ANZSOG’s 2026 Academic Fellows program has begun, with two of the cohort of eight 2026 Fellows beginning their engagement with ANZSOG in February.
Professor Brian Head FASSA and Professor Giliberto Capano will bring leading expertise in public policy, governance, policy design and research–policy engagement and will work with ANZSOG across early 2026 through dialogue, collaboration and applied inquiry.
Professor Head, from the University of Queensland, is a leading authority on policy expertise and evidence-informed decision-making. His fellowship will explore the changing role of expertise in government, with a focus on policy capability, leadership and the skills required for contemporary policymaking in the context of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA).
Professor Capano from the University of Bologna, is an internationally recognised expert in public policy and policy design. His work examines how policy instruments are designed and adapted under conditions of uncertainty, and how design choices shape policy effectiveness, roubustness and adaptability in practice.
Further detail on the policy issues and questions being explored by the two Fellows is set out in an accompanying Issues Paper. Across early 2026, ANZSOG will convene conversations with public sector leaders, policymakers and practitioners around these themes, creating opportunities to engage with each Fellow’s work through dialogue, events and applied inquiry.
ANZSOG’s Academic Fellows program strengthens our engagement with universities and allows academics to enrich their research and build their connections to practitioners and fellow academics in the field of public administration and governance.
It is a key part of ANZSOG’s work and continues our history as institution with deep connections to academia as well as the public sector. It allows us to give back to the academic ecosystem to which we are deeply connected, and to showcase exciting research that takes place across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
The full list of eight Academic Fellows selected for 2026 are an outstanding group of scholars whose work spans policymaking, knowledge mobilisation, public management, and evidence use.
The four Resident Academic Fellows, from ANZSOG’s partner universities are: Professor Head, Professor Jo Barraket, Director, Melbourne Social Equity Institute, University of Melbourne, Associate Professor Anna Boucher, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney and Associate Professor Zareh Ghazarian, School of Social Sciences, Monash University.
They will be joined by six International Visiting Fellows, from a range of global institutions: Professor Capano, Professor Arlene Holmes-Henderson MBE, Department of Classics and Ancient History, Durham University, Dr Andrew Mycock, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, and Professor James Downe and his team Dr Hannah Durrant and Dr Elanor McKillop, Wales Centre for Public Policy, Cardiff University, Wales.
For any inquiries regarding the Academic Fellows Program or the 2026 Fellows, please get in touch with us at insights@anzsog.edu.au.