Head of Department
Paul Taggart
The Department of Politics is dedicated to delivering an outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate experience to students from a wide diversity of backgrounds and countries, and to maintaining our internationally recognised reputation for research excellence.
Our aim is to equip our graduates with the analytical, information and communications skills that a globalised world demands. We emphasise quality, student-centred teaching, a broad and interesting spread of courses, and a cutting-edge research environment.
Our research was ranked Number Two in the UK in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. Our teaching was awarded 23/24 in the most recent Teaching Quality Assessment and four Sussex staff have won Political Studies Association prizes for outstanding teaching.
We were thrilled to be placed in the top twenty places to study politics in both the Complete University Guide and The Times Good University Guide (2013). On a global level, the QS World Subject Rankings rated Politics with IR at Sussex within the top 100 providers in the world.
We also host the Sussex European Institute (SEI), one of the foremost centres of cutting-edge academic research on contemporary European studies, and a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence.
The Department of Politics has links with universities and other organisations all over the world and we consider our multinational, multicultural community as a crucial asset that we continue to value and develop.
For further information about the activities of Politics staff and students visit our 'Showcase' page.