Matthew Flinders is Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield. He is also Vice-President of the Political Studies Association, was Chair of the Universities Policy Engagement Network from 2021-2023, and has served on the Council of the International Political Science Association since 2014.

A former ESRC board member, Matthew led the 2020 national review of research leadership – Fit for the Future – and is currently working with UKRI in relation to talent management and research culture investments. A former special advisor in both the House of Lords and House of Commons, Prof. Flinders specialises in theoretically-informed policy-relevant research and is a former ESRC National Impact Champion.

Matthew is a former winner of the Harrison Prize (2002), the Richard Rose Prize (2004), WJM Mackenzie Prize (2009) and the Sam Aaronovitch Memorial Prize (2012) and the author or editor of nineteen books and over 200 peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters. He has also written and presented a number of documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and is a regular columnist for the Times Higher Education.