The Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP) is pleased to announce an important development in its leadership, with Research Professor Sara Hellmüller joining Keith Krause as Co-Director of the Centre.

Sara Hellmüller is Research Professor in the Department of International Relations and Political Science and long-standing faculty associate of the CCDP. Together, Keith Krause and Sara Hellmüller will co-direct the Centre bringing complementary expertise and perspectives to the research, teaching, policy engagement and wider mission.

The new co-directorship comes at a moment of continued growth and was announced earlier this year by Geneva Graduate Institute Director Marie-Laure Salles, as the CCDP community gathered to mark Keith’s semi-retirement from his professorial role at the Institute. In a nod to Keith’s own passion for circus arts, the occasion came with a circus theme.

Eliza Urwin, Head of Research, continues to guide the Centre’s research portfolio, alongside Centre Coordinators Gabriela Buser, Partnerships, and Maëlys Glück, Operations and Knowledge Manager; Apolline Foedit, Doctoral Researcher; and Jennifer (Gigi) Thornquest, Communications.

Together with a research community of approximately 17 researchers, the team supports a diverse portfolio of work spanning peacebuilding, conflict prevention, mediation, political violence and the changing challenges facing peace and security globally. As the 2026–27 academic year begins, the CCDP is also welcoming new researchers and fellows into its community. More introductions will follow in the weeks ahead. This strengthened leadership and growing team build on the CCDP’s commitment to rigorous research, meaningful engagement with policy and practice, and its role as a space for dialogue and collaboration within International Geneva and beyond.