Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford

Who we are

At the Blavatnik School of Government, our vision is of a world better led, better served and better governed. In an increasingly polarised world, this goal has never felt more urgent. We pursue it through research, teaching, and engagement that is led by the needs of governments and the people they serve.

Our approach is characterised by optimism: we look at what works, wherever success is found, and try to help countries learn from other countries. This approach is global - we believe exceptionally so. Our community of staff, students, alumni and policymakers stretches to at least 130 countries, and to the highest levels of public leadership.

We bring rigorous research to the big challenges facing governments; and we teach, convene and partner with the people who will grapple with them, today and in the future. The three pillars of our work are:

Teaching
Our competitive Master of Public Policy (MPP), MSc in Public Policy Research, and Doctorate in Public Policy attract brilliant and innovative minds, coming from over 50 different countries in any given year, and from a spectrum of professional and disciplinary backgrounds. Our degree programmes have a distinct focus on making a difference in the real world through collaborating with others, and on deeply considered values and ethics. Over 1,000 alumni across well over 100 countries are improving the lives of citizens in their own communities, as elected politicians (including government ministers), senior government offcials, humanitarians, social entrepreneurs, diplomats, educators, conservationists and more. We also run a suite of executive programmes that engage people already at the top of the public sector.

Research
In our research, just as in our teaching, we focus on what governments need – whether improving education, reducing corruption, managing a pandemic, or preventing armed conflict. Our faculty are driven to make a di‡erence in the real world, not just in their academic discipline – though thanks to their brilliance, they usually do both, with their research often attracting the most prestigious grants, and their findings appearing in top-level journals as well as in government policies.

Engagement
We use our convening power to bring people together – across disciplines, sectors, countries and ideologies – to share knowledge and ideas, and to help forge cooperative solutions that create lasting change. In a world in which many people are shouting rather than listening, we create spaces for leaders to seek common purpose – particularly with those whom they disagree with most fiercely. From our executive programmes to our events and seminars; from our fellowships bringing practitioners into our community to the formal advisory positions many of our faculty hold in government; we seek to build and strengthen bridges into policymaking – and bridges between policymakers.

Our success relies on our people. Whatever their role, every single member of our School shares a commitment to a world better led, served and governed. We seek candidates not just with relevant experience, but with the drive and tenacity to help make change.

At the Blavatnik School of Government you can expect a working environment characterised by zeal
and driven by purpose.The Blavatnik School of Government sits within the Social Sciences Division.

You can find more information on the Blavatnik School of Government’s website.

Our culture and values

At the Blavatnik School, we think of diversity as spanning multiple dimensions of individual experience that shape our ideas, ways of thinking and being including, but not limited to, race, gender, age, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation and differential abilities.  We regard such diversity as core to our institutional identity and values.

To ensure we remain accountable to these values, we have established the School’s Equality & Diversity Working Group. Meeting at least once a term, this group is responsible for ongoing critical reflection on how well the School’s structures, processes and norms of engagement ensure that the principles of Athena SWAN and the Race Equality Charter are embedded throughout the culture of the School.