Filip Kostelka – About

I serve as Professor of Political Science, Chair in Political and Social Change, and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Political and Social Sciences (SPS) at the European University Institute (EUI). Currently on academic leave from the Department of Government at the University of Essex, I am also an associate researcher at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics at Sciences Po, Paris. Before joining the EUI, I held academic appointments in France, Belgium, Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

My research interests lie in comparative politics, particularly in the subfields of political behaviour, party politics, and regime change. I study inter alia when and why citizens participate in elections or protest, and how different political and contextual factors affect citizens’ behaviour and attitudes. Geographically, my work focuses on Central and Eastern European countries, which I study comparatively with Western democracies and countries in other regions.

My scholarship has appeared in outlets such as the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, and World Politics. It has been recognized with several distinctions, including the Mattei Dogan Prize, Marian Irish Award, and Henrik Enderlein Prize. I am a member of the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Political Science, and the APSA Committee on International Political Science.

Beyond research, I seek to contribute to reducing academic inequalities in Europe. For three years, I convened the SPS Summer Academy, which enables master’s students – particularly from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) – to spend a week of lectures and seminars in the SPS Department at the EUI free of charge. In 2024, I established the EUI Workshop on Political Behaviour in Central and Eastern Europe, a yearly June event that brings together scholars from the East and the West to advance empirical research on CEE.

I grew up in Prague, Czech Republic, and completed most of my university studies in France. Before embarking on an academic career in political science, I held a variety of jobs, including working as a translator for Škoda Auto at the Tour de France for many years. In my limited free time, I enjoy playing football, reading Roman history and French novels, and cultivating an epicurean lifestyle with my family.

For more information on my research and academic activities, you can check my Google Scholar, Research Gate, and Web of Science profiles, or follow me on Bluesky.