Meet our host

David Farrell is a specialist in the study of representation, electoral systems and parties. His recent books include: The Oxford Handbook of Irish Politics (Oxford University Press, 2021), and Deliberative Mini-Publics: Core Design Features (Bristol University Press, 2021). Other books include the award-winning Political Parties and Democratic Linkage: How Parties Organize Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2011).

Farrell’s current work is focused on deliberative mini-publics (DMPs), including advice to a number of government-led DMP processes in Ireland, UK, Belgium, as well as supporting the work of one of the EU-wide citizens’ panels during the recent Conference on the Future of Europe.

Prior to his move to Dublin in 2009, he was professor and head of Social Sciences at the University of Manchester. He has held visiting positions in the Australian National University, Harvard, Mannheim, and the University of California Irvine. He was a member of the ECPR Executive Committee from 2018-2024, and was Chair of the ECPR from 2021-2024.

Catriona Dowd recently joined UCD as an Assistant Professor and Ad Astra Fellow in the School of Politics and International Relations. Her research focuses on the dynamics of political violence in sub-Saharan Africa, with particular attention to the role of conflict in humanitarian crises and food insecurity; civilian targeting; and the use of new and emerging methodologies for violence monitoring. Recent works have included studies in Journal of Peace Research, African Affairs, Terrorism and Political Violence, and The Journal of Modern African Studies among others.

Dowd currently co-leads an Irish Research Council-funded COALESCE project on the gendered dimensions of food insecurity and hunger in peacebuilding, together with collaborators at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in South Africa. Prior to joining UCD, she was an Assistant Professor in Security Studies at Dublin City University. Previously, Dowd worked as a peace and conflict specialist in the humanitarian sector, most recently in Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and South Sudan.

Johan (Jos) Dornschneider-Elkink works as Associate Professor in Research Methods for the Social Sciences at the School of Politics and International Relations, teaching primarily modules on statistics and research methodology. Previously, he was a pre-doctoral fellow at the Harvard-MIT Data Center of the Institute of Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, where he consulted students and staff on the use of quantitative methods and software in their research.

His research focuses on the development and application of statistical methods in political science, with particular focus on 1) developing statistical tools for the study of policy diffusion; 2) democratization and democratic breakdown; and 3) referendum and general voting behaviour and the role of political knowledge.

Aside from his research, Jos Dornschneider-Elkink has functioned as Graduate School Director and as Vice-Principal for Internationalisation within the College of Social Sciences and Law (formerly College of Human Sciences), with close involvement in programme and policy development, as well as developing and implementing strategies for international student recruitment, and he is currently Head of the School of Politics and International Relations.

Alexander Dukalskis is associate professor in the School of Politics & International Relations at University College Dublin and the director of the UCD Centre for Asia-Pacific Research. His research interests include authoritarian politics and human rights.

His most recent book, Making the World Safe for Dictatorship, was published by Oxford University Press in 2021. He is also the author of The Authoritarian Public Sphere: Legitimation and Autocratic Power in North Korea, Burma, and China, published by Routledge in 2017. In addition, his research has been published in several leading journals, including Journal of Conflict Resolution, Government & Opposition, Journal of Peace Research, China Quarterly, Democratization, and the ECPR general journal Political Research Exchange, among others. His current research, under book contract with Oxford University Press, is about how authoritarian states have learned to limit and repurpose transnational networks of political influence.

Dukalskis has been a visiting fellow at Uppsala University, the Berlin Social Science Centre (WZB), Columbia University, and the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he was a China Fellow in 2020-2021. He regularly lends expert commentary to national and international media outlets.

Joseph Dillon is a Senior Executive Officer within the UCD College of Social Sciences. Having spent time as the undergraduate administrator for the UCD School of Politics and International Relations (SPIRe) his sole focus now is assisting with local planning for the ECPR General Conference.

Prior to coming to UCD Joseph spent several years working in conference and event management throughout Europe. His academic background is in security and international relations, having recently completed his master's degree in Security, Intelligence, and Strategic Studies from the University of Glasgow.