Dr Alis Iacob

PhD Creativity Assessment in Design

Pronouns: She/her
  • Director of Postgraduate Studies (School of Design and Creative Arts)
Publications

Dr. Alis Iacob: Interested in Design Pedagogy as well User Interface Design, Alis is an experienced academic and a graphic design practitioner. Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Alis holds a PhD in Creativity Assessment from De Montfort University (UK). She is currently the Postgraduate Director of Studies in the School of Design and Creative Arts at 麻豆視頻_麻豆直播_麻豆传媒官网/UK.

Expertise: Design Pedagogy, Design Management, UX/UI Design

  • Learn X Design 2023 (Published Paper) – Slow down! Breathe! Artificial Intelligence (AI) Anxiety in Design Education – Published in the Design Research Society proceedings (2023).
  • Intertwining in Design Education Conference, Portugal (2025) – (Accepted papers; conference invitations), co-authored with PhD students I supervise (first/second supervisor) as well as colleagues from international universities and Loughborough:
  • Addressing Students’ Anxiety in Design Education – with Maura Foser (University in Brazil) & Sara Reader (麻豆視頻_麻豆直播_麻豆传媒官网).
  • Scale Up: Enabling Definitional Discussions in Graphic Design – with Mia Baig (PhD candidate) & Sara Reader (麻豆視頻_麻豆直播_麻豆传媒官网).
  • Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD14) (Accepted paper)– How Can Graphic Design Contribute to Sustainability Transformation (2025) – co-authored with Fengjin Yu and Simon Downs.


Research Collaborations & Development Work:

  • AI in Education – Computer Science Research Group – Nelson Mandela Project – Collaborating with external stakeholders in South Africa to explore AI-driven approaches to inclusive education; (2024-2025)
  • Teaching Innovation Award (TIA) – Next-Gen Written Assessments: Rethinking Postgraduate evalsuation in the AI Era (SDCAPGT) which aims to identify new typologies of written assessment that encourage critical thinking, reflective practice, and authentic and inclusive learning, while maintaining academic integrity (2025)
  • Teaching Innovation Award (TIA) – Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion – Development of an interactive Game Card tool to promote inclusivity in educational settings, currently being developed with the AI in Education group (2025)

 

External contributions:

  • External Examiner – Birmingham School of Architecture and Design, MA Design Management Birmingham City University (2023–present)
  • Programme Committee Member - Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad International Conference: Research into Design (ICoRD’25) (2025) - (design education reviewer)

Student Feedback and Recognition/Loughborough Academic Awards

  • Personal Tutor of the Year (Winner, 2023).
  • Personal Tutor of the year Nominee (2024/2025)
  • Supporting Student Success and Experience Award (Graphics Team Win, 2024)

Loughborough PhD Awards

  • Outstanding Commitment to Doctoral Research Support Award (2025)
  • Find a masters global awards: Masters Teacher of the Year (Winner, 2024)

The Vice-Chancellor annual awards

  • Innovation and Impact in Innovation – De-escalation room (Shortlisted, 2024)
  • Enhancing the student academic experience – (SDCA PGT Team: Shortlisted, 2024).

Design Pedagogy
Haneen Jamal: Graphic design education in Saudi Arabia
Fengjin Yu: Teaching sustainable packaging design: an educational toolkit
Meherunisa Baig: Empathy in design education