Social Sciences and Humanities School
Faculty
Head of the Department of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Dr Kyriaki Mikellidou, Head of the Department of Psychology, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Quantitative Methods at UoL. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of York, UK, with focus on Experimental Psychology and Research Methods, and an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience from the same University. She was until recently Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Cyprus, Department of Psychology & Center for Applied Neuroscience. Before that she was a Visiting Researcher at Max-Planck.
Vice-Rector for International Affairs and Research/Chair, Department of Law
Department of Law
Prof. Demetra Sorvatzioti is a Professor of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and Criminology, and currently serves as Vice-Rector for International Academic Affairs and Research / Chair of the Department of Law. She holds dual doctorates: a PhD in Law (Queen’s University, Canada) on International Criminal Evidence and a PhD in Criminology (Panteion University, Greece) on Criminal Procedure and Evidence, Fair Trial and Poverty. Furthermore, she has an MA in Criminology from the Sociology Department of Panteion University, Greece, and an LLB from Democritus University of Thrace, Greece. She has over 15 years of academic experience, has coordinated several projects, and has participated in numerous research initiatives, resulting in significant published work. Her research focuses on international criminal law, comparative evidence and sentencing, crime and addiction, and human rights. She has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and books in English and Greek, with forthcoming work at Brill. In parallel with her academic career, she has practiced law since 1990 in Greece and Cyprus and served as legal expert for the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and as a TrialWatch® Expert with the Clooney Foundation for Justice. An invited speaker at leading international conferences, Dr. Sorvatzioti combines scholarship, practice, and policy-making to advance fair trial rights and criminal justice reform.
Dean of the Social Sciences and Humanities School
Department of Education
Before joining the University of Limassol, I was a Professor at the School of Educational Sciences of the University of Ioannina (2002-2024), where I served as Head of the Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Ioannina (01/10/13 to 30/11/2018), as well as Director of the Postgraduate Studies Program in “Early Childhood Education” with six (06) specializations (2014-2024).
I also served as Director of the “Pedagogical and Teaching Methodology” Laboratory of the Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Ioannina (2012-2024) Symposia of Early Childhood Pedagogy / Department of Early Childhood Education.
I am still the Director of the Series: Education: Planning, Organization, Administration, at Pedio Publications. I have served until today as a national representative in European research Programs. I studied at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki where I completed my Master’s and Doctoral Studies with particular emphasis on the broader area of Pedagogical Science, at the Alexandria Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki with particular emphasis on Preschool Pedagogy, as well as at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, Pedagogy, Psychology and Sociology of Religion.
Rector - University of Limassol
Department of Economics and Finance
Prof. Theodore Panayotou, the 1st Rector of the UoL, is a Professor of Economics, Ethics and Sustainability. He is a former Faculty member at the J.F.K. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1986-2009) and a 2007 NOBEL Peace Prize Contributor. He served as Director of the Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM) and Professor of Economics, Ethics and Sustainability at CIIM (2000-2023). He has also served as a Visiting Professor at Tel Aviv University (2010-15) and as a Member of the Cyprus President’s Council of the National Economy (2013-18). He has published over 100 journal articles, monographs and books on economic development & environment, climate change, sustainability and competitiveness. He is considered an authority on economic instruments, innovative financing mechanisms, transferable development rights and sustainable and experiential tourism.
Program Director, MSc Educational Psychology
Department of Psychology
Chair of the Department of Education
Department of Education
Dr Panagiotis Kosmas is the Chair of the Department of Education, Director of the Ιnter-university (with the University of West Attica) Postgraduate Programme of Studies “Special Education and New Technologies “, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Limassol. He holds a PhD in Educational Technology from the Cyprus Interaction Lab of the Cyprus University of Technology, an MEd in Pedagogical Sciences from the Università degli Studi Roma III in Italy, an MA in New Technologies for Learning and Communication from the Cyprus University of Technology, and a BA in Classical Studies from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece.
Dean of the CIIM Business School
Department of Management, Department of Economics and Finance
Prof. Doron Sonsino is the Dean of the CIIM Business School and an accomplished academic in economics and finance, with a diverse educational background and a strong commitment to quality education and frontier research. He earned his PhD in Business Economics from Stanford University, California. Most recently, he served as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Economics at Ben-Gurion University, Israel (2018–2021). Professor Sonsino is well known for his top-tier publications in economics and finance, particularly in the fields of behavioural and experimental finance. His current research on the financial decisions of private investors and professionals offers valuable insights into their preferences and behaviour regarding advanced financial investment instruments.
