Happy New Year and welcome to the third edition of the PEFF Chronicles! In this volume we take a look back at our semester 1 events, including a Welcome Back bash, our flagship PEFF research seminars, two PEFF x AI events during the Festival of Data Science and AI, a training workshop on policy briefings in collaboration with the Centre for Public Policy, the first PEFF networking trip to London and Oxford, and the annual Interdisciplinary Festive Social.

But first a brief introduction…

 

About Us

The Political Economy Futures Forum (PEFF) is an interdisciplinary community of researchers committed to addressing big, enduring questions about the relationship between the economy and society. We share a common research interest in political economy and its potential to build democratic, equitable, and sustainable economies and organisations. As a College of Social Science Interdisciplinary Research Theme, we are a core strategic initiative at the University of Glasgow.

The PEFF leadership team is comprised of Dr Sean Vanatta (SPS), Dr Maha Rafi Atal (SPS), Dr Franziska Paul (ASBS), Dr Mingzhe Zhu (Law), and Prof Bernhard Reinsberg (SPS). If you are interested to get involved, please reach out or come and speak to us at our upcoming events! As a leadership team we are practicing a horizontal leadership approach but please direct specific queries as follows:

 

  • Dr Sean Vanatta: Seminar Lead
  • Dr Mingzhe Zhu: Seminar Lead
  • Dr Franziska Paul: Network Lead (external network and events)
  • Dr Maha Rafi Atal: Impact Lead
  • Prof Bernhard Reinsberg: ECR Lead (PhD and ECR development)

 

PEFF is a College of Social Science funded initiative (2024-2027). For more information about our past events and activities please check out the PEFF Chronicles, volume 1 and PEFF Chronicles, volume 2 .

 

Semester 1 Recap

 

1) The PEFF Research Seminar

Our ‘flagship’ activity, the PEFF Research Seminar series returned for a second year. Seminars were held on Friday over lunch (11:30-12:30) in the Advanced Research Centre, featuring speakers from across our interdisciplinary research community:

 

 

Session formats were diverse and ranged from full paper presentations with interdisciplinary discussion to more exploratory papers engaging with fresh research findings and new theories, methods, and models. Speakers came from a range of disciplines (law, social and cultural studies, economic history, management, accounting and finance, and economics), and all career stages. As in the previous year, topics cut across some of the big challenges we face, including AI (Azzutti), economic injustice (Helbing), and the climate crisis (Sun), as well as an (unintentional but welcome) focus on Scotland with papers on land reform (Jones), community wealth building (Tuckerman), and the national economy (Tomlinson). Many thanks to our fantastic semester 1 speakers!

We would also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our seminar discussants: Emiline Smith (Criminology), Flora Vern (Law), Max Wiszniewski (Revive), Clementine Hill-O’Connor (Urban Studies/ Health & Wellbeing), Graeme Roy (Economics), Niall MacKenzie (Strathclyde), Scott Lavery (Politics & International Studies), and Kat Fradera (Law) - and of course to the wider PEFF community for making the seminars a place for open and vibrant interdisciplinary exchange and collegial discussion.

 

We are particularly excited about our emerging “PEFF PhD” community, through both featuring more PGR speakers in our seminar line-up as well as seeing lively engagement from political economy PhD students from across CoSS in discussions and at our other events!

 

2) PEFF x AI

PEFF was involved in two half-day events as part of the Festival of Data Science and AI in October 2025. PEFF co-lead Prof Bernhard Reinsberg organised two panels: the first discussed the ethical use of AI in research, and the second considered the wider political economy of AI, discussing opportunities and challenges for politics, society, and the economy. Both events were well attended and featured lively discussion as well as interdisciplinary panel contributions:

“Using AI ethically in research” on 27 October 2025 from 9-12.30 in the Advanced Research Centre featured contributions from Simone Stumpf (Computing Science), Lisa DeBruine (Psychology), Philipp Otto (Mathematics), Sean Vanatta (SPS), Rebecca Tapscott (SPS), Patrick Shea (SPS), Lewis Forsyth (SPS), and  Annette Hastings (SPS). Bernhard Reinsberg moderated the event.

“The Political Economy of AI: Opportunities and Challenges for Politics, Society, and the Economy” on 28 October 2025 from 9-12.30 in the Advanced Research Centre featured three panels:

  1. AI, Work, and Inequality: Moderated by Sean Vanatta (SPS), with contributions from Alexander Terzakian (SPS), Alessio Azzutti (Law), Ewan Gibbs (SPS), and Qingqin Zhang (Law)
  2. AI, Energy, and Climate Change: Moderated by Franziska Paul (ASBS), with contributions from Mingzhe Zhu (Law), Patrick Bayer (SPS), and Maha Rafi Atal (SPS)
  3. AI, Culture, and the Arts: Moderated by Bernhard Reinsberg (SPS), with contributions from Tim Peacock (History), Mark Wong (SPS), and Katy Lavinia Cooper (Director of Chapel Music).

 

3) PEFF x CPP

This semester, PEFF Impact Lead Dr Maha Rafi Atal teamed up with the Centre for Public Policy to run a half-day training event titled “PEFF Policy Briefing Surgery”, which took place on 25 November 2025 from 10-1 in the Advanced Research Centre. The interactive session was designed to offer in-depth support to 20 Glasgow-based researchers in crafting impactful policy briefing papers and influence policy and policymakers effectively.

The workshop provided tailored advice, opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, and practical guidance on how to communicate research effectively to policy audiences. The event was structured to offer both strategic insights and hands-on feedback. Ahead of the session, participants submitted policy briefs and received pre-session guidance from the Centre for Public Policy team, then engaged in collaborative group work during the session to refine their approach and learn from others. Following the surgery and feedback, the three best policy briefings were chosen to be published by the Centre for Public Policy and will be circulated with the audience.

 

4) PEFF x KCL, LSE, UCL and Oxford (Networking Trip)

The PEFF leadership team went on our first networking trip from 3-5 December 2025, visiting three London universities (KCL, UCL, LSE) on 4 December, and the University of Oxford on 5 December. The Universities were chosen for their existing work and expertise around political economy, with different universities focussing on different aspects of ‘doing’ political economy research (e.g. having departments/ schools of political economy, offering and teaching degree programmes in the subject, or having a globally excellent reputation in their political economy research). During the trip we met with colleagues to understand their respective institution’s approach and to explore potential for collaboration and exchange going forward.

 

5) Interdisciplinary Festive Social

Reviving one of our favourite traditions (…if two years a tradition make?), we held the second Interdisciplinary Festive Social on 10 December 2025 in the Adam Smith Building’s Hot House. The annual festive social aims to bring together colleagues involved in the three IRTs as well as the interdisciplinary research networks as an opportunity to celebrate Glasgow’s interdisciplinary spirit. Marking (nearly) the end of a busy semester it was a lovely evening – and confirmed once again that PEFF organises the best catering on campus (and certainly the best cheese).

 

6) Stay in touch - and get in touch!

If you haven’t already, do sign up for email updates to stay informed about our events and activities going forward. You can sign up to bi-weekly updates via our newsletter here.

In its second year, PEFF is building strong connections between colleagues in the College of Social Sciences, collaborating with old and new partners across the University, and developing new networks beyond the University. As such, we continue to position the University of Glasgow as a hub for cutting-edge and interdisciplinary political economy research.

If you would like to get involved and/or have ideas, suggestions, and proposals for future activities and events, please do reach out to any of the co-leads (linked above). We look forward to hearing from you!

First published: 9 January 2026

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