Dr Derek S. Hutcheson is Head of Subject in European Studies and Lecturer in Comparative Politics in the UCD School of Politics and International Relations. His research focuses on electoral politics and voting rights in a comparative perspective. He is a UCD co-partner (with Dr Iseult Honohan) in the European Commission-funded ¿Access to citizenship and its impact on immigrant integration¿ (ACIT) consortium, headed by the European University Institute in Florence.

He holds a PhD in Politics from the University of Glasgow (2002); previously, he obtained a BA (Hons) in Economics and Social History and Politics from University of Strathclyde, UK (1998).  He is a regular contributor to the media and has observed a number of European elections as an official international observer.