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AcademIQ - Strengthening research capacity in Iraq
Overview
AcademIQ is a multi-year programme designed to support Iraqi researchers in the arts, humanities and social sciences with academic skills development. Decades of neglect, conflict, and the repercussions of brain-drain have taken a heavy toll on the quality of higher education in Iraq. This programme builds on a British Academy-funded Iraq Writing Workshop project that was implemented in Iraq in 2019. AcademIQ consists of online research courses, provision of academic writing workshops and academic mentoring.
Academic Research Course
An integrated online academic research course, designed specifically for academics in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, to strengthen their skills in humanities and social sciences research & academic publishing. It comprises sixteen units designed to be studied independently over the course of an academic year.
Academic Mentorship Programme
The Academic Mentorship Programme is designed for Iraqi researchers in the fields of arts, social sciences and humanities. Applicants who apply should be interested in strengthening their knowledge of academic skills, writing, publishing and research collaboration.
AcademIQ’s courses and activities to support Iraqi academics are not University College London credit-bearing.
The Team
A team of UK-based academics will work closely with Iraqi universities and researchers to strengthen academic skills. AcademIQ Programme Lead is Dr Mehiyar Kathem, Deputy Director of The Nahrein Network and Senior Research Fellow at UCL History Department.
 | Fran Sutherland (MEd, PGCert TESOL, PGCE English, BA Hons) is an Educational Developer and senior fellow at the University of Bradford, U.K. and sits on the management committee of the Nahrein Network. She has worked in higher education for 14 years as a lecturer, manager and developer, and before then worked in secondary schools and a college as an English teacher. Fran taught academic English with Iraqi nurses, radiographers and doctors during a professional development programme at Sheffield Hallam University, U.K. (2011-2014). Since then, she has written two theses concerning HE and Iraq at the University of Sheffield: The case for the qualitative restitution of Iraqi higher education (2017) and recently, doctoral research: From pessimism to prospects: critical roles of the Social Sciences in post war Iraq (2024). Fran enjoys writing for a wider audience also, and has had short media pieces published including Education in Iraq is in crisis (The Guardian) and Decolonising the Field, Reterritorialising the Social Sciences in Iraq. |
 | Ariane Smart is an Associate Professor at UCL’s Academic Communication Centre. After a Masters in Political History in Paris, she completed her PhD at UCL. Ariane has over 20 years' experience teaching history as well as academic communication. She has designed and delivered courses and programmes for UCL in the UK, Kazakhstan and Qatar, including Pre-Masters in Heritage (UCL Qatar) and in Architecture (UCL Bartlett). In 2019, she was invited to join the British Academy-funded Writing and Publishing Workshops in Iraq. Ariane is a recipient of UCL Provost Teaching Award, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research interests include modern myths, collective memory and representations of the past, as well as international higher education, with a focus on academic literacies, criticality and reflexivity. |
 | Ersun N Kurtuluş is an Asscociate Professor at the Department of International Relations, Social Sciences University of Ankara (ASBU) and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at UCL. Prior to his appointment at ASBU, he held academic positions at TED University, University of Kent, Imperial College London, Open University and Stockholm University. He has published extensively in Review of International Studies, The Middle East Journal, Global Society, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Third World Quarterly and Critical Studies on Terrorism. Kurtuluş is also the author of State Sovereignty – Concept, Phenomenon and Ramifications published by Palgrave/Macmillan. His research interests include contemporary trends in terrorism and counterterrorism, Lebanese politics, state sovereignty, politics of the Middle East and collapsed states. He has been an Associate Editor of the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (BJMES) since 2007. |