Students and candidates

Dhruv DHHOCHAK - PhD Student

Dhruv graduated with an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Indore in 2023, earning two institute gold medals for his academic and all-round performance in the programme. His subsequent work experience as a management consultant at Kearney exposed him to several industrial domains including Healthcare, Chemicals, and Sustainability. His time working with organisations developed his appreciation for organisational structures and their constant evolution and changing impact on all stakeholders. He initiated his doctoral journey to investigate organisational dynamics including challenges surrounding mentorship, motivation, and disruption. 

Nazli Dinçer - PhD Student

Originally from Istanbul, Turkey, Nazlı Dinçer holds an MSc in Management in International Business from Grenoble Ecole de Management and a Bachelor's degree in Cultural Mediation from Université Sorbonne Nouvelle. Her research interests include organization studies, digital platforms, technology and society, and qualitative research methods.

Christa O.GERALDINE - PhD Candidate

A native Indonesian with years of international involvement, Christa holds a master's degree in mass communication from the University of Florida, specializing in digital strategy. Her academic and research pursuits focus on the intersection of popular culture, consumer culture, media, and marketing. She is also invested about online education and digital learning tools due to her five years of teaching experience in the Faculty of Social and Political Science, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Tangerang, Indonesia.

Tristan GIRARDON - PhD Student

Tristan graduated from emlyon PGE (Programme Grande Ecole) and holds a master’s degree in Energy Economics from Université Paris-Saclay. He gained professional experience in consulting and then spent nearly two years at EDF’s research & development department. He enrolled in the PhD program to work on degrowth and post-growth theories and study organizations and production systems in a post-growth economy

Zhenjing HAN - PhD Candidate

With a background in both Management and Economics, Zhenjing studied the Master in Management at EDHEC Business School in France and MSc in Business in Economics at BI Norwegian Business School in Norway. Her research interests are related to Environmental Economics, ESG, CSR, and sustainable development. To be more specific, how do the environmental concerns and sustainability affect firms' strategies.

Asef HOSSEINNEJAD SALIMI - PhD Candidate

From Iran, Asef holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic) and a Master of Business Administration in strategy from the University of Tehran. He has extensive experience in the digital marketing across various industries. His research interests revolve around exploring the diverse possibilities offered by cutting-edge technologies like AI, IoT, and blockchain for today's entrepreneurs. Specifically, he is keen on investigating how these technological advancements, particularly AI, can assist modern entrepreneurs throughout various stages of their entrepreneurial journey.

Jeremie JOUBERT - PhD Student

After an international career leading digital transformation and strategy across tech, retail, and entertainment, Jeremie now dedicates his focus to management research and education. He holds an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School (2020) and, in 2026, completed a Research Master’s from iaelyon and emlyon, where his thesis explored corporate foresight in institutional complexity. His research interests center on the practice of strategy and innovation in complex environments.

Felix KAYSERS - PhD Candidate

From Germany & Argentina, Felix graduated from Lund University with a research M.Sc. in Psychology and a M.Sc. in Entrepreneurship & Innovation. His current research interest revolves about entrepreneurial behavior. Felix is a proponent of open science practices and has an interest in statistics

Cédric LEGRAND - PhD Candidate

Cédric has eight years of professional experience in emerging and developed markets: he conducted audit and consulting assignments for a banking group (BPCE General Inspection) and worked as a project director and financial supervisor for a microfinance group (Advans). He is particularly interested in exploring the role of businesses in society and how they incorporate social and environmental goals in their strategy. He holds a Master in Management and Master of Science in Finance from Grenoble EM.

Ben LI - PhD Candidate

From China, Ben graduated from Cass Business School, UK with a MSc in Management in 2012.
He has more than six years of professional working experiences in marketing, business development and management consulting across various industries. His past employers and clients covered most forms and natures of business, ranging from multi-national companies, large state-owned enterprises, private SMEs to entrepreneurial start-ups.
His current research interests include CSR, Sustainable Management (especially for SMEs), Sustainability Entrepreneurship and China-related Topics.

Tongjian LI - PhD Candidate

Graduated from Renmin University of China with a Master degree in Management, Tongjian has a combined background in human resource management, organizational behavior and organization theory. His research interests are around organizational life cycle, paradox, social enterprises, CSR, and creativity.

