Our People

Professor Rodrigo Praino - Centre Director

Dr Rodrigo Praino is Professor of Politics and Public Policy and Director of the Jeff Bleich Centre.

He holds a PhD in Political Science and has received several prestigious fellowships, scholarships and awards, including a Fulbright Scholarship. In 2018 he became the first political scientist to win a Tall Poppy Science Award for excellence is scientific research and communication.

Professor Praino is an expert in decision-making and political behaviour, conducting research on elections, voting, and how voters make decisions in a context of low-information. His publications in this area cover a wide range of issues, including the effect of political scandals and corruption, the political behaviour of young voters, the political representation of women, and the role of candidate physical appearance.

Professor Praino is also one of few scholars in Australia engaged in research on space politics and space policy. He is particularly interested in understanding and analysing the importance of space assets for defence, economic development, international relations, and decision-making. He is a co-author of Power, State and Space: Conceptualizing, Measuring and Comparing Space Actors (Springer, 2023).

Professor Praino's research has been published by top peer-reviewed academic journals in the Social Sciences, and has attracted funding from various sources, including the Australian Research Council, SmartSat CRC, Defence, the Australian Space Agency, and UNICEF.