Research Team

Dr. Cristina Ivan

Researcher in security and intelligence studies. She holds a PhD in cultural studies from the University of Bucharest, where she has researched violent religious extremism in cultural productions within the British discursive space (2000-2010). Over the past 15 years she has specialized in the cultural study of violence, radicalization and terrorism, propaganda and disinformation, critical intelligence studies, etc. She has taken an active part in European-funded projects targeting an enhanced understanding and early detection of radicalization, propaganda, disinformation, as well as designing both preventive and countering interventions.

Dr. Irena Chiru

Professor of intelligence studies at “Mihai Viteazul” National Intelligence Academy, Romania. Currently she serves as the chair of the International Association for Intelligence Education – European Chapter, a position from which she is advocating for building bridges between scholars and practitioners in intelligence. Her main research interests are intelligence analysis, critical intelligence studies, intelligence cultures, and strategic communication. She has extensive experience in managing European-funded projects on issues ranging from intelligence research, security issues, countering disinformation, enhancing civil society resilience to crisis situations.

Dr. Ruxandra Buluc

Senior researcher at the National Institute for Intelligence Studies in “Mihai Viteazul” National Intelligence Academy. Her main research interests are strategic communication, disinformation, foreign influence manipulation and interference, security culture. She works in European-funded projects which are aimed at building security culture and resilience to disinformation and radicalization.

Dr. Aitana Radu

Security Research Coordinator within the Department of Information Policy & Governance. Her research focuses on different aspects of security science, from violent radicalisation to intelligence oversight. Since 2013, Dr Radu has carried out extensive EU-funded research focused on radicalization, law enforcement practices, the implementation of the European Investigation Order, developing security science (ESSENTIAL), fake news (DOMINOES) and intelligence analysis in the context of border security (MIRROR and CRITERIA projects). Dr. Radu obtained her M.A. (Comparative Political Science) from the University of Bucharest with a thesis on democratic transitions in the Middle East, her M.A. in the Management of Intelligence Activities for National Security from the National Intelligence Academy with a thesis on the security risks posed by the radical Islamic discourse, and her PhD in Intelligence and National Security from the National Intelligence Academy with a thesis on the transformation of intelligence organizations.
More information and publications.

Alexandra Anghel

Has been a young researcher at “Mihai Viteazul” National Intelligence Academy since 2015. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology, at the Doctoral School of Sociology, University of Bucharest with a thesis on the recruiting processes used by military institutions to attract young generations. She has published on intelligence and security studies and has been involved in several European-funded projects such as CARISMAND, ESSENTIAL, CITYCoP, THESEUS, ARMOuR etc.

Dr. Valentin Stoian-Iordache

Researcher with the National Intelligence Studies Institute. He is specialized in intelligence and security theory. He holds an M.A. and PhD in political science from the Central European University, Budapest and a B.A. in political science from the University of Bucharest. He has published work on topics such as hybrid warfare, the securitization of corruption, critical security studies and the ethics of intelligence.

Dr. Rubén Arcos

Associate professor (profesor contratado doctor) at the Faculty of Communication Sciences at University Rey Juan Carlos and member of the research group Cyber-imaginary. He serves as program Co-Chair of the Intelligence Studies Section at the International Studies association (ISA). His research is focused on intelligence services and intelligence analysis, foreign disinformation, and hybrid threats. He has been appointed national member for the NATO Science & Technology Organization’s exploratory group SAS-ET-FG “Prediction and Intelligence Analysis”.

Cristina M. Arribas

Researcher and Ph. candidate at the Faculty of Communication Sciences at University Rey Juan Carlos and member of the research group Cyber-imaginary. Her research is focused on disinformation, hybrid threats and Russian-China relations.

Ana Ćuća

Research Support Officer at the Department of Information Policy & Governance at the University of Malta. Specialised in protection of refugees and criminalisation of humanitarian assistance, she is currently working on topics such as migration, security and disinformation. She holds a Master's degree in Human Rights with Clinical Specialisation from the Central European University and a Political Science degree from the University of Zagreb.

Kanchi Ganatra

Research Support Officer at University of Malta's Department of Information Policy & Governance. Her day-to-day work focuses on EU-funded projects related to migration, sexual violence prevention, and disinformation. Her previous work involves ethnographic research among migrants in various parts of the EU - including Greece, Estonia, and Hungary. She holds an MA in Anthropology from Tallinn University and a BA in Social Psychology from the University of Mumbai.

Dr. Manuel Gertrudix

Professor of Digital Communication at the Rey Juan Carlos University, coordinator of the Cyberimaginary research group, and co-editor of the scientific journal Icono14. Specialist in digital communication and its application in several domains, he has been Principal investigator of 10 competitive national and international research projects. He is currently the Academic Director of the Master’s degree in journalistic research, new narratives, data, fact-checking and transparency at URJC-Fundación Maldita.

Dr. Ketan Modh

Lecturer at the Department of Information Policy & Governance at the University of Malta. He received a double PhD as a Marie Curie Actions Fellow from the University of Groningen (The Netherlands) and the University of Malta. His current interests in teaching and research encompass identity systems, data protection and information law. He has experience working on multiple EU-funded projects in technology and law, covering topics that include surveillance and migration.

Cătălina Nastasiu

Associate teacher at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest. Her areas of academic interest include the study of disinformation, the analysis of media frames and strategic narratives. She has professional experience in journalism, fact-checking and has been part of a series of initiatives to combat disinformation and promote media and digital literacy.

Ivan, Cristina; Chiru, Irena; Buluc, Ruxandra; Radu, Aitana; Anghel, Alexandra; Stoian-Iordache, Valentin; Arcos, Rubén; Arribas, Cristina M.; Ćuća, Ana; Ganatra, Kanchi; Gertrudix, Manuel; Modh, Ketan; Nastasiu, Cătălina. (2023). HANDBOOK on Identifying and Countering Disinformation. DOMINOES Project https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7893952

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