Manchester historian and geopolitical analyst awarded Simon Industrial Fellowship
05 Oct 2026
A new collaboration between The University of Manchester and intelligence and strategic consultancy Sibylline will explore how lessons from history can help organisations navigate major geopolitical and economic change.
The Simon Industrial and Professional Fellowship brings together Professor Edmond Smith, Professor of Economic Cultures and Director of the Centre for Economic Cultures at The University of Manchester, with Sam Olsen, Chief Analyst at Sibylline. Together, they will examine how evidence from past economic transformations can strengthen contemporary geopolitical risk analysis.
The project, Integrating long-run insight into contemporary geopolitical risk analysis, responds to a growing challenge for governments, businesses and policymakers: how to understand AI-driven technological change, economic fragmentation and shifts in global power using evidence that reaches beyond short-term data and forecasting models.
It will draw on Professor Smith’s research into long-run economic transformation, including the ways institutions, networks, commercial practices, labour systems and technologies shape economic change. This historical perspective will be combined with Olsen’s experience of applied geopolitical analysis and AI-enabled intelligence.
During the Fellowship, the partners will co-produce a substantive report, deliver three interdisciplinary workshops and test historically informed approaches within a new geopolitical risk toolkit. The work will involve expertise from across the University, including the Centre for Economic Cultures and the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research.
Sam Olsen said: “I’m very pleased to be taking up the Simon Industrial Fellowship at The University of Manchester. As the world changes, the impact of geopolitics on governments and businesses is becoming ever more important. The Fellowship provides an excellent opportunity to bring together Manchester’s academic expertise with Sibylline’s work on geopolitical and geo-economic analysis, and to explore how these issues can be modelled in ways that are both rigorous and practically useful.”
Professor Smith added: “This Fellowship creates an exciting opportunity to bridge academic research and professional practice. Understanding how economies, technologies and institutions have changed over time can offer valuable insights into the challenges organisations face today. By working closely with Sibylline, we hope to demonstrate how humanities research can contribute to decision-making on some of the most significant economic and geopolitical questions of our time.”
The Fellowship builds on an existing relationship between Professor Smith and Sibylline, centred on shared interests in economic security, technological change and global economic transformation. Olsen’s engagement with Professor Smith’s research has also contributed to joint public-facing analysis of China, artificial intelligence and changing patterns of global economic power.
For Sibylline, the collaboration will test whether long-run, systems-level analysis can enhance its understanding of structural change and support the development of its analytical tools. For the University, the project will demonstrate how humanities research can inform real-world decision-making and create new opportunities for knowledge exchange with industry and policy partners.
The Fellowship will also provide a foundation for longer-term collaboration, including joint publications, further development of analytical frameworks and potential future funding focused on economic security, innovation and global transition.
About the Simon Industrial and Professional Fellowships
The Simon Industrial and Professional Fellowships were established in 1990 to complement the Simon Research Fellowships in the Social Sciences. They provide opportunities for people employed in industry, commerce, the public sector, the third sector, professional services or self-employment to undertake a fixed-term placement within The University of Manchester. Fellowships can support capacity building, business collaboration, research impact, knowledge exchange and other activities of strategic importance to the University.
About Sibylline
Sibylline is a geopolitical intelligence and strategic consultancy. Sam Olsen is the organisation’s Chief Analyst and specialises in China-Western relations, geoeconomics, the Indo-Pacific and the changing world order. His work combines geopolitical expertise, quantitative analysis and artificial intelligence to support understanding of strategic risk and long-term structural change. https://sibylline.co.uk/
About Sam Olsen
Sam Olsen joined Sibylline in May of 2025 as Chief Analyst. Based in London (UK), Sam is passionate about using data and technology to create insights into the biggest geopolitical issues of our time.
Sam is a seasoned geopolitical expert with a focus on great power relations and the changing world order. Previously, Sam held roles as the Head of the Adarga Research Institute, Founder of the Evenstar Institute and a Managing Director at Kroll. A specialist on China, he lived in Asia for a decade and was a Fellow on Chinese trade policy in the US Senate. Sam has also served as an intelligence officer in the British Army. Sam holds an MA and BA from the University of Oxford and a MSc from Cass Business School (both UK).
About the project
Integrating long-run insight into contemporary geopolitical risk analysis is a collaboration between Sam Olsen, Chief Analyst at Sibylline, and Professor Edmond Smith, Professor of Economic Cultures at The University of Manchester. The project will test how historical and systems-level evidence can strengthen analysis of current global economic and geopolitical transitions.
Planned outputs include a co-authored report, interdisciplinary workshops, publications for academic and business audiences, and the trial integration of historically informed analytical frameworks into Sibylline’s Geopolitical Risk Toolkit. The Fellowship will run during the 2026/27 academic year.
Pictured above: Professor Edmond Smith (left) and Sam Olsen.