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IAPSS President

The IAPSS President leads the organization and the Executive Committee, chairing Executive Committee meetings and ensuring that there is a collaboration between global departments, IAPSS Regions, and other organizational facets. They represent IAPSS externally and directly oversee the International Cooperation Department, which establishes and maintains IAPSS’ collaborations with other organizations, including but not limited to partners, association members, and strategic student government and advocacy allies. The IAPSS President has a pivotal role in IAPSS’ advocacy efforts to improve the lives of political science students and impact relevant policies at all levels of government. They provide an annual report to IAPSS members on the organization’s activities at a General Assembly near the end of each elected mandate.

Oleksii Zahreba

President

president@iapss.org

Oleksii is currently studying for the Master’s degree of political science, international and public affairs at the Université de Montréal. He also works at the International Political Science Association. Oleksii first joined IAPSS in 2019 as a Speakers Coordinator Assistant on the team organizing the World Congress in Vienna. After the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Oleksii ran for an election for the chair of the USA and Canada chapter of IAPSS. He served as a chair of the USA and Canada region for the 2020/21 mandate. He was later elected as the IAPSS Secretary-General and took over as Interim IAPSS President in October 2022. He was subsequently reelected IAPSS President in May 2023.

IAPSS Secretariat

The IAPSS Secretariat oversees IAPSS’ internal communications and democratic processes. The Secretary-General leads the Secretariat, which looks after the website, email accounts, and project management applications. They take minutes at Executive Committee meetings, organize General Assemblies and elections, ensure the IAPSS Legal Framework is followed, and oversee all matters pertaining to memberships.

Elizabeth Lee-Abbey

Secretary-General

secgen@iapss.org

IAPSS Financial Administration Department

The Financial Administration Department of IAPSS maintains the financial infrastructure of the association and manages the annual budget. Fundraising is also situated in the Financial Administration Department.

Anne-Marie Paszkowska

Treasurer

finances@iapss.org

Anne-Marie is a graduate in both journalism and political science. She was awarded a government scholarship to attend Warsaw University. While at college, she started reporting on global politics and wars for the media in the US and Canada. She took part in the 2016 CIEE Leadership Summit in Washington, DC, where applicants from 33 different countries concentrated on problems facing the neighborhood. She received an honors-level certificate in “Financial Markets” from Yale in 2021. In 2022, Mrs Paszkowska took part in the “Young Leaders for the Future of Europe” project, sponsored by EU Parliament and organized by Euractiv. She joined IAPSS as a panelist for the 2023 World Congress.

Currently an EU Funding Analyst with an emphasis on policy analysis, market research, and grant writing for the massive European startup sector. Interests in research include political economics, financial crime, US defence industry, governance, and political elites.

Privately a proud mother of a mischievous 5-year-old and ardent skier.

IAPSS Advisory Board

The Advisory Board offers guidance to the current Global Board and reviews various IAPSS reports and processes for quality assurance.

For general inquiries please feel free to contact the IAPSS Advisory Board at advisoryboard@iapss.org

Leah Rea

Advisory Board Member

Leah is a scholarship PhD researcher at the Transitional Justice Institute, Ulster University, where she is examining the relationship between constitutional conventions established by devolution and the progression of human rights in Northern Ireland. She also works as a Teaching Assistant in the School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences. She holds a Master’s in Violence, Terrorism and Security, a Master’s in Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, and an LLB, all from Queen’s University Belfast. Leah was accepted to the FEPS Young Academics Network for its 8th cycle (2022-2023) and the UNITAR Global Diplomacy Imitative Fellowship 2022.

Leah serves on the Boards of two local charitable organisations in her community, and as a representative for the School of Law PGRs on her University’s PhD Researcher Forum. She is an alumnus of the Washington Ireland Program Class of 2021.

 

Maria Wilkinson

Advisory Board Member

Maria Wilkinson is originally from New Hampshire, United States. Currently, she is an international student in the International Master’s Program of International Studies at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. Wilkinson received her undergraduate degree in International Affairs at Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages in Taiwan in 2022. Wilkinson is a scholar recipient of the Ministry of Education’s Taiwan Scholarship. Wilkinson is also the English Correspondent for Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, an NGO in Taiwan focused on advocating for the abolition of the death penalty in Taiwan. Wilkinson has been a member of IAPSS since 2023. Advisory Board Member is Wilkinson’s first elected position within the organization.

IAPSS Programs Department

The IAPSS Programs Department oversees IAPSS partnerships and communication with external organizations.

Eqbal Nahzat

Vice President for Programs

programs@iapss.org

Eqbal Nahzat is a graduate student in the Department of Political Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. In addition to his studies, he holds the positions of Graduate Assistant with the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) Local Committee and Research Assistant within the Political Science Department. He also contributes as an Editorial Board Member for the Mapping Politics Journal, a student-run journal at Memorial University.

