Sydney scholars sweep up awards at 25th World Congress of Political Science

The 25th World Congress of Political Science brought together 2,500 political scientists from over 85 countries around the world to address issues relating to ‘Borders and Margins’, focusing on key areas such as global migration and refugee crisis, Brexit and the EU, the US presidential campaign and Donald Trump, and gender in international politics.

As part of the program, outstanding members of the academic community received recognition for their achievements in the field of political science, including 3 members of the Department of Government and International Relations.

Professor Ariadne Vromen was awarded the 2018 APSA Academic Leadership in Political Science Award, for demonstrated outstanding inclusive and collaborative academic leadership in the discipline of Political Science.

“Ariadne has been a colleague and mentor to me for ten years now, and I don’t think I would be where I am today without her guidance and support. I’ve never known any other colleague in Australian political science to be so generous in mentoring colleagues at all stages of their careers, and in particular, to champion the interests of women and early career researchers,” said Associate Professor Anika Gauja.

Alumnus Dr Luke Craven was awarded the 2018 APSA PhD Thesis Prize for his dissertation on the complex problem of food insecurity, designing a methodology that directly engaged food insecure members of migrant communities in order to fully understand their situations.

“By leading numerous focus groups in major global cities, Luke was able to get at the key shared drivers of food insecurity; with this, he not only developed a clear theory of food insecurity, but also identified effective and efficient policy interventions,” said Dr Craven’s supervisor, Professor David Schlosberg.

Dr Craven was recently awarded an ARC Linkage Project alongside Professor David Schlosberg and Dr Alana Mann, to develop, implement and evaluate a food business incubator in the City of Sydney.

The project will run in collaboration with the City, TAFE NSW and FoodLab Detroit, and aims to address food insecurity by assisting vulnerable populations to participate in the development of new food enterprises.

Completing the trifecta of accomplishments for the department, Professor Rodney Smith was elected Vice President and incoming President (2019-2020) of the highly esteemed Australian Political Studies Association, dedicated to promoting and facilitating work in politics and international relations in Australia.

“This is an extraordinary set of achievements. What’s especially significant is how all three of these honours not only recognise individuals but also show how staff in the School of Social and Political Sciences are actively shaping the future of the political science discipline in Australia. This really shows the impact we are having nationally,” said Head of School, Professor Lisa Adkins.