Bryce Lin - PhD Student

Originally from Guangxi, China, Bryce Lin earned his postgraduate degree from Peking University, where he also served as an editor of PKU International and Comparative Law Review. At emlyon, his research primarily focuses on the relationship of social actors (i.e., entrepreneurs and firms) vis-à-vis their institutional and regulatory environments within digital contexts. Prior to his doctoral studies, Bryce practiced as a corporate lawyer in the biotechnology industry and held various roles at Peking University as well as Tsinghua University

Jessica S Lopes - PhD Candidate

Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Jessica has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Fundação Getulio Vargas – EAESP, and two master's degrees in Local Development and Research in Management, the latter from IAE Paris Université Paris 1 Sorbonne. She also specializes in social business management and communication for impact from renowned schools such as Northwestern University. Jessica has over 10 years of professional experience in consulting and teaching, working in different countries and across multiple cultures. Her main research interests are social business, hybrid organizations, local development, and gender equality.

Medhi MALEKIFAR - PhD Candidate

Mehdi is an MBA graduate from Iran. With a background in engineering, he has nine years of experience in business development and consulting, particularly in the IT industry. He graduated from SUT, and his main interests are innovation management and technological collaboration.

Grace MOKAM - PhD Student

Grace, from Belgium with Cameroonian roots, holds a master’s degree in business engineering and a CEMS master’s in international management from Université Catholique de Louvain and Cornell University. She has worked as a consultant for NGOs and collaborated with sustainable entrepreneurs across several countries. Her research interests center on entrepreneurship education and sustainable entrepreneurship

Maxine NOWACZYK - PhD Student

Maxine graduated in 2025 from Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM) with a focus on human resources and geopolitics. Her research interests lie in organizational behavior and sociology of work, more specifically how new forms of work arrangements – such as remote work and international teleworking – reshape employee well-being and work-life boundaries, as well as how they interact with team dynamics, supervision and meaning of work. She is also interested in managerial and leadership practices that accompany these transformations.

Afiteju Flora OKWUTE - PhD Candidate

Afiteju is a Nigerian with over 5 years of experience working for non-profit organizations. She holds a Master in International Management and Sustainability from Sciences Po (Paris), where she simultaneously held a student researcher role at the Sciences Po Center for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE). Her main interests are social innovation, impact measurement, sustainability, partnerships, and strategy.

Mohsen RAFIEI - PhD Student

Mohsen has a master’s degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Tehran, and several years of experience in Employee and Leadership Development in a multinational company. His research interests revolve around Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior, particularly Employee Experience and Leadership.

Dimitri RODIONOV - PhD Candidate

Having 13 years of professional experience, including 5 years in management consulting (Alvarez&Marsal) in the performance improvement practice, Dmitrii obtained an MSc in Management from iaelyon, where he performed a study of individual perception of suddenly relocated consultants of their identity and work practices change. His qualitative research interest focuses on knowledge intensive industries, particularly management consulting.
Dimitri Rodionov | LinkedIn

Amita TODKAR - PhD Student

I am a PhD student in Management and Organization Studies, with research interests in human–AI interactions and their impact on organizational design. Over 8 years of professional experience across the public sector, multinational corporations, and startups have shaped my perspective on diverse organizational contexts. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP), a Master’s in Business Law from the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA).

Yineng YANG - PhD Candidate

Yineng was graduated from Warwick Business School with a master degree of science in management. Before entering WBS, she studied French and International Economics and Trade in China. Her research interests include innovation management and international business.

Yuan YANG - PhD student

From China, she holds master’s degrees in Digital Communication Management from BI Norwegian Business School, in Business Communication from Vienna University of Economics and Business, and in Business Administration from the University of Hamburg. Her research interests lie in internal communication, ethical leadership in remote work contexts, and technology-mediated interactions within organizations.

Qiushi YU - PhD Candidate

Coming from China, Qiushi graduated from ESSEC Business School's Master in Management program in France. He is interested in the topic of strategic innovation, more specifically, how do organizations make strategic innovations and how do they make decisions based on these innovations.

Zhiyu ZHAO - PhD Candidate

With a strong background in Sociology, ZHAO Zhiyu holds a bachelor's degree from Xi'an Jiaotong University, and has obtained her Master's degree from Freie Universität Berlin in Germany. Her current research interests include inequality, gender, education, and labour market. She has experiences with qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods.

Kholoud ZOUBIR - PhD Student

Originally from Morocco, Kholoud holds a Master’s degree in Digital Marketing and Graphic Design from Montpellier Business School. After graduating, she worked as a freelance consultant and co-founded an open-access digital magazine dedicated to amplifying young voices. Her research interests include digital transformation, organizational well-being, well-being metrics in the AI era, and the intersection of digital innovation and sustainability.