Professor Nathaniel Copsey

Nat Copsey

Nathaniel Copsey is Professor of Politics. His research interests centre on the European Union, its politics and policies, and its relationship with its Member States. He previously worked on the politics and governance of Poland and Ukraine, with an emphasis on their path towards European integration. More recently his research has turned to British relations with the EU and the politics of reform, referendum and Brexit. He was awarded a Jean Monnet Chair in European Union politics in 2013 for a research project entitled Rethinking European Integration. His latest book Rethinking the European Union was published by Palgrave-Macmillan in 2015.

Professor Copsey was Head of Politics and International Relations from 2011–15. During this time, student recruitment more than doubled, student satisfaction as measured by the NSS rose from 78% in 2011 to 95% in 2014 and the research quality ranking for the group as measured by the REF increased from 20th in 2008 to 3rd in 2014.

On graduating from the College of Europe, he worked as a presenter at Telewizja Polska in Warsaw and subsequently in London at the international think tank, the Policy Network. He has taught at the University of Helsinki, College of Europe, the European Studies Institute of MGIMO in Moscow and Sciences-Po Lille. He remains a Visiting Professor at Sciences-Po Rennes. Together with Dr Tim Haughton he is the Editor of the Journal of Common Market Studies Annual Review (JCMS AR), a part of the JCMS, which has been the leading journal of European integration studies since 1962. Much of his work is applied in nature and he has advised, briefed and written reports for a wide range of research users on European Union politics and policy.

Professor Copsey will be on leave from Aston University from 2015–18 during his secondment to the Foreign Commonwealth Office’s Europe Directorate, as part of the Future of Europe team.


  • DPhil (Political Science) Sussex
  • MA (European Political and Administrative Studies) College of Europe
  • BA (Modern History) Oxford
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Undergraduate Modules

  • LP1016 Europe and the Making of the Modern World
  • LP1025 Europe and the Making of the Modern World 1
  • LP3008 - Central and East European Politics  


Postgraduate Modules

  • LPM040 - Rethinking European Integration 

 

Books

Articles in Refereed Journals

Book Chapters

  • Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Peer Review College 
  • American Political Science Association (APSA)
  • Political Science Association (PSA)
  • University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES)

Research & Tenders Awarded Grants (All Principal Investigator)

  • ESRC 000-2202723Small Grant for project on ‘Poland’s Power and Influence in the European Union: the Case of its Eastern Policy’ (2008–10) (£22,624) (Final Grade: very good);
  • British Academy Exchange with the Polish Academy of Sciences Grant (April–July 2008) (£3,000);
  • Polish Government Research Grant (May 2008) (£1,500);
  • UACES Research Grant (2005) (£2,500) for focus group research in Poland and Ukraine.
  • Swedish International Development Agency 2008–09 for advice to the Government of Sweden on assisting Ukraine on its path towards European integration (€150,000) (Co-author of tender with Alan Mayhew);
  • European Commission 2008–09 for the organisation of a conference at the University of Birmingham on 14 and 15 May 2009 on the Future of Europe, ‘Bringing the Policy Back In’ (€41,000) (Co-author of tender with Carolyn Moore);
  • Swedish International Development Agency 2009–10 for (€150,000) for advice to the Government of Sweden on assisting Ukraine on its path towards European integration (Co-author of tender with Johanna Strandh);
  • European Commission 2009–10 for the organisation of a conference on the European Union’s relations with its eastern neighbours (€13,781).
  • European Commission 2009–10 for the organisation of a series of three conferences on Green Growth, the European Parliament and the 20th anniversary of 1989 (€25,000).
  • European Commission 2010–11 for the organisation of a series of conferences on the UK in Europe and the EU2020 Agenda (€25,000).
  • Committee of the Regions 2010–12 for consultancy on regional dimensions of the European Neighbourhood Policy (co-author of tender with Carolyn Rowe) (€320,000).
  • European Commission 2011–12 for the organisation of two conferences on the UK and the euro area and on relations with the BRIC countries (€20,000).
  • Swedish International Development Agency 2011–13 for advice on Ukraine’s European integration agenda (2.171 million SEK, €238,000, co-author of tender with Josefin Persdotter).
  • European Commission 2012–13 for the Aston New Europe Series (€25,000) (co-author of tender with Carolyn Rowe).
  • Jean Monnet Chair of European Studies 2013–16, Lifelong Learning Programme, (€45,000).
Email:  n.copsey@aston.ac.uk