POLIS includes seven Centres and Institutes which embody the intellectual diversity of the Department through their academic programmes and inspirational research across a broad range of subjects.
POLIS students are taught by members of a dynamic community of academics and researchers offering world class teaching and analysis of the world's most complex and pressing issues.
Join us on Friday 15 May for Farewell to Norms? Historical Perspectives on Global Reordering. This year's Cambridge IR and History Conference will centre on past, current, and future challenges to international norms.
Professor of Politics, Duncan Kelly will give his inaugural lecture, 'Seeing Things Politically' on Thursday 21 May in the Alison Richard Building. Drinks to follow in the atrium.
The R.A. Butler Prize is an annual essay competition in politics and international studies, open to students in Year 12 or the Lower 6th. The Prize is a joint initiative between Trinity College, Cambridge, and the Department of POLIS. The deadline for submission is 12 noon (BST) on 31 July 2026
Dr Ilias Alami Wins Prestigious 2025 BISA-IPEG Book Prize
Dr. Ilias Alami , Assistant Professor in the Political Economy of Development, has been awarded the British International Studies Association (BISA) – International Political Economy Working Group (IPEG) 2025 Book Prize for his co-authored work, The Spectre of State Capitalism (Oxford University Press).
The Department of Politics and International Studies is thrilled to announce the winners of this year's PhD Fieldwork Photography Competition ! Each year, this competition celebrates the incredible visual work our PhD students capture during their fieldwork, showcasing the diverse and profound ways they engage with their...
Antoine Sander is the 2025 Winner of the Lisa Smirl PhD Prize
The Department of Politics and International Studies is delighted to announce that Antoine Sander is the 2025 winner of the Lisa Smirl PhD Prize for the best PhD thesis completed in the previous academic year. Antoine's winning thesis is titled "Social Media, Radical Democracy, and the Popular Public Sphere: Digital...
Cambridge PhD Student Honoured for Exceptional Contributions to Access and Widening Participation
Abii-Tah Bih, a PhD student in the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) at the University of Cambridge, has been awarded for her outstanding work in widening participation for aspiring African postgraduates. Ms. Bih received a prestigious Cambridge SU Award for Contributions to Access and Widening...
Dr Farhana Afrin Rahman Honoured with L.H.M. Ling Outstanding First Book Prize
We are thrilled to announce that Dr Farhana Afrin Rahman has been awarded the prestigious L.H.M. Ling Outstanding First Book Prize at the 2025 BISA Awards for her ground-breaking work, After the Exodus: Gender and Belonging in Bangladesh's Rohingya Refugee Camps. After the Exodus offers a compelling and nuanced examination...
Professor Duncan Kelly Appointed as Professor of Politics
The Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) at the University of Cambridge is delighted to announce the appointment of Duncan Kelly as Professor of Politics (effective 1 July 2025). His election to this position marks a significant new milestone in Professor Kelly's distinguished career at Cambridge, where...
Dr Ilias Alami is the 2025 Aaron Rapport Teaching Prize Winner
The Department of Politics and International Studies is delighted to announce the 2025 Aaron Rapport Teaching Prize for excellence in teaching has been awarded to Dr Ilias Alami . Each year, the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) awards a prize based on student feedback to the individual who has best...
The University of Cambridge named best university for politics in the 2025 Complete University Guide
With a perfect score of 100, Cambridge scored the highest in the subject of politics among universities ranked on a wide variety of criteria including: entry standards, student satisfaction, research quality and graduate prospects
Are you an International Student Considering Postgraduate Study in POLIS?
Would you like to know more about what it's like to study at Cambridge? You can chat with a Cambridge student from your home country or even a current postgraduate student within the Department of Politics and International Studies.
