Dr. Imrana Buba
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Oslo
I am a political scientist researching civilian self-protection, political violence, and post-conflict recovery. My PhD dissertation, funded by the ResilienceBuilding project, examines variation in civilian self-protection strategies during conflict, their protective effects, and their unintended negative consequences in Nigeria. In my current role as a Postdoctoral Researcher on the ERC-funded ResilienceBuilding project, I examine the dynamics of resilience-building interventions in conflict-affected communities, focusing on how local actors interact with and shape externally driven development and peacebuilding initiatives.
My work has been published in Global Studies Quarterly and Political Geography and is currently under review at the Journal of Peace Research, Security Studies, African Security, and International Studies Review. I received the Conflict Research Society’s 2024 Cedric Smith Prize for the best peace and conflict research by a PhD candidate, and the International Studies Association’s 2026 Kenneth Boulding Award for the best graduate student paper in peace studies presented at the annual ISA conference.
I have taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Oslo, and I regularly engage in policy discussions with organizations such as the African Union, the European Union, and the United Nations.