The College Building (Quad)

Visiting Fellows at Middlesex University Graduate School

The Middlesex University Graduate School hosts a Visiting Fellows programme. This initiative provides an opportunity for researchers and practitioners from around the world to join our dynamic academic environment and contribute to our researcher development activities.

Graduate School Fellows 2025-26

Headshot of Naveed R. Khan

Dr Naveed R. Khan is an Assistant Professor and Head of Research and Postgraduate Studies at UCSI University, Malaysia. His research explores the intersections of organisational behaviour, sustainability, and digital innovation. He has published in leading international journals such as the Journal of Business Research, European Management Journal, International Journal of Production Economics and Journal of Environmental Management. Dr Khan has received multiple national and international research grants. His work aims to advance sustainable management practices, sustainable transformation, and digital innovation through impactful, interdisciplinary research and academic collaboration.

Headshot of Evgenia Iliadou

Dr Evgenia Iliadou holds a PhD in Social Policy and Criminology from the Open University, UK, and has completed postdoctoral research at the Department of Politics, University of Surrey. Between 2018 and 2023, she worked as a lecturer and research associate at the Open University and the Universities of Greenwich, West London, Surrey, and Bologna. She is currently an independent researcher focusing on border violence and deaths, medicalisation of borders, immigration detention, refugee camps, and epistemic injustice. Evgenia has also worked in immigration detention centres in Greece and the UK, providing support and advocacy to survivors of torture, human trafficking, and sexual abuse.

See Evgenia on LinkedIn and Evgenia on Bluesky.

Headshot of Farzan Yahya

Dr Farzan Yahya is a financial economist specialising in sustainable finance, climate economics, and monetary policy dynamics. His research explores how financial systems can drive environmental transitions, with particular focus on the trilemma of monetary policy, green finance mechanisms, and carbon emissions in the financial sector. With over 50 publications in leading journals including Energy Economics and Journal of Environmental Management, Dr Yahya brings rigorous econometric expertise to pressing sustainability challenges. Currently an Associate Professor at Nanchang Institute of Technology, he is passionate about bridging academic research with practical policy solutions while mentoring the next generation of scholars in climate-conscious finance.

Headshot of More Raça

Dr More Raça is a Kosovo-born filmmaker, educator, and scholar whose work explores cinema’s role in shaping memory, identity, and social change in small and post-conflict nations. Her debut feature Andromeda Galaxy (San Sebastián 2019, Sarajevo 2020) won several international awards, and her recent documentary Home is Where the Films Are examines the healing power of film for displaced children. A Fulbright Scholar at the New York Film Academy and a member of the European Film Academy, she teaches Film Directing at the University of Prishtina.

See More on LinkedIn.

Headshot of Uditha Ramanayake

Dr Uditha Ramanayake is a critical tourism and hospitality researcher, interested in using creative, visual, and participatory approaches such as Ketso, ‘MeBox’ and LEGO® Serious Play® in his teaching and research. His professional journey across Sri Lanka, Ireland, France, the UAE, New Zealand, and China has equipped him with unique insights into diverse approaches to tourism development. As a curious traveller and lifelong learner, he brings authentic passion to his research and teaching, and his research aims to provide actionable insights that inform policy, improve industry practices, and create more equitable and meaningful travel experiences for all demographics, particularly underserved populations.

Headshot of Hüseyin Serbes
Dr Hüseyin Serbes is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Istanbul Technical University, Turkish Music State Conservatory, and a lecturer who also serves as Professional Development Coordinator at a Centre of Excellence within the Turkish Ministry of National Education, producing initiatives that focus on teachers’ digital competences. His doctorate examined punk culture in Türkiye, focusing on fanzine production and underground publishing. His research addresses youth [sub]cultures, radical autonomous media practices, punk pedagogy, and the politics of algorithmic culture, AI, and platformisation in digital contexts. He teaches interdisciplinary courses that combine social sciences and engineering, emphasizing the craft of research, academic writing, DIY culture.

