Professor Agata Ziętek
Director of the Doctoral School of Social Sciences
Agata Wiktoria Ziętek is an Associate Professor at the Institute of International Relations, Faculty of Political Science and Journalism at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) in Lublin, Poland. She has been actively engaged in academic leadership, serving as the Director of the Doctoral School of Social Sciences since 2019 and previously as the PhD Program Director from 2017 to 2019. Her research focuses on international relations, with a particular emphasis on security, strategic culture, public diplomacy, and power dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region, East Asia, and Europe. She has authored and edited numerous books, including International Status of Hong Kong (1997), Cultural Security in Europe (2013), Japan’s Foreign Policy (2018), and ASEAN in a Changing World (2021). Her research has also been featured in leading journals and edited volumes.
Beyond her academic work, Professor Ziętek is an active member of the international scholarly community. She serves on the editorial boards of Azja-Pacyfik and Alternatif Politika Journal is also the President of the International Research Foundation, President of the Lublin brand of the Polish International Studies Association and a member of the European International Studies Association, the World International Studies Committee, and other professional organizations. She has been recognized for her contributions to the field, receiving a Taiwanese Fellowship in 2015 and serving as a reviewer for the Fulbright Senior Award in 2018. She has also been invited as a guest lecturer at prestigious institutions such as the University of Genoa (Italy), Calcutta University (India), Manipal University (India), and National Chengchi University (Taiwan).
Professor Paweł Pasierbiak
Deputy Director of the Doctoral School of Social Sciences
Dr. Paweł Pasierbiak, Associate Professor at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS), works at the Faculty of Economics, where he serves as the Head of the Department of World Economy and European Integration and the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska Sectio H Oeconomia. His research interests include international economics, regional economic integration, and Asia-Europe economic cooperation. He has authored numerous scholarly publications on topics such as Japan, South Korea, China, ASEAN, East Asian regional economic integration, developing economic linkages in the Asia-Pacific region, and global value chains. Dr. P. Pasierbiak received a prestigious fellowship at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) in South Korea. He actively participates in international research projects, such as the Jean Monnet Network SPEAC, and is a reviewer for esteemed academic journals. He is also a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Global and Areas Studies (South Korea) and the Business Education Journal (Tanzania). Dr. P. Pasierbiak is a member of the Academy of International Business (AIB), the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS), the Polish Trade Study Group (PTSG), the Polish European Community Studies Association (PECSA), and the Polish Economic Society (PTE). As a visiting lecturer, he has taught at universities in Spain, Japan, South Korea, Germany, the United States, and Tanzania.
