skip to content
Home

Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS)

Read more at: The Centres and Institutes
eye on the world image

The Centres and Institutes

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.

Read more at: Study with us
Study with us

Study with us

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.

Read the news story
Congratulations to Dr Ilias Alami, the winner of the 2025 BISA Prize - 250

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).

See the winning photos
Link to the PhD Photography Competition winners

2025 PhD Photography Competition Winners

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...

Read the news story
Congratulations to Antoine Sander header

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...

Read the news story
News link: Cambridge PhD Student Honoured for Exceptional Contributions to Access and Widening Participation

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...

Read more at: Dr Farhana Afrin Rahman Honoured with L.H.M. Ling Outstanding First Book Prize
https://www.polis.cam.ac.uk/news/farhana-afrin-rahman-honoured-lhm-ling-outstanding-first-book-prize-after-exodus

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...

Read the news story
Congratulations Professor Duncan Kelly 250

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...

Read the news story
Dr Ilias Alami Winner of the 2025 Aaron Rapport Teaching Prize

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...

Read more at: The University of Cambridge named best university for politics in the 2025 Complete University Guide
best university for Politics - Cambridge Department of Politics and International Studies

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

Learn more
Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash: A woman sitting at a table with a laptop, focused on her work.

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.

  

News

Dr Ilias Alami Wins Prestigious 2025 BISA-IPEG Book Prize

12 November 2025

Dr. Ilias Alami , Assistant Professor in the Political Economy of Development at the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) at the University of Cambridge, has been awarded the British International Studies Association (BISA) – International Political Economy Working Group (IPEG) 2025 Book Prize for his...

Professor James Mayall (in memoriam)

6 November 2025

We pass on the sad news of the death of Emeritus Prof. James Mayall (14 April 1937 - 5 November 2025). James was the first Sir Patrick Sheehy Professor of International Relations at Cambridge, 1997-2004, after having been Lecturer and then later Professor of International Relations at the LSE from 1966. He was instrumental...

The 2025 R.A. Butler Prize winners have been announced

16 September 2025

The R.A. Butler Prize for essays in politics and international studies is an annual competition open to students in Year 12 or the Lower 6th. Established in memory of the former Master of Trinity College, Lord Butler, who most famously served as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer, and who was responsible for...

Sign up for an Open Day now!

Sign up for an Undergraduate Open Day

Explore our campus, courses, and lectures and discover what being a POLIS student at Cambridge is really like.

Contact us

Department of Politics and International Studies, The Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DP

University Map to the ARB

Accessibility Guide for the ARB: AccessAble

Contact: enquiries@polis.cam.ac.uk

Follow us

Study at Cambridge

About the University

Research at Cambridge