The University of Southampton’s Department of Politics and International Relations climbed 23 places for leading research in the country. It was placed 15th in the national Research Excellence Framework, which assessed the quality and impact of research of all politics departments in the UK. It  performed particularly well in the REF for its research publications. It was ranked 5th in the UK, with the majority of research classified as either world-leading or internationally excellent. Not bad for a small department.

I gave the keynote address on ‘Recovering the Craft of Public Administration’  to the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) International Conference, ‘The Shape of Things to Come’, Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, 30 October 2014. As the photo suggests, it was a large auditorium. There were 700 delegates, although not all of them were at my session. I also acted as an Adjudicator in the final of ‘The Pitch’ competition with the Directors-General of the Department of Training and Workforce Development, and the Department of Agriculture and Food .