Our academic staff
Arden University Berlin has an experienced, international faculty to ensure you gain the contemporary skills expertise needed by today’s employers.
Dr Tobias Kliem
Dr Tobias Kliem is the Head of Arden University’s Berlin Campus. After graduating with a Law Degree at the Universität Bremen, he went to the University of Kent (UK) to complete an LLM and then a PhD in Law. He has since worked at Canterbury Christ Church University and Oxford Brookes University as a Programme Lead, and started at Arden Berlin in April 2020.
Tobias is interested in Academic Management, Learning and Teaching, and European, International and Constitutional Law. In the little free time his job and parenting responsibilities leave him, Tobias enjoys cycling, reading and a little amateur programming on Linux machines. He supports Werder Bremen, but would prefer not to talk about this until his team’s fortunes get considerably better!
Dr Phungmayo Horam
Dr Phungmayo Horam is Academic Lead at Arden Berlin and advisor to Steinbeis Renewable Energy Centre, India. He is a Resource Economist with a PhD from Humboldt University, and has over four years’ experience in project implementation under the Sustainable Future-Megacities project sponsored by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Horam specialises in Project Management and the application of Economics and legal frameworks for evaluating policy design and transaction risks in the renewable energy sector.
He takes great pleasure in collaborating with students and inspiring them to think and question the status quo. In his free time, he enjoys playing badminton, cycling and facilitating discussions on sustainable development through the Sustainability Discourse Berlin discussion forum.
Dr Elliot Brown
Elliot is Senior Lecturer in the School of Healthcare Management. He is a clinical neuroscientist and has spent over 13 years studying what happens in the brain when people suffer from severe mental illness. He was born in Hong Kong, grew up in London and has worked in research and taught across Europe, USA and Canada at places such as Kings College London, Donders Institute, University of Calgary, Harvard University and Charité Berlin.
Outside of Arden, he advocates for mental health with the Global Health Hub Germany, Leibniz PhD Network and Young Leaders for Health. Since being a parent, he has been working hard to rediscover his old hobbies like cooking, gardening, DJing and hiking, but has been failing miserably at this.
Jinan Abi Jumaa
Jinan is a PhD researcher at the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin. She teaches a variety of modules in the area of Healthcare Management. Jinan has a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the American University of Beirut (AUB).
She is involved in conducting research on public/mental health and on cultural differences that refugees experience during their settlement in Europe.
In addition, she has previously worked on the experiences of violence against refugee women during their journey routes from the Middle East. Her published works focus on transcultural psychosocial services and health promotion and prevention for minority populations.
Away from work, Jinan is passionate about travelling, food and cultures around the world.
Dr Samuel Aylett
Dr Samuel Aylett is the Academic Skills Tutor at Arden University's Berlin Campus. Before moving to Arden, Sam completed his PhD at the Open University, and retains a Visiting Fellowship. He has several years’ experience in research and teaching across higher education institutions in the UK, supporting students to develop their academic skills, and is currently working on his first monograph expected to be published by Routledge in 2023. As an academic skills specialist, Sam helps students to understand the importance of developing their writing, critical thinking, and analytical abilities in order to be effective problem solvers in their future careers. An avid rugby fan, Sam continues to support England and Northampton Saints from a distance, and enjoys reading crime novels, writing, and playing music in his spare time.
Dr Behrooz Gharleghi
Dr Behrooz Gharleghi has several years of teaching, research, and practical experiences in various capacities in Malaysia, Peru, and Germany. He worked as Senior Researcher, Affiliate Research Professor, Associate Professor, and Head of Graduate Business School in the previous institutions. He has published several articles in the area of financial economics, monetary economics, and business management and currently is the Associate Editor of the Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia. He has led on and collaborated in various international research projects especially from the United Nations, F.A.O, Volkswagen Foundation, and the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education. He received the "Outstanding Researcher in Economics" award from the Venus International Foundation's "Venus International Research Awards" in India in October 2017. He holds a PhD in Economics from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Dana Alomari
Dana Alomari has been working as a Lecturer at Arden Berlin since 2018, teaching subjects on Marketing and Management and supervising students’ Research Projects on Marketing and Digital Media topics. Originally from Bahrain, Dana worked in Media and Marketing before moving to Germany in 2014 to obtain her Master’s degree in Media and Communication Management from Macromedia University, Berlin.
After completing her degree, Dana worked at the same university as a Lecturer for a semester before joining the Arden University Berlin family. Away from work, Dana loves traveling; she has so far visited 15 different countries around the world, leaving her with only 180 more to visit!
Dr Sara Ravan Ramzani
Sara teaches on a variety of modules in the areas of Management, Business, and Accounting. She was educated at University Putra Malaysia, where she received her PhD in Economics and information systems in 2015, and became an assistant professor in the same year. Sara has published 84 papers to date, and received the “best innovative paper award” from the Sydney International Business Research Conference in 2018.
Sara is also the Chief Executive Editor of the Journal of Development Economics, Horizon journals from 2019 -2022. Sara has several years of experience as a senior lecturer, programme leader and postgraduate director at International universities, and has supervised 24 PhD students, primarily in the fields of Project Management, Business, and Finance.
Tobias Stähler
Tobias Stähler has a professional background that comprises corporate communications and roles in management and higher education alike. He has been teaching international students in a variety of management-related subjects for more than nine years, and has also worked as a PR freelancer for companies from the Food & Beverages and Public Health industries. Tobias is a fully trained merchant in wholesale and foreign trade, and holds a Master Artium from GeorgAugust-University Göttingen in Sociology, Communication Sciences and Cultural Anthropology.
