Research Projects

Project | 05

“Close the Gap: Fair Admissions for Postgraduate Research” project: www.closethegap.ox.ac.uk .

Funders: OfS and UKRI Research England

Role: Research Associate at the University of Cambridge

Duration: June 2022- Present

'Close the Gap' is a joint project between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The project is funded by OfS and UKRI (Research England). The project involves mapping the selection processes at 16 departments in Oxford and Cambridge and developing and testing prototypes that would contribute to closing the offer gap and improving access to students from marginalised backgrounds to doctoral studies at these elite universities. The project is highly cross-functional involving academic faculty and professional service staff at both Oxford and Cambridge, as well as student and academic bodies from other academic institutions, and NGOs.

Keywords: Widening participation, Postgraduate Research, Selection, Social Justice, Epistemic Justice, Innovation.

Project | 04

Research for Health in Conflict (R4HC-MENA): Building Capabilities, Partnerships and Research in the Middle East and North Africa: https://r4hc-mena.org/

Funders: Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) and UKRI
Role: Research Fellow
Workstream: The Political Economy of Health in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey
Duration: Jan 2018-Jan 2022

Leading the research on the political economy of health in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Gaza).

Keywords: Health, Occupation, Conflict, Historical legacies, Contextual and Structural Factors, Bargaining, Ideology and Values, Opportunities, Barriers, Reform.

Project | 03

Higher Education in Syria Pre and Post 2011

Faculty of Education Reform and Innovation, University of Cambridge.

Funders: The British Council and OSI

Role: Research Assistant

Duration: June 2017-Sep. 2017

Worked with the ‘Education Reform and Innovation’ team at Cambridge Faculty of Education on a collaborative project between them and, CARA (The Council for At Risks Academics) and displaced Syrian academics in Turkey.

Reviewed Arabic and English sources on Syrian HE pre- and post the 2011 revolution

Contributed to capacity building workshops for displaced Syrian academics in Turkey.
Conducted bilingual translations
Participated actively in team meetings and discussions
Contributed analysis that has fed into the final report of the project.

Keywords: Syrian higher education, academics, revolution, politics, revolution, teaching, learning, displacement...

Academic Life Under Occupation: The Impact on Educationalists at Gaza's Universities

PhD thesis @Cambridge Uni, 2012-17

Funder: Gates Cambridge Scholarship

This sociological study explores the past and present higher education experience for educationalists at Gaza's universities, and how this experience may be evolving in the shifting socio-political context in the Arab world (i.e after the 2011 Arab revolutions).

Supervised by Emeritus Prof. Diane Reay
College Affiliation: Queens'
PhD Result: Passed with "No Corrections".

Keywords: Gaza universities, experience (past, present, future), occupation, siege, teaching, learning, employment, female's education, politics, war, Arab Spring, student voice, Friere, Bourdieu.

Project | 02

Project | 01

Reflections on Higher Education in Palestine: Barriers to Academia and Intellectual Dialogue in the Palestinian-Israeli Context

MSc dissertation @ Oxford Uni., 2005-06

This is a speculative study. Based on interviews with Palestinian and Israeli students and academics, I explored the possibility of an intellectual dialogue between their universities. The study provides an explanation of the barriers for this educational dialogue from a sociological perspective.

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Hubert Ertl
College Affiliation: Harris Manchester
Scholarship: Said Foundation / Also winner of their Second Annual Prize for Academic and Personal Achievements.
MSc Result: Distinction

Keywords: Palestinian Universities, Israeli Universities, Academic Boycott, Academic Dialogue