Scientific and Academic Standards Board (SASB)

Professor Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu is currently the Provost at Virscend University in Irvine, California. Previously, he served as the Dean and the McKibbon Endowed Chair Professor of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SHTM) in the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida (USF) from 2010 to 2025. Dr. Cobanoglu is a Fulbright Specialist (2018-2021) and a Certified Hospitality Technology Professional (CHTP). He serves as the Editor of the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, indexed with an Impact Factor of 6.4 in the SSCI. Additionally, he is currently serving as the President of the Association of Global Educators (AGE).

Professor Gold is a semi-retired, but for most of his time in HE, he have worked with businesses and organisations. From 2006 to 2014, I was co-founder of the HRD and Leadership Research Unit at Leeds Business School, a collaborative project with several organisations, including Hallmark Cards, Morrisons plc, Skipton Building Society, BUPA, LBBC ltd, Webanywhere and TheWorks. The projects sought to support leadership and talent development in each organisation and allow knowledge to be shared between partners. He was also the Director of the DBA programme at Leeds Business School. The programme started in 2009 and recruited 9 cohorts over 4 years.

Prof. Gold have delivered a wide range of seminars, programmes and workshops on change, strategic learning, futures and foresight management and leadership with a particular emphasis on participation and distribution.

Katerina Veljanovska Blazhevska, PhD is a political scientist, university professor, analyst, and expert in public policy, security, and geopolitics. She is currently a Full Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Security Studies, MIT University in Skopje. Her international academic and research experience spans institutions such as the War Studies University in Warsaw, the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany, and BabeșBolyai University in Romania. She has received numerous international scholarships and fellowships, including at the University of Oslo (Media and Communications Policy), the National Defense Academy in Warsaw (Visegrad Fund), and the Austrian Study Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution (EU-certified training in peacebuilding and conflict resolution). She was also awarded a Jean Monnet scholarship for research on new media, cybersecurity, and digital transformation in cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute for Crisis Management. Veljanovska Blazhevska is a U.S. State Department “SUSI” Scholar (2021/22) in American Foreign Policy, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO), Croatia, focusing on geopolitics and environmental security. She is an alumna of the George C. Marshall Centre, the German Marshall Fund, and Atlantic Brücke. She holds certifications in strategy, risk and conflict management (WIFI Austria), policymaking and data analytics (Carnegie Mellon University), and governance, risk, and compliance (TAG International, UK). As a consultant, she has contributed to EU, UN, WHO, and U.S.-funded projects. She is the author of seven books & book chapters, two manuals, and numerous scientific & research papers and official project reports.

Professor Mustafa is an academic and research leader with extensive experience in biotechnology, postgraduate education, quality assurance and innovation management. He holds a PhD in Genetics from Ain Shams University and is Professor of Genetics at the College of Biotechnology, Misr University for Science and Technology (MUST), Egypt.

He previously served as Acting Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research and Vice Dean for Graduate Studies and Research. His contributions include helping establish MUST’s College of Biotechnology and its postgraduate programs, supporting the College’s accreditation, and establishing the University’s Technology Innovation and Commercialisation Office. He also led the working group that secured MUST’s four-star overall QS rating and five stars for online learning in 2020.

His international research experience includes appointments and collaborations in Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Finland and the United States. His research spans molecular genetics, environmental biotechnology and viral diagnostics, including a patented method for detecting H5N1 avian influenza.

As a member of Stirling Centre’s Scientific and Academic Standards Board, he brings expertise in academic standards, curriculum development, research governance and translating scientific knowledge into practical impact.

Miladin Stefanovic is a full professor at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac. He is the manager of the Centre for Quality, the Faculty of Engineering and the Centre for Knowledge Transfer, University of Kragujevac. Author or coauthor (0000-0002-2681-0875) of more than 250 papers, 6 technical solutions, 6 books, 7 chapters, and 4 (author of 40 manuscripts published in Journals listed in SCI Clarivate WoS).  

Participant in large number of projects in the field of quality management, Integrated management systems, ICT, e-learning, University – Enterprises cooperation, Innovation management, Curricula development, as well as innovation and technology transfer (7 TEMPUS, 2 ERASMUS +, 5 National Scientific projects, 3 Project funded by Innovation fund and FP and Horizon projects) and more that 50 project with companies.  

Member of IFIP International Federation for Information Processing – Technical Committee – TC3 Education January 2007, Engineering Academy of Serbia, AQSS. Member of selection board of BIC and leading consultant for management systems, technology transfer and innovation management. Reviewer for National Commission for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education (Serbia) and CEEPUS National Expert.

Member of Editorial Board in 8 International Journals. Managing Editor in WoS / SCOPUS International Journal for Quality Research.

Mentor of 6 PhD thesis (President or member of Board for Evaluation and public defense in 39 PhD thesis, Serbia, India, Poland, Uzbekistan), 75 MSC thesis and more that 120 BSC thesis.