Nikolas Kirby

Dr Nikolas Kirby is a Reader in Politics and International Relations at the University of Glasgow, specializing in political philosophy and public integrity. He serves as a Fellow of the Centre for Public Policy at Glasgow and Trustee of Aurora UK, while co-founding Beyond Equality.

• Prior roles: Democracy Visiting Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Oxford
• Education: University of Sydney (BA, LLB), University of Oxford (BPhil, DPhil) as Rhodes Scholar

Research Interests

Dr Kirby's work bridges political theory, moral philosophy, and legal theory. Key focus areas include:

• Trust and fiduciary governance in public institutions
• Moral equality frameworks and social contract theory
• Integrity regimes in public administration
• Corruption ethics and quality of government

Scientific Awards

• Leverhulme Trust Early Career Research Fellow
• John Fell Fund recipient
• British Academy grant for corporate trustworthiness research

Grants

Current projects include University of Sydney-University of Glasgow joint PhD funding on Australian anti-corruption agencies and ESRC research on institutional integrity.