Prof. Dr. Shaofeng Liu WP2 leader and Senior Researcher

UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH, UNITED KINGDOM 

Prof. Dr. Shaofeng Liu is Professor of Operations Management and Decision Making at the University of Plymouth and Associate Head of the Doctoral College at the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business. Her research interests lie in knowledge management, analytics and decision support, sustainable supply chain management, business analytics, digital transformation and innovation in value chains. She is the author of numerous scientific publications and two research monographs, and has led international research projects funded under Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Royal Society.

Prof. Liu is President of the Euro Working Group on Decision Support Systems, an expert evaluator for the European Commission under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, a member of the editorial boards of international scientific journals and the supervisor of numerous doctoral candidates who have successfully defended their theses. As leader of Work Package 2 and a project partner in SINTACT, she brings substantial international experience in social innovation, knowledge management and the building of sustainable research partnerships. 

Sakunika Sewwandi Rathnayake  PhD candidate

UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBO, SRI LANKA  

Sakunika Sewwandi Rathnayake is a PhD candidate at the University of Colombo and a lecturer in the Department of Commerce and Financial Management at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. She holds a bachelor's degree in financial management with First Class Honours, an Advanced Diploma in Management Accounting and a certificate in FinTech. Her research interests are in financial management, banking, risk management and corporate finance. She has published in peer-reviewed international journals and takes an active part in international academic conferences. Her work received the Best Paper Award at the 12th International Conference on Business and Information (ICBI 2021) for the study "Determinants of Non-Performing Loans: Evidence from Sri Lanka" and the Best Poster Award at Research Day 2021 for the study "Bank Competition and Risk Taking". Alongside her academic work she has practical experience in the financial sector as Channel Finance Officer at Dialog Axiata PLC, which gives her research a strong applied orientation. 

Dr. Tong Thi Minh Phuong   PostDoc

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS, VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HANOI

Dr. Tong Thi Minh Phuong is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Economics and Business, Vietnam National University - Hanoi. She specialises in international economics and has more than fifteen years of professional experience in international trade, economic integration, sustainable development, foreign direct investment and digital trade. Her research interests cover international trade policy, free trade agreements, sustainable and inclusive development, green investment and the digital governance of trade.

Dr. Phuong has extensive experience in international academic cooperation and in applied research carried out in partnership with universities, international organisations and institutions in Europe and Asia. She is the author of numerous publications and chapters in collective monographs and a regular speaker at international conferences. Within SINTACT she serves as a postdoctoral researcher and Secretary General of the project team at the University of Economics and Business, with research focused on the development of green enterprises, sustainable transition and social innovation. 

Assoc. Prof. Mihail Busu  Senior Researcher

BUCHAREST UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMIC STUDIES (ASE), ROMANIA

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mihail Busu is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Business Administration in Foreign Languages (FABIZ) of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE) and Vice Dean of the faculty, responsible for research and international relations. He holds a PhD in Economics from ASE, a Master of Science in Computational Mathematics from the University of Bucharest and graduate studies in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from Rutgers University, USA. He teaches risk management, investments and risk, quantitative and qualitative methods for business, economic modelling and strategic management.

His research interests cover the bioeconomy, the circular economy and environmental protection, the relationship between renewable energy and economic growth, household carbon dioxide emissions, and multivariable statistical methods and econometric analysis. He completed postdoctoral research on the statistics and economics of waste recycling with energy potential at European Union level.

Alongside his academic work Assoc. Prof. Busu is a Competition Inspector at the Romanian Competition Council and a member of its Chief Economist Unit, where he works on market analysis, cartels and mergers. He has acted as a short-term expert in TWINNING and TAIEX projects building the capacity of competition authorities in Ukraine, Egypt, Georgia and North Macedonia, and is a visiting lecturer at EM Strasbourg Business School and Vilnius University Business School. Within SINTACT his contribution is directed at the quantitative analysis of green transition risks and at the methodological preparation of the empirical study. 

Ana-Maria Torjescu  PhD candidate

BUCHAREST UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMIC STUDIES (ASE), ROMANIA

Ana-Maria Torjescu is a PhD candidate in the Doctoral School "Business Administration II" at the Faculty of Business Administration in Foreign Languages (FABIZ) of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE) and an associate teaching fellow at the same faculty, where she teaches entrepreneurship culture and internship courses. She completed her bachelor's and master's degrees at FABIZ and was valedictorian of the International Master in Business Administration in 2024. Her doctoral thesis addresses the fostering of a culture of impactful innovation as a condition for business future-proofing.

Her research interests lie in European educational policies, human resource management, innovation management, entrepreneurship and international business management. Her work explores the dynamics of innovation culture and the way it shapes organisational behaviour, leadership and strategic development. She is the author of three papers presented at the International Conference on Business Excellence (ICBE).

Ana-Maria Torjescu is the students' representative in the Council of the Doctoral School and has professional experience with the Romanian Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism and in an international manufacturing company. Within SINTACT she takes part as a team member in the first stage of the research. 

Chief Assis. Prof. Dr. Nikoleta Voynova  PostDoc

SOFIA UNIVERSITY "ST. KLIMENT OHRIDSKI", BULGARIA

Nikoleta Voynova is Chief Assistant Professor in Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", and Assistant at the Institute for Historical Studies of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She graduated in law from Sofia University and administers the joint master's programme in Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer run with the World Intellectual Property Organization and the European Patent Office. She previously worked as a junior expert at the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria and has taken part in the European Union Intellectual Property Office projects "Inclusive IP Landscape" and "Green Best Practices".

Within SINTACT her contribution is directed at the regulatory and institutional dimension of the research - a risk category identified in the project's analytical framework that calls for legal as well as economic expertise. Her work on Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 on geographical indications for craft and industrial products and its implications for regional development in Bulgaria bears directly on the resilience of local economies and community livelihoods.