Martin Ferry is a Senior Research Fellow at EPRC. He holds a BA (Hons) in Politics from the University of Strathclyde and a PhD in Central and East European politics from the University of Glasgow. Following his PhD, Martin held research assistantship posts at the University of Paisley (now University of the West of Scotland) and the University of Strathclyde working on the political economy of post-communist transition, the role of green parties and movements.
Since joining EPRC in 2002, Martin has specialised in regional economic development and policy in Central and Eastern Europe (particularly Poland) and the United Kingdom. His research on Central Eastern European issues for EPRC has included managing a Work Programme under the EU Seventh Framework Programme on Growth – Innovation – Competitiveness: Fostering Cohesion in Central and Eastern Europe (GRINCOH).
Martin is particularly interested in the governance and implementation of national regional policy and Cohesion policy, as reflected in several research strands. First, he has studied the institutional frameworks of regional policy and the construction of regional policy governance at different spatial scales, where his work has included ex-post evaluations of policy implementation models, carried out on behalf of EU institutions and national authorities. Second, he has undertaken research on policy coordination and the pursuit of policy synergies, where his research has involved major comparative studies on the coordinated implementation of Cohesion policy and other economic development policies. Third, he has research interests in institutional capacity, policy efficiency and accountability. Here, his experience includes leading EPRC input to a major, EU-wide study on the administrative costs of Cohesion policy management and implementation carried out on behalf of the European Commission. He has published a range of academic articles, book chapters and policy reports on these themes.
Martin is a member of the Executive Management Group of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies (CRCEES), funded by ESRC and based on the cooperation of six universities across the United Kingdom. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Journal ‘Europe-Asia Studies’ and the ‘Latvian Regional Review’ (2013-present). Within EPRC, he is Coordinator of Postgraduate Studies.
