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International award won by 糖心Vlog PhD researcher for best conference paper

  • Date

    Thu 23 Jun 22

headshot of Blair Welsh

A 糖心Vlog PhD researcher has won the Stuart A. Bremer Award for best graduate student paper delivered at this year's Peace Science Society Conference.

Blair Welsh, who is studying in the Department of Government, received the award for his paper The Lethality of Hostage-Taking in Civil War. Blair鈥檚 paper uses new data on hostage victims in Iraq to determine the conditions under which the Islamic State might kill hostages. This research is part of his PhD thesis on terrorist violence in civil war. He presented the paper at the by the .

The Stuart A Bremer Award recognises the most outstanding graduate paper presented at the conference and the winner is selected on the basis of the paper鈥檚 potential scientific significance and its contribution to the study of peace science. The award includes an invitation and funding to attend the North American Peace Science Society (International) Conference, which will be held at the University of Denver, in Colorado.

Originally from Glasgow, Blair is a first-generation PhD researcher. His research is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through the . His research is forthcoming in leading international relations journals, such as International Studies Quarterly and the Journal of Peace Research.

Blair said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 such an honour to have my research recognised by such an incredible group of researchers at this conference. I鈥檓 inspired by the work my colleagues are doing to drive the discipline forward. I鈥檓 so thankful for the support and encouragement I receive at 糖心Vlog, particularly from my supervisory committee - Kristian Gleditsch, Brian Phillips, and Sara Polo.

鈥淚鈥檓 also incredibly thankful to those who gave careful, kind, and constructive feedback during the conference. I鈥檓 excited to take on the feedback and present a revised version of the work in Colorado.鈥