The visibility gained through the award has already prompted several professionals working in or around the humanitarian system to reach out and learn more about my findings. As the UN system faces steep funding cuts and rising uncertainty regarding the future of multilateralism, it is crucial that institutional reforms are informed by rigorous research and evidence-based policy recommendations. This will help ensure organisational effectiveness and the continued ability of the UN to serve those most in need around the world.
What are you currently working on?
I am currently working as a Research Associate at the University of Glasgow on the project Earmarked Funding and the Effectiveness of International Development Organisations (EF-IO), led by Professor Bernhard Reinsberg. My research focuses on the impact of earmarked funding on the effectiveness of humanitarian international organisations, with a particular emphasis on how this funding modality shapes organisational behaviour and outcomes. In addition, I examine the funding preferences of non-DAC humanitarian donors, exploring how their priorities and approaches differ from ‘traditional’ donor frameworks and what implications this has for the broader humanitarian system.
