The United Nations Secretary-General announced that Sébastien Philippe of the Program on Science and Global Security has been appointed as one of the members of the UN Independent Scientific Panel on Effects of Nuclear War.

The panel was established by a December 2024 General Assembly resolution, “Nuclear War Effects and Scientific Research.” The resolution mandated the U.N. Secretary-General to appoint an independent 21-member scientific panel on the effects of nuclear war to examine “the physical effects and societal consequences of a nuclear war on a local, regional and planetary scale.”

"I am deeply honored to have been appointed by the UN Secretary-General to the Independent Scientific Panel on the Effects of Nuclear War,” Philippe said. “This first United Nations study on the consequences of nuclear war since the 1980s offers a vital opportunity to ensure that rigorous science informs global diplomacy at a time when the likelihood of nuclear weapon use is again on the rise.”

The panel will assess “climatic, environmental and radiological effects, and their impacts on public health, global socio-economic systems, agriculture, and ecosystems, in the days, weeks, and decades following nuclear war.” The panel also will identify areas requiring further research. Its report will be considered by the UN General Assembly in 2027.

Hye Young You’s co-authored book, Hearings on the Hill: The Politics of Informing Congress (Cambridge University Press) received the 2025 Alan Rosenthal Award from the American Political Science Association Legislative Studies Section. The Rosenthal Prize recognizes work that is of importance to legislators and legislative staff and that has potential application to strengthen the practice of representative democracy.

“Based on a comprehensive dataset covering more than 730,000 witnesses who appeared in over 74,000 congressional hearings between 1961 and 2018, the book documents systematic patterns in who committees invite to testify and the kinds of expertise those witnesses provide,” You said. “I am honored that my book has received the 2025 Alan Rosenthal Prize, which recognizes scholarship that not only advances academic understanding of legislatures but also provides practical insights for legislators and staff.”

You also helped organize two international conferences over the summer to expand Princeton SPIA’s global engagements. The Princeton–SNU Summer Institute, held at Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea, featured scholarly presentations, research clinics, and networking opportunities, and was attended by more than 60 local scholars and students from Columbia, UCLA, NYU, Stanford, Vanderbilt, and the University of Chicago.

The second conference, CBS–Princeton Money in Politics Conference, held at Copenhagen Business School in Copenhagen, Denmark, brought together an international group of scholars working at the intersection of business and politics. Topics included lobbying, political influence of firms, corruption, climate politics, trade, and regime type.