I am an educational sociologist specialising in higher education policies and international development at the Centre for Global Learning (GLEA). 

My research interests include globalisation and social imaginaries of international doctoral education, SDGs-related research partnerships, transnational education (TNE), the cultural political economy of higher education, higher education regionalism, soft power and knowledge diplomacy in East Asia and Europe.

I completed my PhD in Sociology of Higher Education at Bristol University (UK) with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie  Research Grant, which formed part of the consortium ‘Universities in the Knowledge Economy’ (UNIKE). Previously, I earned an MA in Sociology of Education from Aarhus University with an EU Erasmus Mundus scholarship and an MSc in Development Studies from Copenhagen Business School with a full scholarship from the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science. 

My academic work draws on over 15 years of international working experience at universities in Denmark, Germany and England and my inter-disciplinary academic background combining educational sociology, development studies and international relations.  I have researched international education policies, multi-layered governance at institutional, national and regional levels; and on processes and politics of region-building projects, such as the European Higher Education Area and the ASEAN Higher Education Space. I have worked for seven years as Head of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Education and Research Hub for Lifelong Learning hosted by the Danish University of Education - a network of over 40 universities across 30 ASEM member states. I am a member of the ASEM research network on learning cities and learning regions.

At GLEA, I was the principal investigator for the British Council-funded PEER project studying Higher Education and Research Partnerships between the UK and 15 East Asian countries and territories in the past decade. I am currently conducting a study on UK TNE partnerships with Portugal in collaboration with Porto University.  I am also a co-investigator in the research project 'Rethinking accelerated learning in the Global South' funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, the German Research Foundation), in cooperation with Bayreuth University in Germany and Johannesburg in South Africa.

I co-edited the book ‘Global Regionalisms and Higher Education’ and have published articles in various international journals, such as Oxford Review of Education; Comparative Education; Globalisation, Societies and Education. I was awarded the prize for ‘Excellent Paper from an Emerging Scholar’ by the ‘Politics of Higher Education, Research and Innovation’ Group of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR).

I am a member of the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Peer Review College, a grant assessor for the Leverhulme Trust, and the British Academy, and a reviewer for the Research Ethics Committee at Coventry University.

My work has also been enriched by my collaborations with international organisations, such as UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the Asia-Europe Foundation, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the British Council, the German Development Agency (GIZ), and Oxfam.

I view international education partnerships as social constructs that are simultaneously cultural, political and economic projects. I am keen to explore why these projects emerge, what their sources of legitimacy are, and how their agendas are set, by whom and for whom.

Using innovative methodologies, I investigate new social imaginaries and policy mobilities that can shape alternative education policy-making processes and equitable higher education futures in different contexts, particularly in Europe and East Asia.

I welcome contact from research partners and prospective PhD candidates interested in the following research areas:

• Internationalisation and new social imaginaries of doctoral education;
• Transnational Education (TNE) in East Asia and Europe;
• University alliances, consortia, associations in a changing global geopolitical context;
• Dynamic spatial, temporal and social interactions between education and society (equity, democratic culture, inclusive development, academic freedom and integrity; university governance);
• SDGs-related educational partnerships, policies and practices;
• Cultural political economy of education;
• Globalisation, regional spaces and multi-layered governance in higher education;
• Knowledge diplomacy, intercultural engagement and power relations;
• The role of international organisations in education policy-making.

PhD principal supervisor for:

Xingbin Zhu, PhD candidate FT, 5.2025-28, Cotutelle PhD Programme with Deakin Uni, Australia. Theme: International University Alliances and HE Internationalisation in a Changing Geopolitical Context.

Huong Nguyen, PhD FT, 5.2025-28, Cotutelle PhD Programme with Deakin Uni, Australia. Theme: Regional Education Hubs, Academic Mobility and Geopolitics in Southeast Asia.

Guessan Alain Benie Bi, PhD candidate PT, 01.2025-31, Theme: International organisations and the Impact of SDG4 on Curriculum Reforms in the Ivory Coast.

Ciaran Floyd Mullan, PhD candidate PT, 9.2023-29, Theme: Education policy on artificial intelligence in teacher training in Vietnam to meet SGD 4.7 targets.

Mark Andrew Elepano, PhD candidate FT, 5.2023-26, Cotutelle PhD Programme with Aarhus Uni, Denmark. Theme: Social Imaginaries and Doctoral Education

Sarah Patrick, PhD candidate PT, 1.2022-28. Theme: Students Lived Experiences and Capitals in Collaborative Doctoral Programmes

Benih Hartanti, PhD candidate FT, 9.2021-25. Theme: Value-based Governance in Private Universities in Indonesia.

Jacoba Magdelena Barnard, PhD candidate PT, 5.2021-25, Dual Award PhD Programme with Stellenbosch Uni. Theme: Creativity and Higher Education Curriculum in England and South Africa

Bontle Beauty Monnanyane, PhD candidate PT, 5.2021-25, Dual Award PhD Programme with Stellenbosch Uni. Theme: HE Curriculum and Graduate Attributes

PhD co-supervisor for:

Memoona Ayaz, PhD candidate FT. 9.2025-29, Cotutelle PhD Programme with Deakin Uni, Australia. Theme: AI, Learning and Assessment in Higher education.

PhD Completion:

Mark Dawson, PhD candidate FT, 9.2020-24. Theme: Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) and Global Graduates.

Advisor for:

Qin Jiang, visiting researcher, 10.2023-9.2024. Theme: Internationalisation Strategies and UK-Jiangsu World Class University Consortium.

Postdoc Research Fellow, Dr Jie Ma, 2021-2022.

Regular reviewer for international journals, such as:

• Higher Education, Springer.
• Higher Education Policy Journal, Palgrave
• Policy Futures in Education, SAGE
• Globalisation, Societies and Education, Taylor and Francis
• Asia Pacific Education Review, Springer                                              
• Journal of Asian Public Policy, Taylor and Francis                                       
• The European Journal of Higher Education (EJHE), Taylor and Francis