Chair of the Department of Economics and Finance and Director of the MSc in Digital Finance and MSc in Financial Services
Department of Economics and Finance
Dr Andrey Afanasiev is the Chair of the Department of Economics and Finance and Director of the MSc in Digital Finance and MSc in Financial Services. He is an Associate Professor of Finance and Risk Management at the University of Limassol. He received his PhD in Mathematics from the Steklov Institute of Mathematics and a PhD in Finance from the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dr Afanasiev has more than 25 years of experience in international banking and risk management, covering Europe, emerging markets, and the Gulf region. His research and teaching interests include investments, financial and derivatives markets, stochastic finance, risk modelling methods, artificial intelligence, and machine learning with applications in financial services.
Dr Evie Michailidis
Program Director, MSc Occupational & Organisational Psychology
Department of Psychology
Dr Evie Michailidis is an Assistant Professor at the University of Limassol, she holds a BSc in Psychology, MSc in Occupational and Organisation Psychology, and a PhD in Psychology all from the University of Surrey. She has also obtained an MSc in Counselling Psychology from the University of Nicosia and she is a licensed Counselling psychologist (Reg.no.813). She has also completed her Post Doctoral studies in Work Psychology at the University of Verona, where she worked on two large national projects in collaboration with the University of Bologna and University of Milano Bicoca. Evie’s research lies within the field of Work and Organizational Psychology, with a particular focus on the psychological processes that influence occupational well-being, especially the experience of workplace embitterment. Evie primarily investigates how job demands, such as illegitimate tasks and perceived injustice, contribute to this negative emotional state. At the same time, she explores protective factors, such as appreciation, that may buffer its impact. She is a member of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP) and the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology (EAOHP), and she is also an accredited BPS test user for Ability and Personality/Psychometric testing.
Dr Petros Konstantinidis is a lawyer and a member of the academic staff of the University of Limassol. He holds a law degree (LLB) from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He also holds a Master’s degree (LLM) in European Law and Integration from the University of Leicester and a second Master’s degree (LLM) in Human Rights and Social Justice from the University of Nicosia. He also holds a PhD in Law at the same University. He was a visiting lecturer at the University of Nicosia teaching, among others, the courses of Constitutional Law, Human Rights Law, Legal System and Method. From 2010 to 2019 he was a practicing lawyer and has appeared before all jurisdictions and levels of the Courts of the Republic of Cyprus. From 2019 until 2023 he worked as an officer for legal affairs at the Cyprus University of Technology. He was a lawyer and legal advisor, among others, to Public Law Entities and Banking Institutions. He has been invited to give lectures before lawyers on constitutional law issues. He is a member of the Cyprus Bar Association and the Limassol Bar Association.
Η Κατερίνα Κασιμάτη, είναι Καθηγήτρια Εκπαιδευτικής Αξιολόγησης του Πανεπιστημίου Λεμεσού και Ομότιμη Καθηγήτρια του Παιδαγωγικού Τμήματος της ΑΣΠΑΙΤΕ. Διδάσκει στο ΠΜΣ “Εκπαίδευση, Ηγεσία και Διοίκηση” στο UoL στο μάθημα “Σχολική Βελτίωση και αποτελεσματικότητα”. Είναι κάτοχος Διδακτορικού διπλώματος της Φιλοσοφικής Σχολής του ΕΚΠΑ και πτυχίου Μαθηματικού Τμήματος της Φυσικομαθηματικής Σχολής του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών.
Program Director BSc Psychology and PhD in Psychology
Department of Psychology
Dr Eva Pettemeridou is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology and the Program Director of the BSc and PhD in Psychology at the University of Limassol. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology, specializing in Neuropsychology and Neuroscience from the University of Cyprus, and an MSc in Research Methods in Psychology from the University of Surrey. Dr Pettemeridou has held research positions at the Center for Applied Neuroscience and the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence at the University of Cyprus and has been a Visiting Researcher at the University of Cambridge.
Dr Kriton Dionysiou is a Lecturer of Civil and Commercial Law at the University of Limassol. He is a practicing lawyer and founder of his own law firm, specialising in civil and commercial disputes, and also participates in arbitration proceedings.