Tobias’s research and publications are focused on political and organisational communications and qualitative empirics; his academic memberships include INSNA, NAPOKO, IISM Berlin. In his personal life, Tobias is passionate about badminton, food, and hiking around the Scottish Highlands.
Dr Rachel John Robinson
Dr Rachel John Robinson has a double masters and a Doctorate in Economic IT Security. Her work foray has been varied from being an Auditor, IT Security Specialist in Multinationals and Blue-chip companies to now being an Academician. In Arden, her responsibilities include Lecturing and guiding students of the Computing School along with administering the Berlin center flag shipped Industry Relevant Tools Training (IRTT) programme. She had travelled widely and had been educated from three different countries including India, USA and Germany. She pursues and gains a lot of exposure through continuous learning and development. Being an active Researcher her main hobbies revolves around writing papers and publishing them for knowledge empowerment. Her driving ideology is, ‘Choose to identify and establish yourself to make a mark. When we choose to challenge back challenges, we chose to Live!’
Dr Victor Vargas
Dr Victor Vargas joined Arden in August 2020 after a long experience in the industry in Germany and Brazil, with missions around Europe, North America and Asia. His last position in the industry was at Deutsche Bahn, addressing IT systems for trains. In Brazil, he was responsible for the implementation and strategy of one of SENAI Innovation Institutes, addressing the RD&I of national industry, in cooperation with Fraunhofer Institute (Germany). His industry experience involves fields like Mechatronics, Biomedical Engineering, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He is a volunteer in different initiatives as coach for MassChallenge Switzerland, evaluator for InovAtiva Brasil, and at the Project Management Institute (PMP-PMI holder).
He holds different degrees in different levels of Academia in Electronics, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Business & Finance, Innovation, Project Management and Corporate development from different institutions like COPPE (Brazil), Getúlio Vargas Foundation (Brazil), RWTH Aachen (Germany), and TU Berlin (Germany). He is currently working on a degree in Psychology in Germany. Victor is interested in subjects like Innovation, Entrepreneurship, HMI, Digitalisation (Industry 4.0) and Project Management.
In the little free time, Victor enjoys sports and dancing. Contrary to most German-Brazilians, he doesn’t like football, but other sports – Capoeira, Fitness and dancing Forró. The love for Forró also includes volunteer work in the organisation of different festivals in Europe. Capoeira and Forró were key elements for his integration in Europe.
Dr Ourania Papasozomenou
Dr Ourania Papasozomenou joined Arden Berlin in 2019 as a Business Lecturer. She is a policy analyst and economist with a PhD from the Humboldt University of Berlin. An expert in resource management, Ourania worked in several international research projects focusing on water governance and energy policies.
She has published papers on urban and island sustainability and has extensive teaching experience in teaching in higher education institutions in the UK and Germany. At Arden University Ourania teaches Business’ topics in the undergraduate and postgraduate programs. She is a module leader for Sustainability in Theory and Practice and for Management Information Systems and has supervised over 20 students in Arden, mostly in Project Management, Sustainability and Business topics.
When she is not reading books, Ourania enjoys learning to play the guitar, taking long walks, and swimming.
Our student support team
Whether you need advice on how to submit an assignment or how to make the most out of your time in Germany, including any personal issues, our student support team are here to help you with any queries you may have.
Aleksandra Przybylinska
Aleksandra Przybylinska joined Arden Berlin in January 2018 as a Student Support Coordinator, and was the first full-time employee of the Berlin campus. In August 2018, she was promoted to Centre Manager of Arden Berlin. With responsibilities in the areas of managing centre operations and student support, Aleksandra has managed to gain a great deal of experience and has contributed to the growth of the Berlin campus.
Prior to joining Arden Berlin, Aleksandra studied English Philology, with a focus on language teaching, and also gained work experience in the field of administration working for a local company in Berlin. Outside of the office, Aleksandra enjoys travelling, cycling and singing although she hasn’t had the chance to show off her skills to the wider public yet.
Dina Leitane
Dina Leitane finds it rewarding to see people succeed in their professional lives. Therefore, she was excited to become a Career Advisor at Arden University Berlin in October 2020.
Dina was born in Latvia, but she has lived abroad for the past 9 years. Before Berlin, she lived in Lisbon for 6 years. In 2004, she graduated from the University of Latvia with a degree in Teaching English as a Second Language. Besides her professional experience as a teacher, she has also worked as a recruiting specialist in Berlin and as a project manager in an advertising agency in Riga.
Dina speaks five languages: Latvian, English, Russian, Portuguese and German, and considers language learning one of her primary interests. In her spare time, you can find Dina doing yoga, practicing qigong, reading, going to exhibitions and concerts, and visiting the cinema.
Shahab Ahmed Kashif
Shahab Ahmed Kashif is an Arden University alumnus and joined our team in November 2020 as Student Support Administrator. Since April 2021, Shahab is working as the Centre Manager, and is taking care of study center operations and student support including Career Support and Accommodation support. Shahab has a two Masters Degrees – in Computer Science and in Data Analytics and Marketing (Arden), and has about 13 year of experience in the Customer Services industry with a focus on quality of work and performance improvement through training and development.
Outside of the office, he enjoys watching movies, listening to music and cooking. His favourite sports are badminton and table tennis.
Bahadur Ali
Bahadur Ali has started his journey as student support officer at Arden University’s Berlin Campus in June 2021. He completed his degree as a Master of Business Administration from Pakistan and as MSC Strategic Business Management at the University of Law’s (UK) Berlin Campus in 2020. Bahadur is a Project Management & Customer Experience professional and has more than 11 years of experience in this sector. In addition, his specialities are Contact centre management, People management, Performance management, Project planning, Process improvement and Business Leadership.
Outside of work, Bahadur loves to read, travel, nature photography and hiking.