Our people

FInd out more about our UC team and international researchers below.

Researchers

Pankaj Raj

PD-PCF Research Intern, Masters in European Governance (M2), Sciences Po Grenoble, France
In June-September 2023, Pankaj undertakes his research under supervision of Professor Chaban on the project “Innovations in public diplomacy: How the EU and EU Member States diplomacy addresses security and democracy threats posed by the design of international tech companies” in collaboration with Professor Donald Matheson (UC Media & Communication/PD-PCF) and Associate Professor Jeremy Moses (UC Political Science and International Relations).

Shaylee Sinclair

The UC Aho Hīnātore | UC Accelerator Scholarship 2022-2023 research fellow
In 2022-2023, Shaylee undertook her research “Understanding TechPlomacy:  A strategy for constructive dialogue between technology giants and states”, under supervision of Professor Chaban (lead supervisor) and Professor Donald Matheson (UC Media & Communication/PD-PCF) and Associate Professor Jeremy Moses (UC Political Science and International Relations).

John Irgengioro

Researcher, The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO), Belgium
In February-April 2023, John undertook his research fellowship at the PD-PCF to work on the project “Competing for hearts and minds in today’s multipolar world order: a comparative analysis of the soft power of China, Russia and the European Union in Central Asia”  with Professor Natalia Chaban (project co-PI and research co-supervisor), working on the case study  "Soft power of China, Russia and the EU. Perceptions of students at Kazakhstani top universities".

Sophie Hill

MA student, UC Department of Media and Communication

In December-January 2023, Sophie assisted Professor Natalia Chaban of PD-PCF UC and Associate Professor James Headley of University of Otago with research project “Responsibility not to be silent: Academic knowledge production about the war against Ukraine and knowledge diplomacy”.

Dr Pauline Heinrichs

Method Lead, Project “External Perceptions of the EU and its policy:  Update Study 2021”

In 2021, Pauline was a lead researcher within the study of EU external perceptions co-led by B&S (Belgium), PPMI (Lithuania) and PD-PCF UC (New Zealand) commissioned by the Service of the Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) of the European Commission in collaboration with European External Actions Service (EEAS).

Dr Iana Sabatovych

Method Lead, Project “External Perceptions of the EU and its policy:  Update Study 2021”

In 2021, Pauline was a lead researcher within the study of EU external perceptions co-led by B&S (Belgium), PPMI (Lithuania) and PD-PCF UC (New Zealand) commissioned by the Service of the Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) of the European Commission in collaboration with European External Actions Service (EEAS)

International Experts 

Professor Ole Elgström

Emeritus Professor, University of Lund, Sweden

Areas of expertise in the Forum:  role theory in IR, international political communication, public diplomacy, images and perceptions in IR.

Sergiy Gerasimchuk

Deputy Executive Director, Regional Initiatives and Neighborhood Program Director, Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism”, Kyiv, Ukraine 

Areas of expertise in the Forum: political process and public diplomacy on the post-Soviet space, political communication with civil society, policy communication in conflict (regional security, frozen conflicts), collaboration with Student Research Hub #3
[See Interview with Sergiy Gerasimchuk for the course COMS 420 “Public Diplomacy”].

Dr Pauline Heinrichs

Method Lead, Project “EU External Perceptions” - commissioned by the Service of the Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) of the European Commission in collaboration with European External Actions Service (EEAS).

Associate Professor Irina Khayrizamanova

Department of Communication, Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona), Spain
Lecturer, University of Vic, Spain
Tutor, Master of International Affairs and Diplomacy (UOC-UNITAR)
Member of the Political Communication, Media and Democracy Research Group, Pompeu Fabra University.

Areas of expertise in the Forum: images and perceptions within the IR context, EU-Russia relations, public opinion, political discourses and political communication.

Prof. Dr. Michèle Knodt

Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany
Jean Monnet Chair ad personam
Director, Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence “EU in Global Dialogue” (CEDI)
Leader, EU Foreign Policy Facing New Directions (ENTER), COST Action, European Commission

Areas of expertise in the Forum: energy diplomacy, climate diplomacy, images and perceptions in IR, political communication in foreign policy. She is a member of the research team of the transnational project “EU External Perceptions Update Study 2021” commissioned by the FPI of the EC in cooperation with EEAS, co-led by PD-PCF, PPMI and B&S.

