Milja Kurki

Milja Kurki is Professor and EH Carr Chair in the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University. She is Co-director of the Planetary Challenges and Politics Centre and has held major research grants from the European Research Council, British Academy, and Horizon Europe. Her work bridges theoretical international relations, political philosophy, and planetary challenges.

Education:

• PhD, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
• MScEcon, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
• BA, University of Hull

Her research interests center on the theoretical and conceptual foundations of international politics, with a focus on causality, democracy promotion, relationality, and cosmological imagination. Since 2015, she has advanced a relational ontology in IR, culminating in her 2020 book International Relations in a Relational Universe. Her current agenda explores planetary and multispecies politics, with implications for climate change and democratic governance. She contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to peace, justice, and planetary stewardship.

Her recent publications reflect a deep engagement with pluralism in the Anthropocene, planetary justice, AI and imagination, and the epistemic foundations of IR. The articles show a clear trend toward interdisciplinary, posthumanist, and cosmologically informed approaches to global politics, moving beyond traditional state-centric and Western paradigms.

Scientific Awards and Recognition:

• No specific awards listed in the text, but her sustained funding from top-tier bodies (ERC, British Academy, Horizon Europe) indicates high scholarly recognition.

Advising and Grants: She has supervised doctoral students and leads externally funded research projects. Notable grants include an ERC project on democracy promotion (2008–2012), a British Academy grant on relationality and pluriversal IR (2020–2022), and a Horizon Europe project on transregionalism (2024–2026). She has also collaborated with the University of Warwick on resilience studies.

Labs and Research Centers: She is Co-director of the Planetary Challenges and Politics Centre at Aberystwyth University, a hub for interdisciplinary research on global political challenges. Her work fosters collaboration across epistemic traditions and engages with policy communities internationally.