Researchers from STEaPP, Dr Margaret Siyawamwaya, Dr Remy Twiringiyimana, and Anca Tacu, Senior Policy Manager in STEaPP’s Policy Impact Unit (PIU) participated in the Political Studies Association (PSA) 76th Annual International Conference held in Oxford, from 30th March to 1st April 2026. Themed “Political Studies Futures”, the conference was hosted by the University of Oxford.

At a time of shifting global development architectures, renewed debates about state capacity, and the growing disruption of international aid systems, the conference theme offered a productive space for political scientists and interdisciplinary scholars to reflect on the futures of the discipline and its relevance to pressing policy challenges.

Anca in Oxford

Representing STEaPP’s commitment to impactful, interdisciplinary research, the team presented on critical topics spanning pharmaceutical governance, science diplomacy, and the political economy of science and innovation policy in Africa. Presentations delivered by the STEaPP team were as follows:

  • Margaret Siyawamwaya – Global Standards, Local Failures: Science Policy and the Politics of Medicine Quality in Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom. (co-authors: Julius Mugwagwa, Rainer Kattel)
  • Remy Twiringiyimana – Measuring and Enabling Policy Capacity in Africa: A Political Economy Analysis of Science Granting Councils as Boundary Organisations. (co-authors: Fernando García Albero, Julius Mugwagwa, Anne Marie Kagwesage, Carla Washbourne, and Parfait Yongabo)
  • Remy Twiringiyimana – Unlocking the Potential of Rwanda’s Scientific Diaspora: Opportunities and Challenges in Science Diplomacy and Innovation Policy. (co-author: Julius Mugwagwa)
  • Anca Tacu - Exploring emerging pathways and futures for sustainable vaccine manufacturing in low- and middle-income countries (co-authors: Julius Mugwagwa, Martin Nicholson, Itegbeyogene, Patrick Ezekiel, Lou Virrey)

The STEaPP team will draw on the feedback, insights, and connections made at PSA26 to further their evidence-based, globally engaged, and locally relevant policy research.