Richard Mole

Professor Richard Mole is a leading academic in Political Sociology at University College London's School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES). He holds the position of Professor of Political Sociology and has served as SSEES Deputy Director (2017–2019, 2021–2022) and Director (2023–2025). His research focuses on queer theory, migration, nationalism, and LGBTQ+ rights in Central and Eastern Europe. Mole holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, and prior to academia, worked in finance at Credit Suisse. He is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (2007) and recipient of the Provost's Teaching Award (2009).

Education: BA (Hons) in German and Russian (Heriot-Watt University, 1991), MA in International Relations (University of Cambridge, 1992), PhD in Political Sociology (LSE, 2003). Postdoctoral fellowships include the University of Pennsylvania's Solomon Asch Center and a Mellon Fellowship at UCL.

Research interests include LGBTQ+ rights in post-Soviet states, queer migration, nationalism, populism, and the intersection of identity and foreign policy. He has authored/co-authored works on Russian queer diasporas, homophobia in Poland, and Baltic state national identity. His recent work addresses anti-LGBTQ+ policies in Europe and transnational advocacy strategies.

Key contributions include analyzing how nationalist discourse shapes LGBTQ+ exclusion in Central/Eastern Europe and studying sexual health among migrant communities in London. He has pioneered methodological approaches in ethnographic coding and network analysis, advancing interdisciplinary research practices.

Awards: Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (2007), UCL Provost's Teaching Award (2009). Research grants include Mellon and ERC funding. Active in policy dialogues on LGBTQ+ asylum and hate crime frameworks.

Labs/Teams: Leads SSEES research clusters on migration, queer studies, and post-Soviet sociopolitical dynamics. Collaborates with NGOs on human rights advocacy in Eastern Europe.