Professor Šarūnas Liekis

Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
President of the Vilnius Institute for Political Analysis (VIPA), Lithuania 

Areas of expertise in the Forum: crisis diplomacy, public diplomacy in conflict, policy communication in foreign policy field, mis- and dis-information in international political communication, collaboration with Student Research Hub #1
[See Interview with Professor Šarūnas Liekis for the course COMS 420 “Public Diplomacy”].

Dr Heidi Maurer

Marie-Curie Fellow “European Diplomacy Practices post-Lisbon: Adding Value through Cooperation” (EuroDipl)”, University of Bristol, UK
Research Associate, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, UK
Visiting Professor in European Diplomacy, College of Europe, Brugge, Belgium
Coordinator of NORTIA (Jean Monnet Network on Research & Teaching in EU foreign Affairs) 

Areas of expertise in the Forum: foreign policy and public diplomacy (focus on the EU), collaborative diplomacy
[See Interview with Dr Heidi Maurer for the course COMS 420 “Public Diplomacy”].

Professor Alister Miskimmon

Head of School, School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queen’s University Belfast, UK 

Areas of expertise in the Forum:  strategic narrative theory, international political communication, public diplomacy, images and perceptions in IR.

Professor Dr. Patrick Müller

Austrian Diplomatic Academy
Vienna School for International Studies and University of Vienna, Austria
Co-Leader, EU Foreign Policy Facing New Directions (ENTER), COST Action, European Commission

Areas of expertise in the Forum: images and perceptions in IR, crisis diplomacy, public diplomacy, political communication in conflict and crisis
[See Interview with Professor Patrick Müller for the course COMS 420 “Public Diplomacy”].

Professor Ben O’Loughlin

New Political Communication Unit
Centre for International Security
Department of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Areas of expertise in the Forum:  strategic narrative theory, international political communication, communication and technology, images and perceptions in IR.

Professor Sharon Pardo

Jean Monnet Chair ad personam

Senior Researcher at the Simone Veil Research Centre for Contemporary European Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Co-editor of Europe and the World book series by Lexington Books 

Areas of expertise in the Forum: perceptions and misperceptions in foreign policy, political communication in foreign policy, cultural diplomacy, celebrity diplomacy, ‘big data’ fusion and forecasting in international relations.

Dr Iana Sabatovych

Method Lead, Project “EU External Perceptions” - commissioned by the Service of the Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) of the European Commission in collaboration with European External Actions Service (EEAS).

Dr Hila Zahavi

Director at Simone Veil Research Centre for Contemporary European Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

Areas of expertise in the Forum: images and perceptions in IR, cultural diplomacy, education diplomacy.

Professor Svitlana Zhabotynska

Cherkasy National University, Ukraine
Fulbright Alumnus

Areas of expertise in the Forum: neuro-, psycho, and sociolinguistics in political and media discourse analysis and political communication.

Dr Karine Lisbonne-Azais de Vergeron

Associate Director & Head of GPI Europe Programme at the Global Policy Institute
Vienna, Austria

Areas of expertise: international relations and issues relating to European politics, culture and identity, and the relationship between Europe and the Asian emerging giants (China and India). She initiated several research projects on non-European views of Europe – Chinese and Indian Views of Europe – jointly with Chatham House in the United Kingdom and the Robert Schuman Foundation. She is a member of the research team of the transnational project “EU External Perceptions Update Study 2021” commissioned by the FPI of the EC in cooperation with EEAS, co-led by PD-PCF, PPMI and B&S.

Prefessor Sonia Lucarelli

University of Bologna, Italy.

Member of the Board of Directors of the Forum on the Problems of Peace and War and of the Institute of International Affairs. She is responsible for Unibo of the Memorandum between the Unibo and NATO Allied Command Transformation, and the representative of Unibo in the Consortium Europaeum. Lucarelli has been Resident Member of the Bologna Institute for Advanced Studies, and Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute. Her areas of expertise include the EU foreign policy and external image, European security, NATO, European identity and Foreign Policy, Migration and Global Justice. She is a member of the research team of the transnational project “EU External Perceptions Update Study 2021” commissioned by the FPI of the EC in cooperation with EEAS, co-led by PD-PCF, PPMI and B&S.