Professor Paul Carmichael, from the School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences, has been awarded the Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize 2025 from the Political Studies Association (PSA) for his ‘Outstanding Professional Contribution to Political Studies’.
The Political Studies Association is a British learned society which promotes the study of politics in universities, schools and public sphere. The PSA annually awards a number of Professional Contribution Prizes to individuals for outstanding professional achievement, and the Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize is awarded for outstanding professional contributions to political studies.
Professor Carmichael was presented with his prize at the 75th PSA Annual Conference, held in Birmingham on 14 April. The Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize has previously been awarded to other eminent scholars from universities across the world.
Paul has been the Head of the School of Criminology, Politics and Social Policy at Ulster University from 2005-2010, Dean of the former Faculty of Social Sciences from 2010-2017, and Associate Dean (Global Engagement) in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences from 2017-2022, since when he has returned to his old department, the School of Applied Social and Policy Studies, where he is the Director for the Centre for Public Administration.
From 2000-16, Paul was Honorary Secretary of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom and Vice Chair of the Public Administration Committee of the Joint University Council (2004-09). He has been a Visiting Fellow in the Centre for British Studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin since 2000.
In 2007, Professor Carmichael was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He was conferred as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2016.
And in 2021, Paul was elected Fellow of the Joint University Council of the UK.
Professor Carmichael’s teaching and research interests focus inter alia on local government, devolution and intergovernmental relations, and the civil service in Northern Ireland and more generally across the United Kingdom, as well as in comparative perspective, on which he has published regularly.
On receiving the award, Professor Paul Carmichael commented:
“I am both greatly surprised and honoured to receive this most prestigious award from Political Studies Association (UK) which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and advances, supports and promotes the global study of politics and international relations.
Above all, it is humbling to be recognised in this manner by one’s colleagues from within the discipline.
This award is not only a personal honour but also a testament to the collective efforts of those who have shaped and continue to shape the field of political studies.”
Find out more:
Further information on the academic prizes awarded by the PSA, is available at www.psa.ac.uk/academic-prizes
Professor Paul Carmichael can be contacted by email to p.carmichael@ulster.ac.uk