Lukas K. B. Nagel
Thesis: ‘'You messed with the wrong generation!” Resilience and protest motivations among young Myanmar pro-democracy activists in exile
Lukas’ research examines the role of young activists in resisting authoritarianism, focusing on Myanmar's 2021 military coup. His project explores their political motivations, protest strategies, and future aspirations. With prior experience in anti-corruption work in Kenya and peacebuilding efforts across Myanmar, the Philippines, and India, Lukas holds a BA in Sinology (Germany) and an MA in Asian studies (Sweden). A certified Peace and Conflict consultant and human rights advocate, he supports the Milk Tea Alliance. His research interests include social movements, peace and conflicts, youth and nationalism.
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Nay Kim
Thesis: Social Accountability in Fighting Corruption in Southeast Asia: The case of Cambodia, The Philippines and Indonesia
Nay's PhD project aims to explore the current and potential roles of the formal citizen oversight mechanism, institutionalizing citizen engagement, in state-backed social accountability efforts to control corruption. Nay holds a master’s degree in Development Practice from the University of Queensland under the Australia Development Scholarship Program in Cambodia. Nay is also a former researcher for the International Budget Partnership (IBP) on Open Budget Survey in Cambodia. Nay's professional experiences lie in programme management, advocacy, monitoring and evaluation, and social research. Her main research interests are public policy, public integrity, anti-corruption, and social policy.
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Erika Isabel Bulan Yague
Thesis: Young People Shaping Southeast Asia’s Regional Peace and Security Agenda
Erika is a young woman leader from the Philippines who is passionate about peace and human rights and a strong activist for the cause. Erika's expertise is in young people's participation and civic engagement in emergencies and peacebuilding. She works with the United Nations on advancing the Youth Peace and Security Agenda and youth participation in emergencies. Erika has worked as an emergency responder in the Philippines, a government-elected local youth councilor, and has been active in youth activist networks in the Asia-Pacific region and globally. She holds a Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Queensland through the Rotary Peace Fellowship Programme, a Youth Peace and Leadership Certificate from Columbia University in the City of New York, and a Bachelor of Science in Community Development with honours (Cum Laude) from the University of the Philippines.
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Samantha Perussich
Thesis: How do regulatory frameworks within Australian jurisdictions best account for, regulate and prevent soft corruption?' A case study comparison
Sam's PhD project explores the current laws and regulatory frameworks within Australia, and whether they sufficiently account for and regulate soft corruption, in search of best practice. Sam is a specialist government and litigation lawyer, particularly within criminal prosecutions and law enforcement. She has worked in various legal roles in both Commonwealth and Victorian Government law enforcement agencies. Her specialities lie within the intersection between civil and criminal law from a public law perspective. Sam is passionate about social justice and advocacy within an ethical and integrity decision-making framework, and in addition to her interests in corruption, her research interests lie in restorative justice practice and theory, sociology of punishment, crime theory and victimology. Sam holds a masters degree from the University of Edinburgh in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, and an LLB/Bachelor of Science (Psychology) (honours) from the Australian National University.
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Francesco Vittonetto
Thesis: The Transnationalisation of Populist Publics
Francesco's research investigates the role of digital publics of populist radical right parties in the processes of transnationalisation. It explores how their engagement on social media platforms fosters connections between PRR actors, ultimately contributing to build a shared communicative space for the far-right. Before joining Griffith, Francesco worked as a journalist and political communication consultant in Italy, and as a digital communication trainee at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany.
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Holly Willson
Thesis: Fairness and Tax Policy Reform in Australia and New Zealand
Holly's PhD thesis analyses historical discourses to identify how different policy coalitions mobilise fairness norms to effect policy change or continuity over time. The research builds on comparative insights into tax policy reform in Australia and New Zealand, providing an understanding of the significance of fairness norms in these policy contexts and building on existing approaches to empirical investigations into the role of norms in public policy. Holly has a Master of Public Policy from the University of Auckland. She currently works as a research assistant at the University of Canterbury and previously worked in public policy and community NGO research in New Zealand. She has been a teaching assistant at the University of Auckland at undergraduate and postgraduate stages in public policy and politics.
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Rika Isnarti
Thesis: The Path to Successful Energy Transition? Developing States and Norm Harmonisation
Rika is an Indonesian. She was born and raised in West Sumatra. Rika completed her Bachelor's Degree in International Relations at Universitas Andalas in Indonesia, and her Master's of International Relations at Flinders University, Australia. Rika's research interests encompass various aspects of diplomacy, including digital diplomacy, public diplomacy, and energy diplomacy. She is particularly eager to delve deeper into these areas and expand her knowledge during her journey at Griffith University. Before moving to Australia, she experienced working as academic staff at the Department of International Relations, Universitas Pertamin.
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William Y. Kang
Thesis: From a Shrimp to a Dolphin among Whales: South Korea’s Evolving Strategy in an Era of US-China Competition
William holds a BA in Economics and Philosophy from SUNY Binghamton and an MA in International Relations from Sogang University. His research explores South Korea’s strategic evolution amid U.S.-China competition from 2003 to 2022, focusing on the interplay of political ideologies and threat perceptions of successive South Korean governments. William has published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Korean Journal of International Studies, Korean Political Science Review, Journal of Global Politics, and Journal of International and Area Studies, and contributed a book chapter to Kai He’s Contested Multilateralism 2.0 and Asian Security Dynamics.
