Irena Vassileva

Professor Irena Vassileva serves as a full Professor of English and German Linguistics at New Bulgarian University's Faculty of Foreign Languages and Cultures, where she has held continuous appointments since 2020 after 12 years as an Honorary Professor. Her career spans over three decades with significant international engagement including annual teaching positions at UK universities (Sheffield, Nottingham Trent, Heriot-Watt) from 2014-2020 and extensive German academic collaborations.

Her research centers on cross-cultural academic communication, with particular focus on authorial identity, plagiarism ethics, and digital scholarship. As Principal Investigator for multiple Alexander von Humboldt Foundation projects including 'Text Plagiarism in the Social Sciences' (2017-2018) and 'Academic Communication in Multimedia Environment' (2013-2015), she has established herself as a leading voice in digital academic discourse. Her work examines linguistic patterns across 20+ countries, with special attention to Eastern European academic cultures.

Professor Vassileva's publication record demonstrates consistent scholarly impact since the 1990s, with 2020 marking peak productivity through the edited volume 'The Digital Scholar' and four related articles analyzing multimedia scholarship. Her research trajectory shows evolution from early contrastive rhetoric studies ('Confrontation in Academic Communication', 2010) toward contemporary digital literacy challenges, maintaining consistent focus on cross-cultural variations in scholarly communication while adapting to new media environments.

Her academic leadership includes directing the Language Center at European Polytechnic University (2011-2013) and coordinating international projects funded by the European Economic Space and Open Society Foundations. She maintains active scholarly networks through invited lectures at major European institutions including University of Aarhus, University of Leipzig, and University of Trondheim.

Professor Vassileva's teaching portfolio encompasses advanced courses in Semantics, Sociolinguistics, and Academic Communication, reflecting her dual expertise in theoretical linguistics and practical language education. Her multilingual proficiency (native Bulgarian, excellent English/German, good Russian/French) underpins her cross-cultural research approach.