Four DPIR DPhil students win prizes for their outstanding theses

Four of the Department’s DPhil students have won prizes for their outstanding theses, which were completed in the 2022-23 academic year. 

Christine Pelican, Paola Solimena, Evgenija Kroeker, and Jan Eijking all won awards.

Details of the recipients and their awards

Christine Pelican

A DPhil Candidate in International Relations, Christine Pelican has won the Winchester Prize. This is awarded for an exceptional thesis in International Relations, with particular emphasis on work that focuses on human rights and fundamental freedoms. 

Christine said: ‘I am honoured to receive this award. I very much enjoyed the opportunity to look deeply at how retributive emotion is incorporated into political rhetoric, and how its use affects public support for war. As recent global events illustrate all too clearly, the impulse towards retribution is a pervasive and powerful force shaping international relations and I hope my work contributes to our understanding of this phenomenon.’

Paola Solimena

A DPhil Candidate in International Relations, Paola Solimena jointly won the Dasturzada Dr Jal Pavry Memorial Prize. This prize is awarded annually by the University of Oxford, and recognises outstanding theses in the area of international peace and understanding.

Paola said: ‘It is a great honour to receive the Dasturzada Dr Jal Pavry Memorial Prize. Completing a DPhil thesis is an immensely challenging and rewarding process, and it would not have been possible without the support of my supervisors, Dominic Johnson and Jonathan Leader Maynard, my advisor Emily Jones, colleagues from the DPIR and CESS at Nuffield College, and my friends and family.’

Evgenija Kroeker

Also a DPhil Candidate in International Relations, Evgenija Kroeker is the joint winner of the Dasturzada Dr Jal Pavry Memorial Prize. She is interested in the role of regional organisations in the domain of peacekeeping and under which conditions they cooperate with the UN to manage civil conflicts.

Upon receiving news of her award, Evgenija said: ‘This is really great news! Thank you so much!’

Jan Eijking

Now a postdoctoral Research Associate at the DPIR,  Jan Eijking won the Department’s inaugural prize for the Best Doctoral Thesis in International Relations for the 2022-23 academic year. His thesis examined how technical experts became central to the design contestation of modern organisations.

Jan said: ‘I am honoured to receive news that my thesis on c19 expert politics & the technocratic international has been awarded the DPIR's prize for Best Doctoral Thesis in International Relations - thanks to my supervisor Eddie Keene, my examiners Sudhir Hazareesingh and Dr Duncan Bell.’