I am an advocate for evidence-based policies and practices.
PhD in Economics of Migration, 2013
Master Applied European policies, 2007
Hélène Syed Zwick
Education
I earned my PhD in economics in December 2013. My research examined the interactions between the establishment of a European labour market and the European migration policy. My PhD was funded by a European think tank based in Paris and Brussels, Confrontations Europe, thanks to a CIFRE convention, a French industrial contract for training through research. Such a program allowed me to complete my PhD research in the European institutional environment and to raise my level of awareness on the crucial role of researchers in policy and program making decision process.
Professional experience
Thanks to the CIFRE convention, I spent six years (2008-2013) working as a PhD student and policy advisor on migration, labour market and education issues in the European bubble. My main activities were to provide the team with my growing expertise on selected policy areas related to European economic and social policies (labour market policy, migration policy, regional policy, industrial policy) on the one hand, and to prepare, write and present reports, position papers and consultation papers to EU counterpart and partners (European Commission, European Parliament, EU State Members, the business community, trade unions, think tanks and civil society) on the other.
In 2014, I emigrated, willing to experience migration myself and to explore new perspectives in migration studies. I chose Egypt. In Cairo, as an academic, I have worked with different private universities and business schools based in France, Belgium, Egypt but also in Kyrgyzstan such as the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (2017, 2018) and the American University of Central Asia. I usually teach microeconomics, macroeconomics, economic development, research methods, and human migration and human trafficking at all levels (undergraduate and postgraduate levels including DBA).
I started my career as an independent consultant in 2015. My first assignment was with the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt. Since then, I have been working as both an academic and consultant.
Presently, I am the ESLSCA Research Center of Excellence (ERCE) Executive Director of ESLSCA University – Egypt. My main tasks are:
– engaging in fundraising through research projects in fields relevant to the university;
– initiating and contributing to the teaching activities of the Research Center (at BBA, MBA, and DBA levels)
– contributing to the dissemination of the Research Center’s research results to the international community of practitioners and policymakers;
– coordinating outreach activities (publications, workshops, seminars) in fields relevant to the university;
– carrying out research projects and publishing in international academic journals.