Dr Olga Onuch (DPhil, Oxford), is a Senior Lecturer in Politics [Associate Professor] at the University of Manchester, is an Associate of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, and in 2021 she is visiting CERES at the University of Toronto as a Senior Research Associate. From 2014 to 2020 she was an Associate Member of Nuffield College (Oxford) and in 2017 she was a Fellow at the Davis Center (Harvard).
I study the Comparative Democratization of Eastern Europe and Latin America. My scholarly work has examined the micro-foundations of citizen responses (vote, protest, and migration) to, and perceptions of, critical junctures in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, and Venezuela, and Argentina. My policy research has interrogated: EU cultural diplomacy, think-tanks as reform actors (SIDA/OSI), ‘new’ EU members’ role in eastward enlargement (NISS), good government indicators (OECD), democratic dialogue (UNDP), and governance (World Bank).
I am the author of more than 20 scholarly publications as well as several large policy reports, briefs, reviews, and popular articles. My scholarly articles have appeared in leading journals in my field (Journal of Democracy, Europe-Asia Studies, Problems of Post-Communism, Post-Soviet Affairs, GeoPolitics among others). My book “Mapping Mass Mobilizations” (2014, has received praise Europe-Asia Studies and was nominated for a prize).
Selected* Invited Lectures & Event Participation Since 2014 only & not including conference paper presentations Upcoming.…
I currently supervise 7 PHDs (four as primary supervisor) and one Post Doctoral Fellow.
My teaching has been recognized by the SoSS UoM Leadership as having obtained an outstanding result – as I teach several of the “highest [rated courses] in the School.” To this end, in 2017 I was awarded the Political Studies Association National Sir Bernard Crick Award for Outstanding Teaching. I was also twice nominated as Most Inspirational Lecturer, by my students.
Dr. Onuch has engaged with policymakers and practitioners internationally. Dr. Onuch has recently joined the Open Society Foundation coordinated, Strategic Advisory Group, tasked with advising the President and Government of Ukraine.
Contemporary art is my other life…I grew up in the art communities of Warsaw, Kyiv, Toronto and NYC.
