Dr Sukanya Podder is a Reader in Post-War Reconstruction and Peacebuilding, and the Academic Director of the King's Sanctuary Programme.

She specialises in research and consultancy across various humanitarian and conflict-affected settings. Her research focuses on conflict actors and conflict-affected populations including rebel groups, child soldiers, military peacekeepers, ex-combatants, and stateless populations. She has raised funding and conducted multi-country research projects, and developed courses on International Interventions for Peace and Statebuilding, Post-conflict Peacekeeping, civilian protection, ex-combatant reintegration, security sector reform and defence engagement.

Her consultancy work for INGOs and the UN has been in the area of security sector reform and youth reintegration in Liberia, Iraq and Nepal. She has conducted capacity-building training for military partners on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defence in Namibia, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Bahrain, Malawi and Egypt.

Her research on rebel groups, recruitment and reintegration of combatants and rebel governance and legitimacy has been funded by the OECD INCAF. It has been published in International Peacekeeping, Civil Wars, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, Third World Quarterly, Peacebuilding, Contemporary Security Policy, Conflict, Security and Development , Perspectives on Terrorism, and Small Wars and Insurgencies.

Her research on the peacekeeping experiences of UK and international military peacekeepers has received funding from King's, NATO SPS, ESRC, IRC, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian MoD with a focus on civilian protection issues. The findings have been published in International Peacekeeping and Civil Wars.

She is the award-winning author of Peacebuilding Legacy: Programming for Change and Young People's Attitude to Peace (Oxford University Press, 2022), which received the International Studies Association (ISA) Best Book Prize in 2024. This research was funded by the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust and involved primary research in Sierra Leone and North Macedonia. This project examines the long-term effects of peacebuilding programmes with children and youth over 15+ years. A related research on land grabs in Sierra Leone has been published in the Journal of Modern African Studies.

Sukanya is an elected Vice President of the International Studies Association (2026-7), is the SSPP senior academic representative on the King’s Academic Board and is Deputy Director (ED&I) of the London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership. She also sits on the Board of Peace Direct, supporting locally led peacebuilding initiatives in conflict-affected contexts.

Specialties: Post Conflict Reconstruction; Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Ex-combatants (short course link) Security Sector Reform; Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding; Statebuilding; Youth, Conflict & Peace; Liberia, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Indonesia, North Macedonia, and Mindanao, Philippines, India.

Research Interests

• Post-conflict reconstruction
• Security sector reform
• DDR
• Peacebuilding legacies
• Indigenous monitoring and evaluation tools
• Youth, peace and security
• Rebel recruitment and civil wars
• Child solders and ex-combatant reintegration

Doctoral Supervision

Currently accepting PhD students in two areas:

• Youth, peace and security and youth-led peacebuilding. Country focus: Liberia, Sierra Leone; Jordan; Lebanon; Mindanao, Philippines.
• Rebel legitimacy and rebel governance. Country focus: South Sudan, Syria, Iraq, and Mindanao, Philippines.

Recently completed

• Prosper Addo
• Selcuk Aydin
• Raul Z Gil

Publications

• Dr Sukanya Podder PURE Profile
• Dr Sukanya Podder Google Scholar Profile