Professor Gleditsch receiving his award.

Professor Kristian Skrede Gleditsch from our Department of Government, has become the first Political Scientist to receive an Anneliese Maier Research Award.

The award, which comes from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany, celebrates research excellence in the humanities and the social sciences and seeks to promote academic collaboration between German scholars and their international counterparts.

Professor Gleditsch, who is one of 11 winners in 2015, will be partnering with specialist colleagues from the University of Konstanz.

Recognition from the prestigious foundation reaffirms Professor Gleditsch’s standing as a leading international researcher in peace and conflict. He is also the first Norwegian to make the winner’s list.

Professor Gleditsch said, “I am very honoured to have been given this award and the opportunity to collaborate with German colleges on political conflict and dissent. I also hope that the award can help foster more sustained collaboration between Essex and Konstanz University.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which takes its name from the famous German naturalist and explorer, has presented the award annually since 2012. Recipients receive funding to make their chosen collaboration possible.

Professor Gleditsch will now become part of a network of over 26,000 ‘Humboldtians’ from all disciplines across more than 140 countries – including 51 Nobel Prize winners.

The Annaliese Maier Research Award is named after the German philosopher and science historian.