He has held teaching and research positions at the University of Nicosia, the University of Cyprus, and the University of Manchester. He completed his law studies in Nottingham, United Kingdom, before obtaining a Master’s in European Law from Leiden University in the Netherlands and an LL.M. from the University of Law in the United Kingdom. He later earned a PhD in Law from the University of Manchester, where he also lectured. His doctoral dissertation, “CETA’s Investment Chapter – A Rule of Law Perspective”, was published by Springer.
He is the author of “Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Cyprus” (in Greek) and a co-author of “Cypriot Civil Procedure”, a comprehensive Greek-language reference on the procedural rules governing civil litigation in Cyprus.
Dr Dionysiou is a founding member of the Institute for Political and Democracy Studies and serves as Vice-President of the International and European Law Committee of the Cyprus Bar Association. He is certified as a human rights trainer by the Council of Europe, has served on the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Branch of the International Law Organisation, and has received specialised arbitration training from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Ο Μάριος Α. Πουρκός είναι Καθηγητής Παιδαγωγικής και Ψυχολογίας στο Τμήμα Επιστημών της Αγωγής. Είναι κάτοχος διδακτορικού διπλώματος Ανθρωπιστικών Επιστημών στην Ψυχολογία από το Πανεπιστήμιο Jagiellonian της Κρακοβίας (Πολωνίας) όπου επίσης σπούδασε Ψυχολογία, Κοινωνιολογία, Φιλοσοφία και Θρησκειολογία (βασικές σπουδές στα αντίστοιχα Τμήματα) αποκτώντας τον τίτλο του Master of Arts σε κάθε μια απ’ αυτές τις επιστήμες. Βασικός πυρήνας του επιστημονικού του έργου είναι οι ποιοτικές μεθοδολογίες-μέθοδοι έρευνας βασισμένες στο σώμα, το παιχνίδι, την τέχνη, την επιτέλεση και την αφήγηση και οι οικολογικές-συστημικές, κοινωνικο-ιστορικο-πολιτισμικές, εναλλακτικές-βιωματικές και ενσώματες-επιτελεστικές-πολυτροπικές ψυχοπαιδαγωγικές προσεγγίσεις των διαδικασιών εκπαίδευσης, μάθησης, αυτογνωσίας και προσωπικής ανάπτυξης.
Co-ordinator, MSc in School Psychology (Distance Learning)
Department of Psychology
Dr Antonia Zachariou is an Assistant Professor of Psychology (Educational and Developmental) at the University of Limassol. She studied for her PhD in Psychology and Education under the guidance of Dr David Whitebread, at the University of Cambridge. She also holds an MPhil in Psychology and Education from the University of Cambridge. Before returning to Cyprus, she was Senior Lecturer at the University of Roehampton, London.
Co-director MSc Digital Finance
Department of Economics and Finance
Dr Ekaterina Koroleva is an Associate Professor of FinTech at UoL. She received her PhD in Business Administration and Management (Topic: FinTech Business Models and Their Linkages with Customers and Founders) in 2022 from Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia). In 2016, she obtained a PhD in Regional Economics from the Institute of Regional Economic Problems (Russia). Ekaterina has more than 10 years of teaching experience. Her research and teaching interests are in the fields of financial technologies, digitalisation of the financial sector, and big data analytics with applications in finance.
Dr Nikolas Ioannidis is Assistant Professor of Public International Law at the University of Limassol. He holds a PhD in Public International Law from the University of Bristol (2017). In the academic period 2017-2018, he was a Nippon Foundation Fellow at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg. He teaches Public International Law and International Humanitarian Law at the University of Cyprus and International and European Law at the Hellenic Open University. He graduated from the School of Law of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2010 and received a master’s degree (LLM) in Public International Law from the University of Bristol in 2012. In 2019, he was awarded by the Hellenic Society of International Law and International Relations for the best doctoral thesis by a Greek student in international law for the years 2017-2019. In 2020, he received the ‘Daniel Vignes’ award from the International Union for the Law of the Sea for his academic article in the International and Comparative Law Quarterly in relation to activities in undermarketed maritime areas. In 2020, his monograph entitled “Maritime Claims and Boundary Delimitation: Tensions and Trends in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea” was published by the publishing house Routledge. He was President of the International and European Law Committee of the Cyprus Bar Association. He is currently on leave from the University after serving as Deputy Minister of Immigration and International Protection of the Republic of Cyprus
Vice Chair of the Department of Economics and Finance, Director of the BSc in Economics, and Co-Director of the MSc in Real Estate
Department of Economics and Finance
Dr Snezana Eminidou is the Vice Chair of the Department of Economics and Finance, Director of the BSc in Economics, and Co-Director of the MSc in Real Estate. She is also an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Limassol (UoL). Dr Eminidou holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Cyprus. Her research interests focus on macroeconomics and monetary economics. She has professional experience in the International Business Unit of the National Bank of Greece and in the Department of Economic Analysis and Research at the Central Bank of Cyprus.
