Seraphina Nicholls is an early-career political scientist and Australian-Francophone scholar. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science and French Studies from the University of Melbourne with First Class Honours. Her bilingual dissertation examined the evolution of sovereignty within international society, focusing on France’s contemporary assertions of sovereignty over its overseas territories. It was recognised with three academic awards: the Dwight Prize in both Political Science and Combined Honours, and the Percival Serle Prize. She has also been awarded several scholarships, including the Elizabeth and Nicholas Slezak Scholarship, the Taines Scholarship in Arts & Humanities, and a New Colombo Plan Grant (French Polynesia). She was the inaugural intern at the French-Australian Cultural Exchange Foundation under the auspices of the Embassy of France to Australia. With her Ramsay Postgraduate Scholarship, Seraphina will pursue a Master in Political Science at Sciences Po, Paris. She aspires to publish interdisciplinary political science scholarship on sovereignty and contribute to strengthening the Franco-Australian relationship in the Indo-Pacific.