Announcing the 2026 Programme and Fellows
We are pleased to announce that the 2026 Programme on Democratic Governance is due to start in January 2026 with weekly Thursday Lunchtime seminars as well as other events.
2026 Senior Fellows
Nine Senior Fellows, renowned academics from all over the world will be joining us in Brussels for the duration of the Programme. During their stay, each Senior fellow will deliver a Big Ideas for Democracy lecture
- Prof. Sergiu Gherghina – University of Glasgow
- Prof. Amanda Machin – University of Agder
- Prof. Omar Gueye – Université Cheikh Anta Diop Dakar
- Prof. Liza Mugge – Universiteit van Amsterdam
- Prof. Marija Radoman – University of Belgrade
- Prof. Isaac Owusu-Mensah – University of Ghana
- Prof. Luana Russo – Maastricht University
- Prof. Edson Tandoc – Nanyang Technological University in Singapore
- Prof. Tània Verge – Universitat Pompeu Fabra
2026 Season Events
The 2026 BrIAS Season will feature various other workshops and events; below is an overview of the planning of the season. Stay tuned for the upcoming updates on the scheduled events!
December 2025
- 18/12/2025 – Paradoxes of the schooled society by Leandros Kavadias
January 2026
- 08/01/2026 – How Citizens View Alternatives to Representative Democracy by Ruben Van Severen
- 15/01/2026 – Hyperpolitics by Anton Jager
- 22/01/2026 – Opening Ceremony
- Book presentation: Democratic Commitment: Why Citizens Tolerate Democratic Backsliding by Natasha Wunsch
- 29/01/2026 – Party-Based Illiberalism in Europe: Why Is Illiberalism Gaining Ground in European Party Systems? by Leonardo Puleo
February 2026
- 05/02/2026 – Young men’s and women’s gender equality attitudes – A Gen Z gender divide? by Gefjon Off
- 09–10/02/2026 VICI workshop by Liza Mügge
- 11/02/2026 Public Panel by Liza Mügge
- 12/02/2026 – Second Class: Public Opinion Perceptions of Naturalized Citizens’ Rights and Duties / Second Class: Public Opinion Perceptions of Naturalized Citizens’ Rights and Duties by Bruno Castanho Silva / Giulia Fuochi & Pierluigi Conzo
- 17/02/2026 – Big Ideas for Democracy public lecture: Democracy and resilience in Africa by Omar Gueye
- 19/02/2026 – Stating the obvious? Far-right frames of climate change acceptance in the European Parliament by Franziska Höhne
- 24/02/2026 – Big Ideas for Democracy public lecture by Marija Radoman
- 26/02/2026 – Thursday Seminar by Gaston Meskens
March 2026
- 03/03/2026 – Big Ideas for Democracy by Liza Mügge
- 05/03/2026 – Children as climate citizens by Kata Dozsa
- 12/03/2026 – From the ashes of disruption: the search for human-centric AI innovation by Colette Brin
- 13/03/2026 – BrIAS–ABSP workshop: Exploring understudied underrepresented groups in representative democracies by Thomas Legein
- 18/03/2026 – Big Ideas for Democracy public lecture by Edson Tandoc
- 19/03/2026 – Foes or Fellow Citizens? Perception of Democratic Legitimacy and Political Polarization by Rebekka Kesberg
- 25/03/2026 – Big Ideas for Democracy public lecture by Amanda Machin
- 26/03/2026 – Why AI Technosolutionism Harms Democracy and Deliberation by Alvaro Oleart
April 2026
- 02/04/2026 – Kids on climate by Katharine Throssel
- 08/04/2026 – Big Ideas for Democracy public lecture by Isaac Owusu-Mensah
- 09/04/2026 – Unpacking the Framing of Democracy in EU Institutional Discourses on Disinformation Mitigation by Sabri Derinöz
- 22–23/04/2026 – Festival of Public Policy Transformation
- 29/04/2026 – Big Ideas for Democracy public lecture by Luana Russo
- 30/04/2026 – Are parliaments at risk of becoming irrelevant? by Cristina Leston-Bandeira
May 2026
- 05/05/2026 – Big Ideas for Democracy public lecture by Tània Verge
- 07/05/2026 – Do life events affect political attitudes? by Mark Brandt
- 21/05/2026 – Media effects of digital and mobile communication by Jakob Ohme
- 25-29/05/2026 – Week on Art and Democracy
- 26/05/2026 – Big Ideas for Democracy public lecture by Péter Krekó
- 28–29/05/2026 – Crossing Wires with Ohme
- 29/05/2026 – Closing Ceremony
June 2026
- 04/06/2026 – The Far-Right Success Story by Matthijs Rooduijn
- 05/06/2026 – Workshop on Polarization by Kamil Bernaerts
- 09/06/2026 – Big Ideas for Democracy public lecture by Sergiu Gherghina
- 11/06/2026 – Perceptions of lies and (non)democratic attitudes by Maurits Meijers
- 18/06/2026 – Book event: Under authoritarian eyes: feminist solidarity and resistance in Russia and Serbia by Leandra Bias