Nicholas is a DPhil candidate in International Relations at Nuffield College, Oxford. His core research interests are the causes, character and consequences of armed conflict and political violence, and the focus of his doctoral research is the termination and aftermath of secessionist armed conflicts in the Caucasus and the Balkans, for which he did field research in Abkhazia, Georgia, Kosovo and Serbia and archival research at the UN. His wider research interests include international security and conflict management, qualitative research methods – in particular field research in conflict-affected areas – and research ethics. He has studied and held visiting positions at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, the Caucasus Research Resource Centre (Tbilisi), Yale University, Central European University, the University of London, and the University of Bristol.