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Middlesex University Dubai Celebrates 200th Research Seminar Series

  • Sunday, 30 April 2017

The Wednesday Research Seminar Series at Middlesex University Dubai started in 2008, and recently reached a significant milestone of the 200th seminar presented.  The weekly research seminar provides an opportunity for faculty, staff, students, and external colleagues to gather together and share and discuss cutting edge research.  This event has been central to Middlesex University Dubai’s success in developing a mature research culture among its faculty and students. This seminar series provides a forum for researchers to share their work, and engage in productive discourse. It has also seen the genesis of many new research projects, and has informed the course of national and international research collaborations.  The research seminar has been organized on a weekly basis during the academic term by the Research Committee Chair Dr. Lynda Hyland and her predecessors (Dr. Cody Morris Paris, Dr. Alun Epps, and Dr. Marcus Stephenson).  Throughout the 200 seminars there have been many notable presentations by leading and emerging researchers from around the world, region, and UAE.  The seminar series also provides a forum for Middlesex Faculty to share their cutting edge research published in top-tier international journals and books.  Just a small sample of the research presented by MDX Faculty throughout the tenure of the MDX Research Seminar Series: 

Seminar #6 Dr. Cedwyn Fernandes on “Factors Determining Elasticity of Demand for Tourism in Dubai” later published with Prof Ajit Karnik in the journal Tourism Analysis

Seminar #61 Dr. Lynda Hyland on “Teachers’ Experiences of Participation in the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Programme: A Longitudinal Qualitative Analysis” later published with colleagues in School Psychology International

Seminar#67 Dr. Cody Morris Paris on “Developing a Quantified Triple Bottom Line for Tourism” later published with Prof Timothy Tyrrell and Dr. Vern Biaet in the Journal of Travel Research (selected as the best article published in the journal that year).

Seminar #128 Dr. Marcus Stephenson launched his book (co-authored with Dr. Raoul Bianchi) Tourism and Citizenship: Rights, Freedoms and Responsibilities published by Routledge.

Seminar#134 Dr. Tenia Kyriazi presented “Trafficking in human beings: Is it a form of slavery?” later published in the International Human Rights Law Review

Seminar #142 Dr. Jakob Pietschnig presented “Generational IQ Gains: The Flight of Fancy of Intelligence” later published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science

Seminar #181 Dr. Eliseo Ferrante presented “Swarm robotics: a tool to study collective behaviours in biological systems” which was published with co-authors in the journal PLoS Computational Biology.

Seminar #191 Dr. Savita Kumra presented “Impressing for success: A gendered analysis of a key social capital accumulation strategy” previous published in Gender, Work, and Organization.

To mark the special occasion of the 200th Wednesday Research Seminar, a celebration of student research was held.  A panel discussion on the student research experience was organized.  The panelists who were invited to join all were former Middlesex University students who excelled in research and have received recognition for their research achievements. Panel members shared their experiences of research engagement through coursework and dissertations, and expanded upon how research activities have shaped the course of their academic and professional lives. The following Middlesex Alumni and Students were invited to the panel:

Deena Abdo

Deena is a graduate of Middlesex University Dubai, with a First-Class Honours degree in International Development; she was recognised with the award of the top graduate in the Social Science Programmes. Her research on social entrepreneurship in the UAE has recently been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Sustainable Society. Previously, for this research she was awarded third place in the highly competitive Business track at the 2014 UAE National Undergraduate Student Research Competition, and was invited to present her work at the Wednesday Research Seminar.  Since graduating, Deena has been working in the field of human capital consulting, where she has managed various projects with several prominent clients across the GCC region.  

 

Teneille Saayman

Having completed her undergraduate and postgraduate study at Middlesex University Dubai, Teneille has a keen interest both in Film and Marketing. She was the postgraduate winner of the Student Research Symposium in 2016 for her research ‘The impact of celebrity scandals on brand image: The rise and fall of sports hero Lance Armstrong. A theoretical and empirical investigation’. She is currently a visiting faculty member at Middlesex University Dubai.

 

Yeshoda Singhania

Yeshoda is a Psychology graduate of Middlesex University Dubai and King’s College London. Her research interests lie in the area of psychological response to disasters such as floods, and how social support can assist in dealing with trauma. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Psychology, and to work in research.

 

Juno Srivastava

Juno Srivastava, (M.Sc. Computer Network Management, PMP, ITIL, COBIT 5, Six Sigma) is a 2015 graduate of Middlesex University Dubai, and was also the recipient of the best Postgraduate Student in the Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics. Juno currently works with Al-Futtaim group IT as Assistant General Manager. His areas of research and specialisation are Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, and other transformational technologies.

 

Ruby Shaniah Oayda

Ruby is currently in her final year of Law at Middlesex University Dubai. She is passionate about Human Rights and was an undergraduate winner at the Middlesex University Student Research Symposium in 2016 for her poster presentation on ‘The European Court of Human Rights: Bans on the wearing of religious attire in schools, the workplace and the public sphere’.

 

Tina Jose

Having successfully completed B.Sc. in Psychology with HRM and MA HRM degrees at Middlesex University Dubai, Tina has developed critical research skills. She values the role of research in organizational practice. Her dissertation topic, ‘Does National culture have an impact on organisational commitment? The case of the private sector in Dubai’, is highly relevant and timely and feeds back to many similar work-related issues in organisations in the UAE.

 

Nada Hamayun Al Hammadi

Nada graduated from MDX Dubai in 2016, with a Masters in Human Resource Management. She has wide-reaching research interests including leadership development, talent management, and strategic performance. Her dissertation, ‘Talent Performance as a Competitive Differentiator. A comparative study’, addressed the critical question of how to drive the performance of talented employees in two well-known international organsations.

 

Ammna Nasser

Ammna graduated from Middlesex University with a First-class Honours degree in International Development. She has also recently completed her MA in International Relations at Kings College London. She won the Undergraduate Best Paper at the Middlesex University Student Research Symposium in 2014, for her UG Dissertation research on identity politics and education in Pakistan. A paper developed from this work is currently under review in a leading peer reviewed journal.

 

The celebration seminar was well-attended by colleagues and students. Dr. Lynda Hyland (Research Committee Chair) noted “The panel discussion was a testament to the growth of the student research culture at Middlesex University Dubai. It was impressive to see the passion with which our current and former students discussed their research experiences. The panel expertly illustrated how research skills can develop over time, and how these can be implemented in both academic and occupational domains. The tips for research success shared by the panelists will certainly help our current students as they progress with their dissertations and projects.”

Reflecting upon the success of the seminar series, Dr. Cody Morris Paris, Deputy Director of Middlesex University, said “We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who were involved in the panel discussion, and all our colleagues and external guests who have presented at this series over the years. Additional thanks goes to colleagues who support the seminar series through their attendance. We look forward to the next 200 seminars, and hope to see you there!”

If you would like to present or attend the Wednesday Seminar Series, please contact Dr. Lynda Hyland [email protected].

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