Dr Athina Moraiti is a legal scholar and practitioner specializing in EU law, energy law, environmental law, and external relations law. She is currently serving as a Legal Officer at the Council of Europe (Department of Social Rights, September 2024–October 2025) and has extensive academic experience, having taught European law and policies, administrative law, public administration, and ethics at European University Cyprus (2022–2025). From 2017 to 2022, she lectured in constitutional law, civil rights and liberties, energy law, and environmental law at City Unity College Law School, and from 2018 to 2025 she taught European external relations and energy law in the LLM programme at Panteion University.
Dr. Moraiti holds a PhD in Public, Administrative, and Energy Law, with legal studies completed in Greece and France. She has authored among others: European Energy Law (2025) and EU External Relations Law (2020, in Greek). A member of the Athens Bar Association for over a decade, she previously served as a Legal Officer at the Greek Ministry of Finance (2018–2022). She is fluent in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German, with basic knowledge of Arabic and Chinese.
Program Director MSc in Occupational and Organizational Psychology
Department of Psychology
Dr Maria Charalampous is the Director of the MSc in Occupational and Organizational Psychology and a Lecturer in HRM, Organizational Behaviour & Leadership, and Occupational & Organizational Psychology at the University of Limassol. She obtained her BSc in Psychology, with a minor in Political Science, from the University of Cyprus, and her MSc and PhD in Occupational and Organizational Psychology from Coventry University and the University of Surrey, respectively.
Vice Chair of the Department of Education
Department of Education
Dr Efthymios Lykopoulos is a Lecturer in Economics and Quantitative Methods at the University of Limassol. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Cyprus. His work examines how incentives, information, and market structure shape individual and firm behavior. He teaches microeconomics, statistics, quantitative methods, and game theory across undergraduate and MBA programs.
Program Director, MSc Educational Psychology
Department of Psychology, Department of Education
Dr Maria Vrikki is an Assistant Professor in Education and Psychology (Language Acquisition and Education) at the University of Limassol. She holds a DPhil (PhD) degree in Education (Second Language Acquisition) and an MSc degree in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition from the University of Oxford. Since 2013, she has worked on numerous research projects at the University of Cambridge, the University of Cyprus and the University of Nicosia. Dr Vrikki has more than 30 publications in peer-reviewed journals and edited books (h index = 17). She has presented more than 30 papers at national and international conferences and has been the keynote speaker of the “WALS – World Association of Lesson Studies” conference in 2023. Dr Vrikki is an ad-hoc reviewer for multiple peer-reviewed journals. She is a collaborator of the “CEDiR: Cambridge Educational Dialogue Research” group at the University of Cambridge. She has extensive experience in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students at institutions in the UK and Cyprus.
Dr Venetia Argyropoulou
Department of Law
Dr Venetia Argyropoulou brings 13 years of teaching experience across several academic institutions, including the University of Cyprus, the University of West London, the University of South Wales, the International Hellenic University, the European University Cyprus, Lund University, and the Cyprus Institute of Marketing.
She has designed and taught both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Cypriot and European law, covering subjects such as Legal Science, Corporate Law, Tax Law, Trust Law, Maritime Law, Capital Markets Law, M&A Law, EU Competition Law, EU Trademark Law, and Economic Law.
Her research is equally extensive, with numerous publications in international journals and involvement in major research projects. She has collaborated as a research associate with the University of Oxford, Sorbonne University, and the University of Paris-Nanterre. In 2019, she received the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation’s “Best Researcher in the Humanities” award.
Dr Argyropoulou has also worked with international organisations, including the World Bank and the OECD, serving as Cyprus’s national correspondent on issues related to tax law and gender equality.
