President: Carmen de Jong
I am a third year Politics and international Relations Student. My role involves delegating tasks amongst committee members as well as overseeing all activities undertaken by the society. As President I have sought to improve the level of communication that exists between the society and the PIR department as well as the College and Students Union. It has been my primary objective to expand the activities of the society to meet demands of Royal Holloway students in providing a platform that encourages students to get involved in extracurricular activities and to better their employability skills. Furthermore, my aims this year have been to increase the services that the PIR society can offer students through improving membership levels and establishing relations with sponsors.
Treasurer: Jason Michalski
As Treasurer I do pretty much what it says on the tin: I look after the Society’s finances. But rather than just signing claim forms and printing off an account statement every once in a while, I am actively involved in trying to find new sources of sponsorship, especially for the trips we organize to places such as New York, St. Petersburg and Prague. We have had great success in the last few years raising money to make the great opportunities that conferences like the National Model United Nations in NYC offer even more accessible to passionate students, whatever their financial situation. We are currently working alongside the SU, the college management and institutions like the Alumni Fund, Royal Holloway International and the Student-Led Initiative Fund to find long-term sponsorship solutions for our trips and events. Personally, I am deeply committed to ensuring that each pound that members contribute to the society gets back to them in form of great events, socials and trips.
Secretary: Emily Westwell
Being Secretary for the PIR society, I am essentially responsible of everything to do with organisation. I am responsible for organising our weekly meetings and taking notes throughout, as well as liaising with the PIR department keeping them informed of upcoming events and society activities. My role also compliments that of the President, as I assist with presidential duties and I am involved with approaching other Royal Holloway faculties for funding as well as advertisement. I also assist with the organisation of trips that the society facilitates, more specifically the recent IYLC conference has been an aspect which myself and Carmen have been particularly involved with. I would describe my role in general as one which ensures that everything is arranged accordingly, whilst providing support to others that need it; in short I am the ‘go to’ for Society queries by members and those within the Committee.
National Model UN Officer: Eytan Toledo
I’m a third year PIR student from Turkey. I’m the National Model United Nations (NMUN) Officer for the Politics and International Society. The NMUN is a highly prestigious and popular simulation of the United Nations, which takes place over a week in New York each year. Our university has attended this conference for numerous years, obtaining various awards throughout leading to our nomination as an “outstanding delegation” in 2012. My function is to prepare and oversee the delegates, chosen from students, to make sure they represent our school and society well in New York and make sure that they are as prepared as can be before attending the conference. The Head Delegate (Johanna Englund) and myself organise weekly training sessions to effectively accomplish our goals and make sure the delegates have the best training whilst maintaining a casual and fun environment.
National Model UN Head Delegate: Johanna Englund
I’m a third-year PIR student from Finland. My role in the society is to help train and prepare the National Model United Nations team alongside our NMUN officer. This includes teaching our delegates the rules of procedure, resolution and report writing as well as simulating debates. My role also includes organizing the administrative side of the trip as well finding possible volunteering opportunities for the team to take part in. My goal for the 2013 team is to have them go to New York feeling well-prepared and with an enthusiastic attitude in order for them to have a once in a lifetime experience.
Academic Events Officer: Sonja Väisänen
My role includes organizing and delivering academic events, the composition of which range from key-note speeches to panel discussions and debates. I’m involved in every stage from brainstorming topics to recruiting speakers, handling PR and the logistical matters which make an event successful.
My goal is two-fold: first, to help RHUL students meet and engage with people who contribute to the world of politics and IR to help them gain more perspective on the topics that they study and why they are really important. Secondly, from the perspective of a third year undergraduate, I am really motivated to get our students to gain more work experience and to start the process from the very beginning of their degrees.
Volunteering and Social Events Officer: Rachael Adams
I am a 2nd year straight Politics student. My role in the committee is effectively split into two parts. Firstly, there’s the social events side; I try and organize informal get-togethers outside of the educational lectures that we put on, giving our society members a chance to engage, mingle and let off some steam after a hard week at Uni. These events include pub crawls, meals out and trying to get as many people to come and represent us at campus wide social events, such as the Societies Ball. The second part of my job is the volunteering side. As a society we like to give back as much as possible. My role in this is to organize PIRSoc members to come together and take part in volunteering projects, usually coordinating with the SU to do this. We take part in big clean up initiatives in the local area, such as the clean-up of Manorcroft playing fields and park in Egham, as well as raising money for charities at our events. I try and engage as much as possible with PIRSociety, I will be representing Royal Holloway for the second year in the NMUN conference, having last year helped score the prestigious ‘Outstanding Delegation’ award. Outside of the committee I enjoy acting, rowing and palaeontology.
Editor in Chief: Anton Badstuber
I am a second year Media Arts student. My initial interest for PIR began with my first MUN conference at the age of 14.
As part of the committee I have helped launched the website and am now responsible for the The Participant Blog. I also work on the promotion of the society by creating posters.
I am an equally active member as part of the society, being part of the NMUN 2013 delegation representing France in the IAEA committee.
Beyond the society, I enjoy photography, rowing and football.
G20 Youth Forum Head Delegate: Max Lyssewski
I am a third-year PIR student from Germany. Within the Society I prepare and lead a delegation of outstanding students to the annual G20 Youth Forum Academic Conference. The 2013 Conference in St. Petersburg will be the first time RHUL participates, allowing students to present research among leading academics, politicians, and representatives of business and civil society. I also help Sonja plan, organise, and moderate our busy schedule of keynotes and panel discussions. I enjoy the organisational challenge and the reward of interacting with experts and students that have an avid interest in current affairs. Off duty I pursue interests in architecture, EU commercial policy, and smoked salmon.
Website Manager: Corwin Schillig
I am a third year Computer Science student who has a strong interest in Politics and Current Affairs. My main involvement within the society is the development and maintaining of the new website. The website is an area to find information about the society including upcoming events and international conferences, as well as careers opportunities. In my own time I have an interest in aviation, photography, and cycling.
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