Robin Geiss

Dr Robin Geiss is the Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). He was appointed by Secretary-General António Guterres and assumed the post in April 2021. As Director, Dr Geiss charts UNIDIR’s strategic direction, mobilizes resources and leads the Institute.

He brings to the position over 25 years of experience in peace, global security and international affairs. Previously, he served as tenured Professor and Director of the Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security at the University of Glasgow. He was also the Swiss Chair of International Humanitarian Law at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and Visiting Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs, Sciences Po, Paris. Prior to that, he served as Legal Adviser and delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He is an ex officio member of the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters and remains an affiliate Professor at the University of Glasgow.

Dr Geiss has published widely on matters of global security, new technologies and international affairs. He is editor of the Oxford Handbook on the International Law of Global Security, the Research Handbook on Warfare and Artificial Intelligence, and the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law.

Throughout his career, he has advised governments and international organizations, including in proceedings before the International Court of Justice. He has held various visiting professorships, served on the scientific advisory boards of renowned institutions, and founded the EU Erasmus Mundus Programme on Global Security, Peace and Development.

Dr Geiss holds a PhD in international law from the University of Kiel, Germany, studied at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and obtained a master’s degree in international legal studies from New York University (NYU), USA.