Headshot of Julian Stodd

Dr Julian Stodd is a researcher, writer, artist, and explorer. HIs work fundamentally reshapes our understanding of the post-industrial organisations through his concept of the social age. He has published 21 books exploring aspects of leadership, learning, culture, and change, and his current work on the social context of generative AI supports strategic leadership development. His work on social leadership and the socially dynamic organisation have been adopted by over 150 global organisations including Apple, Novartis, NHS, and BP. Founder of Sea Salt Learning consultancy.

See Julian's blog and Julian on LinkedIn.

Headshot of Gwen Stirling Wilkie

Dr Gwen Stirling Wilkie (DProf, MSc, MBA, FRSA) is a future-of-work expert, senior-level thinking partner, and author. Her organisational and academic work explores leadership and organisational responsiveness in the evolving landscape of work (workscape). She bridges boardrooms and academia through her consultancy, Seeds of Transformation, supporting leaders in navigating complexity through dialogue, courage, and clarity. Her transdisciplinary doctoral research advanced the understanding of responsiveness through the metaphor of edgewalking, creating new frameworks for relational intelligence, systemic responsiveness, and transformative spaces. She continues to explore responsiveness through the interplay of human-centric and AI-enabled ways of working.

See Gwen on LinkedIn.

Headshot of Neil Wilkie

Dr Neil Wilkie has a Doctorate in the phenomenology of relationships from Middlesex University. His research explores how relationship dynamics profoundly shape individual wellbeing, academic achievement, and organisational culture across personal and professional domains. He is a psychotherapist, author and business leader with over 25 years of senior executive experience and extensive coaching practice. Neil brings a unique practitioner-researcher perspective to relationship science. He has created the Duo Coaching and the Relationship Paradigm frameworks. His work has reached over 4.8 million readers through publications in major outlets, and he is currently authoring three forthcoming books on relationships with Routledge.

See Relationships in Business and Relationship Paradigm.

About the programme

The Visiting Fellows programme is designed to foster academic collaboration, knowledge exchange, and interdisciplinary research and practice. Fellows will have the opportunity to engage with our scholarly community, and contribute to researcher development through seminars, workshops and other open events.

The Graduate School comprises hundreds of postgraduate researchers and supervisors engaged in projects that make an innovative contribution to knowledge and practice and to address a range societal challenges. Middlesex University is recognised nationally and internationally for the remarkable diversity of its postgraduate researchers who come from a wide range of ethnicities, countries of origins, professional backgrounds, and walks of life. Middlesex University’s portfolio of postgraduate research degrees is designed to stay at the forefront of academic and professional development to benefit careers within or outside of academia. We offer numerous postgraduate research degrees, ranging from the PhD, to Practice-Based doctorates, Doctorates by Public Works and Masters by Research. Our programmes provide the flexibility and resources needed to explore new ideas, enhance expertise and leadership, and make meaningful contributions to academic scholarship and scholarship of practice. The Graduate School sits within the wider research ecosystem of the University, which comprises Research Centres and Groups.

Who can apply?

We welcome applications from academics, independent scholars, and professionals engaged in research that aligns with Middlesex University’s key areas of excellence.

Benefits and requirements of the programme

  • Opportunities for collaboration with faculty and postgraduate researchers
  • Access to Middlesex University’s library resources
  • A platform to present and discuss research findings through public and academic events
  • Contribution to researcher development initiatives in the format of two seminars or workshops during the course of the appointment
  • Possible delivery of a public lecture in our research lecture series.

Duration and terms

Fellowships are typically for a period of six months to one year and they are renewable. The programme does not provide funding or an honorarium, but Visiting Fellows will receive institutional affiliation and email. The fellowship does not provide visa sponsorship.

How to Apply

Interested applicants should submit the following:

  • A personal statement detailing their research interests; the title of two sessions proposed for the Researcher Development Programme; the title and focus of a proposed public lecture
  • A current CV.

Please send applications or address queries for further information to the Director of Postgraduate Research Studies n.pizzolato@mdx.ac.uk by 1 September 2025 

We look forward to welcoming Visiting Fellows who will enrich our postgraduate research community and contribute to the vibrancy of academic life at Middlesex University Graduate School.