The Team
Our Supervisors
Brenkley Doctoral College supervisors are practitioner-scholars — academics with deep professional experience who understand the distinctive challenges and opportunities of practitioner research. They bring intellectual rigour, professional insight, and genuine commitment to their researchers.
Prof. Stanley Oliver
Principal
Stanley leads Brenkley Doctoral College's strategic direction and is an active doctoral supervisor specialising in management strategy, organisational leadership, and executive decision-making. He brings over two decades of experience in executive education and practitioner research methodology.
Dr. Zahra Salimi
Academic Lead for Research & Enterprise
Zahra oversees academic quality across all Brenkley Doctoral College programmes and supervises researchers in education leadership, policy, and practitioner-researcher identity. A specialist in qualitative inquiry, she has published widely on insider research ethics and the experience of professional doctorates.
Dr. Liz Blower
Academic Lead for Operations & Finance
Liz leads pastoral support and student experience across Brenkley Doctoral College, ensuring every researcher has the support they need to thrive. She supervises researchers in professional education, doctoral wellbeing, and qualitative methodologies. Her research focuses on identity and wellbeing in professional doctoral study.
How We Supervise
Our Supervisory Approach
Partnership, Not Direction
We do not believe supervisors should direct doctoral researchers towards predetermined conclusions. Our role is to challenge your thinking, extend your reading, strengthen your methodology, and ensure your work meets the highest standards — while keeping you in the driving seat of your own research.
Regular, Structured Meetings
All Brenkley Doctoral College researchers have a minimum of eight supervision meetings per year, with meetings minuted on our online platform. You will never wonder where you stand — your progress, your next steps, and your development targets are always clearly recorded and visible.
Expert Matching
Supervisor matching is taken seriously at Brenkley Doctoral College. Before you enrol, the Director of Doctoral Studies leads a careful process to identify the supervisor whose expertise and working style best fit your research. The match can be reviewed if either party feels a change is needed.
Interested in working with us?
The first step is a conversation. Book a no-obligation discussion with our admissions team to talk about your research interests and find the right supervisory match.