What are you most excited about as you begin this new role and something you look forward to during your first year?

I am fascinated by the diversity of projects, partners, issue areas as well as that of Faculty Leads’ and students’ expertise. I look forward to meeting everyone these projects bring together. ARPs are such a door to the world of knowledge and of global governance, in particular.

What attracted you to this role, given your academic background in International Relations?

What appealed to me was the interdisciplinary and hybrid natures of the role. I always had diverse interests, but with time, inevitably we are expected to specialise. As the Head of ARPs, I get the chance to learn across issue areas and from different people, while also being able to apply what I've learned across issue areas in the past: academic and applied research, teaching, executive education and partner relations.

This is why I also greatly enjoyed working in executive education, as it clearly showed the value of academic training for practitioners and the questions raised by them as research avenues. Consider the manager who reads about the incentives of humanitarian organisations and asks if I can give her more readings in this direction. Or the seasoned physician who says that reading feminist studies and anthropology was therapeutic for her and helped structure her observations of many years. These data scientists, communications specialists or epidemiologists, on the other hand, are the people who embody the processes, practices and concepts that as academics we are interested in. I appreciate this exchange, mutual challenge and inspiration.

Your research has focused substantially on questions of norms, legitimacy and how international actors respond to crises. How do you see that research informing the way you approach applied research and practice?

Instead of mentioning one finding, I would rather say that both the content and the form of these earlier research endeavors will inform my approach. Research does not happen in isolation – it happens through networks, in teams, via access and barriers to access, not to mention the intra- and interpersonal aspects of human beings working together. I had the privilege to study international politics in many places and therefore through many lenses. I trust that I can mobilise this varied toolkit in support of the complexity of the ARPs.

As you transition into this role, how will you approach the balance between building on what already exists and bringing your own approach?

I have a huge respect for this well-functioning edifice that are the ARPs, built by my predecessor Dr Claudia Seymour. The professionalism and care that was invested over the years is manifest in the collegiality and appreciation with which colleagues, students and partners interact with each other; in the partner emails detailing how eager they are to continue working with our students. My role is to maintain everything that works well and adapt it to the changing world around us.

ARP involves bringing together students, faculty, and external partner organisations, each with potentially very different priorities and ways of working. What do you think makes those collaborations genuinely productive?

The challenge and the potential of ARPs stem from the same root. Together we see more. If we can work out and work through the differences and learn to listen to each other so that each contributor can bring to the table what they have, it will eventually create a sum larger than its parts. 

Are there particular methodological skills that you would like students to become especially comfortable with through their ARP?

Students are in very good hands when it comes to methodologies for academic research and project management. The Faculty Leads, the ARP Foundations lecturers are all outstanding professionals in their field. So, the particular “methodologies” I would invite students to explore are how to turn discomfort and challenging moments into opportunities of learning and growth. Some of my most inspiring mentors were scholars who turned their research arsenal on the most challenging, often personal, moments: fieldwork failure, exclusion from policy places where they were welcome before or navigating academic pressure. They created new knowledge as they worked through their own obstacles. Seek the methods that help you to turn your challenges into learning opportunities, to remain patient, curious, and kind with yourself and others. Applying this consistently as a methodology is easier said than done, but it is so worth it.