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Welcome to The Richardson Institute Online. Established in 1959, the peace research centre at Lancaster was the first in Britain, and one of the first in the world. It has always been dedicated to pioneering research in peace and conflict studies, in the spirit of the Quaker scientist, Lewis Fry Richardson.

This site aims to provide up-to-date information about the latest news from The Richardson Institute, the courses offered at The Richardson Institute and highlights the interests of its staff and research students.

Following are the key objectives of The Richardson Institute:

• to promote a better understanding of the conditions of peaceful change
• to be a centre of excellence in peace and conflict research
• to offer opportunities for undergraduate and postgraduate study and research
• to encourage the practical application of its work
• establish a framework for inter-faith dialogue and understanding

The Institute seeks to serve the wider community by:

• carrying out research into peace processes, conflict resolution, and peace-building, and feeding back the results of its research to inform peace-making in practice;
• enabling postgraduates and undergraduates to acquire the intellectual and practical skills of conflict analysis and peace-making, which they can take into society in their subsequent careers.
• Undertaking applied peace-building activities in areas of conflict or potential conflict

The Richardson Institute is a research centre within the Department of Politics and International Relations at Lancaster University. We are committed to undertaking relevant, ethical and focused projects. The Institute has a friendly and informal atmosphere and encourages participation and originality.

News & Recent Developments

The Richardson Institute to host two UNESCO/CARA Scholars from Iraq

The Richardson Institute is delighted to announce that it will be hosting two Iraqi academics as part of the UNESCO funded Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA) UK Fellowship Scheme. These fellowships allow Iraqi academics to undertake a three month fellowship at a UK university and are aimed at supporting capacity building and the reintegration of Iraq's academics as members of the international academic community following nearly two decades of international isolation and under-investment. The two scholars will undertake their visit to Lancaster between January and March 2010. The scholars will be working with Dr Victoria Mason (Politics and IR) and Dr Lindsey Moore (English and Creative Writing). More information about events to welcome the scholars will be posted shortly. For further information please contact Vicky Mason at v.mason@lancs.ac.uk

CARA was set up in 1933 in response to the persecution of academics across Europe by fascist regimes. Since then it has been an important organisation that has assisted persecuted academics from Chile, Ethiopia, Iran, South Africa and Vietnam to name a few examples. Amongst the 1,500 academics assisted in the early years, sixteen have gone on to win Nobel Prizes, eighteen received Knighthoods, and well over a hundred were elected Fellows of The Royal Society and The British Academy, and many more have become leaders in their respective fields. For further information about CARA go to: http://www.academic-refugees.org/Iraq-Programme.asp

The Institute is in a new phase of development and expansion. This has been made possible thanks to the support of the University, the Anonymous Donors who created an Endowment Fund for the Institute in 1990, and the many trusts, Quaker meetings and individuals who have supported our work.

• We have endowed a 3-year Postgraduate Research Studentship in the field of Peace Studies/Conflict Resolution from October 2006.
• We have been working with Oxfam to support indigenous peacemakers among the pastoralist communities of Northern Kenya and neighbouring areas in eastern Africa.
• Our former graduates are working with organizations like UNHCR, Oxfam, International Alert, FEWER, Search for Common Ground, the media, diplomatic services and universities, in places like Geneva, New York, London, Palestine, Albania, Afghanistan, East Timor, and Uzbekistan.