Over 6 years, Stanislava Dimitrova has become a familiar face across the UCL community, helping students to navigate university life and building connections between staff and students.
For Stanislava, or Stasi as she’s known, UCL was never just a place to study. As an undergraduate and postgraduate student, she has helped to create a more inclusive university environment where everyone can thrive.
Originally from Sofia, Bulgaria, Stasi came to UCL in 2019 to study Arts and Sciences. She was drawn to the programme’s interdisciplinary approach and the freedom to explore a wide range of interests. What began as a search for academic flexibility evolved into a commitment to student representation and community building.
Taking on the role of Languages Representative for Arts and Sciences, she established a peer-to-peer language tutoring scheme that brought together more than 20 volunteer tutors and supported students across multiple language programmes.
Later, during her MSc in Security Studies, she simultaneously served as a Course Representative, Lead Department Representative, and Part-Time Students’ Representative.
I think I really managed to establish myself as somebody who’s a go-to face in the community – somebody people can rely on. I’m very proud of that.
Throughout her time at UCL, Stasi saw her role as helping to bridge the gap between students and a large institution that can sometimes feel intimidating. Whether working for the Students’ Union Advice Service and Representation and Democracy Team, or organising events to strengthen alumni and student connections, she focused on making people feel supported, informed and connected.
Academically, her journey evolved through the humanities into international security and nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Inspired by world events, she went on to complete an MSc in Security Studies with support from the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme and conduct archival research on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s relationship with North Korea. She now works at The British American Security Information Council (BASIC).
For Stasi, UCL’s values of openness, inclusion and accountability are most meaningful when they support people to take part and make change happen.
You can make UCL your own. Nothing should stop you from being fully part of the community.
