2023 PSA TRUSTEE ELECTIONS

Heather Alberro (Nottingham Trent University)

“I’ve had the joy of being involved with the PSA in various capacities since 2017 as a first-year PhD student. I then served as Chair of the PSA ECN from 2019-2021, I’m nearing the end of my current ‘co-opted trustee’ role, and I serve as one of the co-convenors for the Environmental Politics Specialist Group. If elected as one of the new trustees, I would draw on my varied experience with the PSA and beyond in order to further enhance its profile as a major learned body for the study of politics. Specifically, with my new involvement in the PSA’s EDI working group, I’d love to devote my time and expertise to ensuring that the PSA remains an inclusive and welcoming space for politics researchers of all backgrounds and positionalities.”

Nicholas Allen (University of London)

“My name is Nicholas Allen and I’m a professor of politics at Royal Holloway, University of London. I joined the PSA as doctoral researcher 20 years ago and was awarded the Richard Rose Prize in 2018. As a mid-career researcher, I would like to give something back to the Association by contributing to its development and future success. I have experienced many of the challenges faced by other members during my career, from the precariousness of short-term contracts, through reconciling the demands of research, teaching excellence and administrative leadership and striking a healthy work-life balance, to responding to broader changes in the sector. I am strongly committed to promoting equality and diversity in the profession, supporting early-career researchers, and developing the skills base of UK political studies. If elected, I would bring organisational and other skills gained from performing various roles in my department and external roles at other institutions.”

Matt Hepplewhite (University of Oxford)

“My name is Matt. I am researching voting behaviour and political communications. I am running to be a PSA trustee as I want to ensure that the voices and concerns of postgraduate students are heard at the highest levels of the PSA. If elected a trustee, I will work to develop support for the PSA’s Early Career Network, for example developing bursaries to help students attend PSA conferences, and financial support for students experiencing difficulties. I have experience voicing the concerns of students: I am a member of the Postgraduate Student Representative Board and Graduate Studies Committee at my university.”

Manjeet Ramgotra (SOAS University of London)

“In May 2020, I was elected to the PSA Executive Committee. As a trustee, I have supported the PSA Early Career Network in their activities, mentored early career scholars, and recently, set up an EDI Working Group that aims to embed principles of equality, diversity and inclusion within the PSA, and to promote these principles in our teaching, learning, and research activities across the profession. In 2022, I was appointed to the Quality Assurance Agency Politics and International Relations Subject Benchmark Statement Advisory Board and helped re-draft the statement, notably the EDI section. I am a senior lecturer in political theory at SOAS and have co-edited a new textbook called Rethinking Political Thinkers that broadens the political theory curriculum to address structural and intersectional gender and race inequalities. I seek re-election to build on my experience, to continue this work and to advance PSA goals of excellence, sustainability and diversity.”

Dr Andrew S. Roe-Crines (University of Liverpool)

“Across our discipline, mental health remains one of the least discussed problems that many face. Members of our discipline live and work with conditions such as anxiety and depression amongst other challenging conditions such as bipolar which often go unrecognized in an increasingly pressurized environment. Through my wider experiences as a carer and activism outside the discipline to raise mental health awareness, I have seen the daily struggles in a world of ever-growing isolationism and anxieties that can lead to harmful coping strategies. It is this passion to raise awareness and change practices in our disciple that motivates my nomination for the Executive. The PSA is an ideal organization to communicate best practices that can make a real difference to scholars at all stages of our careers because it provides a vital forum to improving working and researching conditions for members.”