Dr Irene Rodriguez Lopez
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Office
Room 404Building location
Edith MorleyAreas of interest
My research combines inputs from political behaviour, political institutions, and political communication, with a strong methodological focus on quantitative research designs and causal inference.Research centres and groups
DIVIDED – Inequality, Social Networks and Political Polarisation, UniversityBackground
I am a political scientist specialising in political behaviour and quantitative methods. I’m currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Reading, working in the UKRI-funded DIVIDED Project. I hold a PhD from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, where I worked as a member of the VolkswagenStiftung-funded COVIDEU Project. I also hold a BA in Political Science and Public Administration by the Universitat de Girona (UdG), an MA in Political Analysis and Institutional Assessment by the Universitat de Barcelona (UB) and a postgraduate degree in Data Analysis also by the UB. My research interests include political behaviour and attitudes, far-right politics and quantitative methods.Academic qualifications
PhD in Political Science (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona Spain)MSc in Political Analysis (Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona Spain)
BA in Political Science and Administration (Universitat de Girona, Girona Spain)
Professional bodies/affiliations
University of Reading (current)
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (previous)
Selected publications
2026 Rodríguez, Irene (2026). “Legitimising prejudice? The impact of radical right party presence on anti-immigration attitude expression.” Electoral Studies, 101. 2025 doi: 10.1016/j.electstud.2026.103081Herbig, Lisa, Asli Unan, Theresa Kuhn, Irene Rodríguez, Toni Rodon, and Heike Klüver (2025). “Closed borders, closed minds? COVID-related border closures, EU support, and hostility towards immigrants.” European Journal of Political Research, 64(4), 1923–1944. Doi: 10.1111/1475-6765.70025
Rodríguez, Irene, Toni Rodon, Asli Unan, Lisa Herbig, Heike Klüver, and Theresa Kuhn (2025). “Benchmarking pandemic response: How the UK’s Vaccine Rollout Impacted Popular support for the EU.” British Journal of Political Science, 55(e35), 1–16. Doi: 10.1017/S0007123424000802
Rodon, Toni, and Irene Rodríguez (2024). “A bitter victory and a sweet defeat: the July 2023 Spanish general election.” South European Society and Politics, 28(3), 335–357. Doi: 10.1080/13608746.2024.2326300