Dr Christos Stylianidis is a Lecturer in European Law and Private Law at the University of Limassol. He is a lawyer with an emphasis on commercial and banking law. He holds a law degree from the University of Sheffield, graduating with a scholarship in 2002 and was subsequently recognised as a barrister of England and Wales by the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn in 2003. He holds a diploma and a postgraduate degree in European Union law from King’s College London. He also holds a PhD, his thesis being on judicial review and the rights of individuals in EU law. He is also a fully qualified insolvency practitioner, having achieved 3rd place in the Insolvency Service’s professional qualification exams in November 2015. Finally, he is a co-author of the book “Cypriot Banking Law” (Law Library, 2021).
Kyriakos Demetriou is an Assistant Professor in Special and Inclusive Education. He holds a PhD in Inclusive Education from the University of Leeds, UK. His doctoral research explored how limited educational technology resources are used to differentiate instruction in word-based mathematical problems for children with reading difficulties in mainstream Cypriot schools. He earned his Master’s degree in Special Educational Needs from the University of Leeds in 2009. In 2008, he graduated from the University of Cyprus with a major in Educational Sciences – Primary School Education and a minor in Psychology. He also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education from Liverpool Hope University (2016), through which he became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK).
Program Director, MSc Educational Psychology
Department of Psychology
Dr Maria Ph. A. Photiou is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Limassol (UoL). She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Cyprus, focusing on Cognitive/Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience. Until recently, she was a Research Associate at the CYENS Centre of Excellence, and she is a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Vanderbilt University, USA.
Director of the BSc in Psychology (DL)
Department of Psychology, Department of Law
Dr Markella Grigoriou is the Director of the BSc in Psychology (Distance Learning) and a Lecturer at the University of Limassol (UoL). She has an interdisciplinary academic background, holding a BA in Philosophy from the University of Patras, Greece, an MA in Neuroscience and Philosophy of Mind from the University of Birmingham, and a PhD in Psychiatry (Medical School), also from the University of Birmingham.
Η Δρ. Μαρία Ανάστασου είναι Λέκτορας Εκπαιδευτικής Αποτελεσματικότητας στο Πανεπιστήμιο Λευκωσίας και Διευθύντρια του προγράμματος BEd Προδημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης. Κατέχει Διδακτορικό και Μεταπτυχιακό δίπλωμα στην Εκπαιδευτική Διοίκηση και Αξιολόγηση από το Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου, Μεταπτυχιακό στο “Φύλο και Νέα Εκπαιδευτικά και Εργασιακά Περιβάλλοντα στην Κοινωνία της Πληροφορίας” και Πτυχίο στις Επιστήμες της Αγωγής (Δημοτική Εκπαίδευση) από το Πανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου. Η έρευνά της εστιάζει στον ρόλο της ποιότητας διδασκαλίας στα μαθησιακά αποτελέσματα των μαθητών, με ιδιαίτερη έμφαση στους ακαδημαϊκά ανθεκτικούς μαθητές και στην ισότητα στη μάθηση. Έχει διδάξει ως επιστημονική συνεργάτιδα στο Ευρωπαϊκό Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου το μάθημα Στατιστική και Μεθοδολογία Εκπαιδευτικής Έρευνας. Επιπλέον, έχει εργαστεί ως ερευνητική συνεργάτιδα σε σημαντικό αριθμό ευρωπαϊκών ερευνητικών έργων με θέμα την εκπαίδευση και τα δικαιώματα του παιδιού. Μέχρι σήμερα, έχει συμμετάσχει σε διάφορα διεθνή επιστημονικά συνέδρια για την παρουσίαση της έρευνάς της και αποτελεί ενεργό μέλος των Νέων Ερευνητών του οργανισμού EARLI (JURE) και της ομάδας ειδικού επιστημονικού ενδιαφέροντος EARLI SIG 18 για την Εκπαιδευτική Αποτελεσματικότητα και Βελτίωση.
Prof. Christos Lionis
Department of Psychology
Professor Christos Lionis, MD, PhD, FRCGP(Hon), FESC, FWONCA, is a distinguished researcher and academician with a strong focus on primary care and public health. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Crete. Dr. Lionis has served as principal investigator and collaborator on numerous EU- and internationally funded research projects. His scholarly contributions include 474 PubMed-indexed publications, reflecting his extensive involvement in advancing health care research. In addition to his academic and research roles, Dr. Lionis holds editorial and advisory positions with several leading international journals. He also serves on the Executive Board of multiple professional organizations, including his current role as Chair of the WONCA Working Party on Mental Health
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