In fantastic news for NewPolCom, following their successful PhD defences Dr. Amy Smith and Dr. Nikki Soo have both won positions at the University of Sheffield, ranked #3 for politics research in the UK. Amy and Nikki passed through our MSc programme and went on to produce wonderful PhD theses.

Amy joined the Department of Politics at the University of Sheffield in September 2018. She holds the position of University Teacher in British Politics/Public Policy. Amy is Module Leader for two courses in 2018/19: Parliamentary Studies (UG-3) and Never Mind the Ballots: State and Society in the UK (UG-2). She is also co-writing and co-convening a third course with Professor Andrew Hindmoor on British Politics (UG-1). Additionally, Amy supervises undergraduate Research Projects in Parliamentary Studies and in Narcopolitics, and final year undergraduate dissertations. Follow her on Twitter @amypatsmith.

Nikki Soo is joining the University of Sheffield as postdoctoral research associate at the Sir Bernard Crick Centre. She will work closely with director Dr Kate Dommett on projects with the theme “Politics and the Public” to cultivate debate and encourage citizenship. She will also develop a project on constituent experience and perception of contemporary representation. She’s concurrently a Research Associate with the University of Manchester, where she researches online news consumption and its role in political knowledge gaps with Dr Marta Cantijoch and Professor Rachel Gibson, in partnership with the BBC. Follow her on @sniksw and check out her website for updates.

Congratulations to both, and we look forward to welcoming them back to hear about their new research and to inspire our next generation of graduate students.