He earned his undergraduate degree in Law, with honors, from Herat University in Afghanistan. Following this, Eqbal worked as the Director of the Legal Clinic at Kardan University, where he offered free legal services to marginalized communities and provided legal education to law students. He also acted as the Campus Director for the Hult Prize Foundation, organizing an extensive on-campus social entrepreneurship competition.

His experiences extend to international legal competitions and conferences, having represented his university and home country in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot and the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. Furthermore, he has offered his expertise as a judge, coach, and advisor for these programs, while also training law students in various legal fields, including human rights, legal research, oral advocacy, and legal writing.

Eqbal’s research primarily focuses on democracy building, political institutions reform, and the politics of refugee protection.

IAPSS Academic Department

The Academic Department of IAPSS constitutes the academic pillar of the Association. It is designed to offer a number of unique opportunities for students of political science and related disciplines to develop their skills in academic research, writing, and presentation at conferences and other events.

The work of the Academic Department offers multifold ways for students to get involved and further develop academic experiences such as publishing in different formats and other important skills. We operate two journals (Politikon and Encuentro Latinoamericano), one blog (A Different View), Student Research Committees, a Think Tank, and Delegations. For each branch, one IAPSS Board member (a Coordinator or an Editor-in-Chief) is responsible, together with the Head of the Department.

The two IAPSS journals (the flagship journal Politikon with a general focus and Encuentro Latinoamericano, which focuses on Latin American Studies) run a double-blind peer review process, as any professional journal. This, together with the expertise of the Editorial Boards, the Advisory Committee members, and the Paper Submission Guidelines ensures that each issue includes a number of high-quality articles, written predominantly by students and junior researchers.

Those who are interested in contributing with shorter reflection pieces can apply to join the Authorial Board of our blog ‘A Different View’ or submit a guest contribution to it.  Each year, a competitive Call for Applications is launched to select a small group of graduate or postgraduate students or more experienced junior researchers who will work together on a prescribed general theme, helped by the Academic Coordinator. The Student Research Committees offer another range of opportunities to IAPSS members. After a successful application process, students and junior researchers can become members of an IAPSS SRC focused on a particular subfield in political science and related disciplines. Within the SRC, they interact with other individuals with similar interests, work together with the other members on papers and other forms of research outputs, and form panels for the IAPSS conferences as well as conferences held by IAPSS’ partner organizations.

Last but not least, IAPSS Delegations are a prime outcome of the partnership of IAPSS with renowned academic and professional associations, such as IPSA (International Political Science Association), ECPR (European Consortium for Political Research), ISA (International Studies Association), or UACES (Academic Association for Contemporary European Studies). IAPSS panels at the conferences of these organizations feature selected work of the Academic Department affiliates and if capacity allows, separate Calls for Applications are launched for applicants who wish to submit abstracts for these panels.

For general inquiries please feel free to contact the Head of the Academic Department Team at academic@iapss.org

Eyrin Kyriakidi
Vice-President & Head of the Academic Department

academic@iapss.org

Eyrin Kyriakidi graduated from the University of Peloponnese with a BA in Political Science and International Relations, and from Goethe-Universität Frankfurt with an MA in Modern East Asian Studies. Currently, she is a research intern at the Institute of International Economic Relations (Athens, Greece) while pursuing an M.Sc. in International and European Studies at the University of Piraeus. She has previously worked at the Centre for Security Studies in Athens, Greece, as well as at the Embassy of Greece in Seoul, Republic of Korea. She has also participated in delegations of the Hellenic Youth Parliament and the European Youth Parliament, and was a member of AEGEE/European Students’ Forum. Eyrin first joined IAPSS in 2021, as a member of the Political Theory Student Research Committee, where she later served as Chair. Her research focuses on the bilateral relations between China and North Korea, North Korean grand strategy, and East Asian political theory and philosophy.

 

Dr Anya Kuteleva
Editor-in-Chief of Politikon: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science

politikonjournal@iapss.org

Anya Kuteleva is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work intertwines international relations, development studies, energy security, and feminist-informed approaches to politics. Her research centers on the nexus between politics and sociocultural contexts in international relations and develops a cross-disciplinary methodological toolkit around the concept of discursive politics. She is particularly interested in politics in China, Russia, Canada, and the Central Asian region. In 2022, she joined the University of Wolverhampton (UK) as a senior lecturer in International Relations. Previously, she obtained a PhD in Political Science from the University of Alberta (Canada) and held a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (Russia). She is the author of China’s Energy Security and Relations with Petrostates: Oil as an Idea (Routledge 2021) and published articles in leading academic journals, including Europe-Asia Studies, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Problems of Post-Communism, European Journal of International Security, and Energy Research & Social Science.

