The Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge (abbreviated POLIS) is the department at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

responsible for research and instruction in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

and

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

. It is part of the

Faculty of Human, Social, and Political Science The Faculty of Human, Social, and Political Science at the University of Cambridge was created in 2011 out of a merger of the Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Faculty of Politics, Psychology, Sociology and International Studies. ...

History

POLIS, formed in 2009 by the merger of the former Department of Politics and the Centre for International Studies, is administratively housed at the university's Alison Richard Building on the

Sidgwick Site The Sidgwick Site is one of the largest sites within the University of Cambridge, England. Overview and history The Sidgwick Site is located on the western side of Cambridge city centre, near the Backs. The site is north of Sidgwick Avenue an ...

and is part of the

. Its primary predecessor, the Department of Politics, was formed in 2004, prior to which

had been fragmented across other departments. Notable teaching staff include

Andrew Gamble Andrew Michael Gamble (born 15 August 1947) is a British scholar of politics. He was Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Queens' College from 2007 to 2014. He was a member of the Department of Politics at the Univ ...

, Peter Nolan,

Brendan Simms Brendan Peter Simms (born 1967, Dublin) is a Professor of the history of international relations in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Early life Brendan Simms is the son of Anngret and David Simm ...

Marc Weller Marc Weller (born 27 October 1951 in Mutzig) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was part of the SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastiais ( co, Sporting Club di Bastia, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or si ...

, Duncan Bell, Baroness Smith of Newnham and Ayşe Zarakol and current head of department Jude Browne.

Centres and programmes

Nine specialised programmes and research centres are housed within the department: th
Centre of Governance and Human Rights
th
Cambridge Centre for Political Thought
th
Centre of Development Studies
th
European Centre at POLIS
th
Centre for Geopolitics
th
Centre for Gender Studies
th
Centre of South Asian Studies
th
Centre of Latin American Studies
th
Centre of African Studies
and including the '' Cambridge Review of International Affairs''.
the Bennett Institute for Public Policy
and th
El-Erian Institute of Behavioural Economics and Policy

Degrees and reputation

POLIS grants a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in politics and international studies. At the postgraduate level, the department offers a

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

(MPhil) degree in public policy, an MPhil degree in international relations and politics, a

Master of Studies The Master of Studies or Master in Studies (M.St. or MSt; ) is a postgraduate degree at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of St Andrews, the Australian National University, University of Dublin and the University of N ...

degree in international relations, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in politics and international studies. The 2022 edition of the Complete University Guide ranked the department second in its league table and the Guardian ranked Cambridge University third best in the UK for Politics.

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...

named the department the seventh best in the world in its subject area. The 2014 "Ivory Tower Survey", published by '' Foreign Policy'', rated the department's master's programme 18th in the world for quality, and its doctoral programme 16th in the world. POLIS' master's degree programmes were ranked 16th in the world for study in international relations by ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

''.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Politics and International Studies Politics and International Studies, Department of