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Jane Olsen
Thesis: Mapping, evaluating and strengthening the Australian institutional arrangements to support and protect whistleblowers
Jane is currently undertaking her PhD research on the Australian institutions that protect whistleblowers. She has extensive experience in the public sector – at integrity agencies the NSW Ombudsman and the Crime and Corruption Commission, as well as in the Queensland Parliamentary Service and central and line agencies. Jane was on the research team of the two ARC-funded Whistling While They Work projects, and an Australian representative of the expert group that developed the first international standard on whistleblowing systems. She has taught undergraduate and postgraduate public policy courses. Her research interests include integrity, corruption, public policy, evaluation and regulation.
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Bagus Ismujati
Thesis: The Politics of Indonesian Foreign Aid Policy
Bagus has 17 years of working experience across government and non-government sectors in the field of international development cooperation. He holds a bachelor in International Relations (Parahyangan Catholic University) and masters in Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development (Australian National University). His research focuses on understanding the dynamics of Indonesia’s foreign aid, with a particular interest around the establishment of Indonesia Aid and the implementation of South-South Cooperation. He aims to obtain a deeper understanding of aid institutionalisation and contribute to more effective, research-based policy-making.
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Natasha Cumming
Thesis: Normative Change in the International System and Israel’s Legitimacy
Natasha’s research explores how evolving international norms influence the legitimacy of states, with a focus on Israel. She holds a Bachelor of Business (Class I Honours, University Medal) and a Bachelor of Government and International Relations with Distinction. Natasha has worked as a Research Assistant and workshop tutor in SGIR, where she discovered a passion for research and teaching. She and her husband co-founded a Gold Coast not-for-profit in 2018 and are raising five sons. Supervised by Dr Dan Halvorson and Dr Scott Blakemore, Natasha looks forward to contributing to SGIR’s academic community.
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Anggia Valerisha
Thesis: Unsafe Seats: Violence Against Women Parliamentarians in Indonesia
Anggia Valerisha is a PhD student at the School of Government and International Relations. She is currently on study leave from her role as an assistant professor at the Department of International Relations, Parahyangan Catholic University, Indonesia, where she also served as a member of the Task Force for Preventing and Handling Sexual Violence, focusing on policy advocacy and survivor support from 2022-2024. Her research project examines gendered violence against women politicians in Indonesia and is working under the supervision of Professor Sara Davies and Dr. Sarah Cameron. She’s also becoming Student Affiliate Investigator for ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW).
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Savithri Gayani Fernando
Thesis: The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and Transitional Justice
Savithri's PhD thesis project examines the pursuit of truth in the transitional justice process of Sri Lanka using a multi-institutional approach. She is also a lecturer at the Department of International Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. She holds a Master of Philosophy degree in the field of transitional justice and reconciliation from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Her research interests include reconciliation, transitional justice, peace and conflict studies, and diplomacy.
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Mariel Dominique Verroya
Title: The Politics of Expertise during COVID-19
Mariel is doing her PhD under an Australian Research Council grant which looks at the Politics of Expertise during COVID-19. She worked as the Coordinator of the United Nations Association of Australia National Peace and Security Program. She also works as a Lecturer at Acknowledge Education. Her thesis looks at the operationalisation of non-conventional forms of expertise i.e. gender expertise in public health emergencies such as COVID-19 with the UK as the case study. Her other research interests are on gender studies, representation and inclusion in public policy.
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Abu Farhad
Thesis: Democratic Qualities of Civic Debate on News Media's Social Media Feeds: A Case Study of Bangladesh
Abu Farhad was a professional journalist in Bangladesh for over a decade, working with leading news organizations in various capacities until 2023. In the newsroom, he dealt with a wide range of issues, including politics, law, human rights, and social affairs. A Swedish Institute (SI) alumnus, Farhad also briefly taught journalism at a university. His current research interests include political communication, authoritarianism, online deliberation, social media, politics, and democracy.
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Jade Connor
Thesis: Housing policy paradigm change
Jade is researching paradigm change - or lack of it - in the housing policy domain in Australia. This contrasts to interesting developments in fiscal and monetary policy since 2008 and especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. What ideational factors and economic morality are preventing the Australian Labor Party from achieving more progressive fiscal policies and macroprudential policies that could manage housing affordability?
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Joanna Klieve-Longman
Thesis: Violence Against Women: The role of 'Health First Responders' during shocks
Joanna has a background in social work, where she has primarily specialised in Violence Against Women (VAW) advocacy, and work in refugee maternity healthcare; particularly liaison, education and training within healthcare settings and the intersection of VAW. She has led the expansion and development of a training pilot program, aimed at enhancing responses and awareness of VAW within the primary healthcare sector. Her work in VAW and refugee advocacy spaces has informed her research interests in exploring the impact of shocks on VAW, and how first responders (particularly health agencies) are aligned to respond to these impacts.
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Dzunuwanus Ghulam Manar
Thesis: Sustainable Public Service Innovation of Indonesia's Local Government
Ghulam holds a BA in Government Studies and an MA in Political Science from Universitas Diponegoro of Indonesia. His research explores Indonesia’s local government’s efforts to sustain public service innovation, since he is interested in the rise and tide of innovation in the local government of Indonesia. He is passionate about public policy at local government in Indonesia, as he serves as an assistant professor in his alma mater and advisor to the local government research and innovation agency of Central Java Province, Indonesia.
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Aletheia Kerygma B. Valenciano
Thesis: When middle powers push back: state agency and domestic determinants in Philippine foreign policy
Aletheia holds a BA in Political Science from the University of the Philippines (UP) and a MA in International Politics from Fudan University, China. Her research explores the linkages between state agency and the domestic determinants of Philippine foreign policy in the context of US-China strategic competition. She is currently an assistant professor in UP and the Managing Editor of Asian Politics & Policy and a non-resident fellow of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Pacific Forum, and the US State Department’s QUAD-ASEAN Exchange Program. Her research interests include Philippine foreign policy, Philippine-China relations, and security studies.
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