…studied Modern History and Modern Languages (German) at Oxford (1982-1986), then took the Diploma in Social Administration at Manchester before joining its Multidisciplinary Doctoral Programme in the Social Sciences (1988-1991)…

…was appointed to the Department of Political Science and Social Policy at the University of Dundee (1991-1994)… came to Edinburgh as Lecturer in European Policy and Politics… was made Senior Lecturer in 2001… appointed Professor of Social Science and Public Policy in 2014… awarded PhD honoris causa, University of Liège, 2016…

…was Director of Quality Assurance in the Former Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Edinburgh, and then successively Director of Undergraduate Teaching, Director of Knowledge Transfer and Deputy Director of Research in the School of Social and Political Science… Director of the Graduate School of Social and Political Science 2012-2014… Director of the University’s Public Policy Network 2007-2012 and Co-Director of the Academy of Government 2015-2017… Head of Social Policy 2020-…

…spent periods away from Edinburgh on research fellowships at the European University Institute, Florence (1999), Yale University (2002), the Hanse Wissenshaftskolleg (2005-2006, 2009), Sciences Po, Paris (2008-2009) and the Institut für höhere Studien, Vienna (2013)… took leave and lived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2006-2007… Gastprofessur at the University of Vienna, 2019…