Dr Vahid Nick Pay

Director of Graduate Studies (DGS-T)

Departmental Lecturer in International Politics

Dr Vahid Nick Pay is a full-time departmental lecturer in International Politics and Research Methods and serves as the Director of Graduate Studies for Postgraduate Taught Programmes (DGS), with operational responsibility for the department's taught postgraduate portfolio. He is a Fellow of Kellogg College, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He is also an official academic advisor to the UK government's Commonwealth Scholarship Commission.

As a multidisciplinary scholar, Dr Nick Pay's expertise spans various fields within Social Sciences and Information Technology, including Political Philosophy, Diplomacy, Security Studies, Linguistics, Computer Engineering, and Artificial Intelligence. His postgraduate studies encompass Linguistics, Computer Engineering, AI, and Politics and International Relations.

Prior to joining Oxford in 2018, he held academic positions at several prestigious institutions: Assistant Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kurdistan (Iraq), Adjunct Professor in International Relations at the University of Paris (Paris Descartes), and Lecturer positions at the University of Milan (Linguistics and Discourse Analysis), and Islamic Azad University, Iran (Linguistics). His excellence in teaching was recognised with a Teaching Excellence Award in 2018. He also holds the French higher education teaching qualification (habilitation).

Dr Nick Pay has undertaken numerous leadership roles throughout his academic career. He founded and directed a Department of Continuing Education from the ground up — designing and launching over sixty professional and executive short courses, and building its operational and quality-assurance infrastructure — and has served as Chair of Exam Boards, Academic Director, Academic Advisor, and Director of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Studies. He has sat on various academic management boards and was a member of the Management Committee at the Centre for International Studies (DPIR-University of Oxford).

Complementing his academic expertise, Dr Nick Pay brings substantial experience from both governmental and private sectors. His diverse professional background includes service at the rank of Captain in two national armies (Infantry) and work with prominent organisations including the BBC and the Vidal Group / French National Healthcare Authority, where he held senior leadership responsibility for operations and partnerships across multiple countries.

Dr Nick Pay also designs and delivers executive and public short courses, including Oxford University's first course in AI Governance — among the department's most subscribed to date. He is currently developing a comprehensive postgraduate programme in AI Governance.