 

Dr Rafael Plancarte
Editor-in-Chief of Encuentro Latinoamericano: Revista de Ciencia Politica

ela@iapss.org

Rafael Plancarte holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Guadalajara, Mexico. Since 2012 he has been a professor of social sciences at the Autonomous University of Queretaro. His research interests revolve around democratization processes in Latin America, extended rational choice theory, game theory, public choice theory, and political economy. He was a member of the Editorial Board of Politikon. He has received distinctions for his academic career in Mexico

 

Ronald M. Castillo
Editor-in-Chief of A Different View: The IAPSS Academic Blog

adifferentview@iapss.org

Ronald M. Castillo is a Ph.D. Asia Pacific Studies Candidate at National Chengchi University, Taiwan. Aside from being Editor-in-Chief of IAPSS-ADV, Ronald Castillo is also the President of the Association of Filipino Scholars in Taiwan (AFST). His research and publications all fall within the niche of mapping socio-political spaces, which he applies to his two advocacies, environmental management and LGBT rights.

 

João Guilherme Ramos
Coordinator of the Crisis Observatory Think Tank of IAPSS

thinktank@iapss.org

João Guilherme Ramos is a PhD student at the International Relations Institute of the University of São Paulo (IRI-USP). He holds an MA from the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and a BA from the São Paulo State University (UNESP). Currently, João is fully immersed in his research on foreign policy elites, with a particular focus on the correlation between elite formation in the United States and its impact on the country’s strategic evolution after the Cold War. João’s extensive experience extends beyond academia, as he has actively participated as a researcher in the third sector, notably contributing to the Latin America Security and Defense Network (RESDAL). Additionally, he possesses expertise as an intelligence analyst within the private sector. Driven by a keen interest in political elites, foreign policy, and international security, João aspires to provide valuable insights and foster scholarly discussions in these areas.

 

Dr Meenakshi Bansal
Chair, Gender & Identity Student Research Committee

hrgschair.src@iapss.org

Dr. Meenakshi Bansal is employed at the Postgraduate Department of Political Science at JVMGRR College in Charkhi Dadri (Haryana), India. She is also serving as Chair of the Gender & Identity SRC of IAPSS. She is a driven professional and an ambitious scholar. She has an outstanding academic record and was awarded a University Research Scholarship (URS) by M. D. University for the Ph.D. programme from 2012 to 2015.

Additionally, she received the Global South Award 2018 from the International Political Science Association (Canada) at the 25th World Congress of Political Science. She serves as a reviewer for the journal Asian Social Science, Canada. She has been a lifetime member of the Indian Political Science Association and a former member of the International Political Science Association (Canada).

Gender Studies is one of her specialties. She has a strong interest in research and has written extensively on a variety of topics. Her writings have been presented at national and international seminars and conferences both in India and abroad, and she has published research papers and book chapters in reputable journals and book publications both at home and abroad.

 

Lisa Carroll
Chair, Political Theory Student Research Committee

ptchair.src@iapss.org

Lisa Carroll is an academic proofreader and editor with 3 years of experience. She holds a BA in Politics, International Relations, and Philosophy from University College Dublin, Ireland and is working to complete her MSc in Sustainability Studies at Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Germany. Lisa‘s academic work has spanned political science and transdisciplinary social sciences, focussing primarily on issues of sustainability and climate change.

 

Soumya Tiwari
Chair, Asia & Oceania Student Research Committee

aochair.src@iapss.org

Soumya Tiwari is currently pursuing FPM Doctoral Research in International Business at FORE School of Management. She also possesses a Postgraduate degree in International Relations, Public Relations, Public Policy and Administration and Foreign Policy. Soumya has experience in corporate and academic environments in positions of significant responsibility. She has done exemplary Internship opportunities, as well as community volunteerism.

 

Iorgus-Serghei Cicală
Chair, European Union Politics Student Research Committee

europe-rc@iapss.org

Iorgus is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in International Politics and Government at Bocconi University and is currently attending an undergraduate exchange semester at Sciences Po in Paris. Driven by a genuine academic passion for global public policymaking and EU integration, he has joined both the European Generation association and the IAPSS network in order to proactively interact with like-minded peers, deepen his understanding of political and socio-economic phenomena, draw on the plurality of ideas, and ultimately contribute to a dynamic community of inspiring students.

IAPSS Public Relations Department

The Public Relations Department of IAPSS is mainly in charge of developing PR strategies and promoting IAPSS events and our academic publications.

Dannica Battoon
Interim VP of the PR Department

publicrelations@iapss.org

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