The 2026 VOX-Pol Summer School is taking place at Swansea University, Singleton Campus, from Monday 22 to Friday 26 June 2026.
Call for participants
Swansea University is delighted to, once again, host the VOX-Pol Summer School in 2026. This week-long course will run from Monday 22nd to Friday 26th June 2026 (from 9am-5pm) and is designed to provide PhD students and early career researchers with an expert-led curriculum on the role of the Internet in violent extremism and terrorism.
The course will include a range of teaching and learning styles, including lectures, workshops, and small-group activities. It will cover a range of issues and topics, such as: how violent extremists use the Internet; exploitation of online platforms; how we respond to this threat; research methods and analysis; ethics; and gender perspectives.
Previous Summer School Testimonials
“As a PhD student, the VOX-Pol Summer School was a great experience that allowed me to learn about the current and future state of research from experts in online extremism, form ongoing research collaborations, and integrate myself into a developing international network of new and emerging scholars.”
“The summer school was a fantastic academic experience, greatly contributing to my knowledge on online extremism and offering the much-needed opportunity to network with fellow early career researchers.”
Confirmed speakers:
- Prof. Maura Conway (Dublin City University; Swansea University)
- Dr. Suraj Lakhani (Sussex University)
- Dr. Lizz Pearson (Royal Holloway University of London)
- Dr. Ashton Kingdon (University of Southampton)
How to apply:
To be eligible, you must:
- Be a PhD student, or
- Have completed a PhD within the previous two years; or
- Be an early-career professionally tasked in relation to online extremism and/or terrorism.
To apply, please send a CV and a cover letter outlining your motivation to: j.j.whittaker@swansea.ac.uk.
The deadline for applications is Wednesday 7th Jan 2026.
We will aim to notify participants whether they have been successful by 13th Feb 2026.
There is no registration fee.
Travel Funding
Participants will be expected to pay for their own travel and accommodation.
A small amount of funding is available to reimburse students a portion of their costs. If you would like to apply for this, please indicate that this is the case in your cover letter and include an estimate of travel and accommodation costs. Because this is a small pot, we ask that if you do have institutional funds available that you draw from them first.