We are pleased to announce the creation of an MSCA Doctoral Network funded by HORIZON EUROPE that will focus on the development of the political self in adolescence, bringing together perspectives from political science, political and social psychology, developmental neuroscience and affective sciences.
IP-PAD (Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Politics of Adolescence & Democracy) addresses a timely and pressing societal question: how the developing cognition and brain of young adolescents influences how they process political information and their political behaviour. Across Europe, trust in democratic institutions is under pressure. Political polarization, disinformation, and declining voter turnout are eroding democratic resilience. At the same time, youth disengagement from politics is rising, and satisfaction with democracy is particularly low among younger generations.
These developments point to a structural challenge: if today’s adolescents become tomorrow’s disengaged citizens, the long-term health of liberal democracies is at risk. Yet despite their importance, we still know relatively little about how adolescents — especially those aged 11 to 21 — form political opinions and develop democratic commitments.
IP-PAD responds to this challenge by combining insights from political science, psychology, and neuroscience. It brings together traditionally separate literatures on political engagement and adolescent development, and seeks to understand how cognitive, emotional, and social processes shape political learning during adolescence. The project aims to establish an interdisciplinary knowledge base and train a new generation of researchers equipped to study political development across disciplinary boundaries.
IP-PAD’s scientific objectives are complemented by societal goals: building an evidence base to support youth democratic engagement and informing interventions and policy. With its unique data collection efforts, innovative methods, and strong academic-practitioner links, IP-PAD is well positioned to shape future research, policy, and practice around youth and democracy in Europe.
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The project will involve extensive collaborations between the following universities and organizations : University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), University of Vienna (Austria), Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (Greece), Jagiellonian University (Poland) and Royal Holloway University of London (UK). Across all universities we have formed multidisciplinary supervisory teams with the participation of political scientists and political/social psychologists, cognitive and developmental neuroscientists and social scientists.
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In addition, each Doctoral Candidate will undertake a period of secondment with one of our associate partners : the European Youth Parliament, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Gallup International, Counterpoint Global, Democracy Next and Public First.
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