Ciara McCorley began a structured Ph.D. programme in comparative African politics in the autumn of 2008 which was fully funded by the Irish Social Sciences Platform. She received her BA in 2004 from Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh in Communication Studies, and earned her MA in 2008 from the University of Limerick in Peace and Development Studies. 

In the interim period between these degrees, Ciara lived, worked and travelled extensively throughout the Far East. 

Ciara has been a visiting researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, at the Centre for African Studies, University of Copenhagen, and at the Centre for Cultural Encounters at Roskilde University, all in Denmark. 

She’s currently a research analyst at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) in Geneva, Switzerland researching a project on ‘The Politics of Domestic Resource Mobilization for Social Development’.  

When she's not working on her PhD, Ciara loves roller derby, music, running, reading and cooking.