Dr Ismini Vasileiou is an Associate Professor at De Montfort University and Founder and Director of the East Midlands Cyber Security Cluster.

Her research and leadership focus on the human and organisational dimensions of cyber security, particularly human factors, organisational cyber resilience, cyber governance, cyber skills and workforce development, and the responsible adoption of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence.

She works extensively across academia, industry and government, developing collaborations that translate research and evidence into practical interventions, organisational capability and policy impact. She has led major government funded programmes supporting cyber skills, business growth and resilience, and has developed regional cyber initiatives connecting universities, businesses, professional bodies, education providers and government.

Her work increasingly examines how organisations can build resilience in environments shaped by rapid technological change, artificial intelligence, evolving cyber threats and complex supply chains. A central theme across her research and external engagement is that effective cyber resilience depends not only on technology, but also on people, skills, organisational behaviour and governance.

Dr Vasileiou has contributed to national cyber skills and workforce policy through parliamentary engagement, policy briefings, government advisory activity and thought leadership. She is a member of the UK Government’s Women in Tech Taskforce and has held senior national cyber ecosystem leadership roles, including Board Member and subsequently Chair of UKC3.

She is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of BCS, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Information Security and an EPSRC SPRITE+ Fellow. Her work has received national recognition for research impact, cyber diversity and collaboration.

Through her research, policy activity and leadership of the East Midlands Cyber Security Cluster, she is particularly interested in developing evidence based approaches that strengthen organisational cyber resilience, build future cyber capability and improve collaboration between academia, industry and government.

Thought Leadership/Policy

• Vasileiou, I. (2025), From Curriculum to Career: Why Universities must lead the education-skills revolution, Higher Education Policy
• Vasileiou, I. and Dowland, P. (2025), What’s the difference between passwords and passkeys? It’s not just the protection they provide, The Conversation
• Vasileiou, I. (2025), The post-16 pivot: why higher education needs to lean into the skills revolution, Higher Education Policy Institute
• Vasileiou, I. (2025), Report Cards, Reshuffles, and Resilience: What Ofsted’s new model could mean for higher education, Higher Education Policy Institute
• Vasileiou, I. (2025), Pay Now, Protect Always: Securing digital payments, Innovation News Network
• Vasileiou, I. (2025), Cyber Workforce of the Future: A Call for Action on Skills, Taxonomy and National Alignment. White Paper published in collaboration with the Cyber Innovation All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), July 2025 
• Vasileiou, I. (2025), Bridging the Skills Divide: Higher Education’s Role in Delivering the UK’s Plan for Change, Higher Education Policy Institute 
• Vasileiou,I. (2024), “How secure are banking apps? Here are some key steps all banks and users should be following”, The Conversation
• Vasileiou, I. (2024), “Protecting SMEs from Cyber Attacks”
• Vasileiou, I. and Dowland, P. (2023), “How risky is to give card details over the phone, and how do I reduce the chance of fraud?”, The Conversation
• Vasileiou, I. and Dowland, P. (2022), “The iPhone turns 15: a look at the past (and future) of one of the 21^st century’s most influential devices”, The Conversation
• Vasileiou, I. and Dowland, P. (2021), “Being bombarded with delivery and post office text scams? Here’s why and what can be done”, The Conversation
• Dowland, P. and Vasileiou, I. (2020), “Cyber Threats at Home: How to keep kids safe while they are learning online”, The Conversation
• Vasileiou, I. (2017) Data Normalisation: A Systematic Approach to Data Structuring and Organisation, Computing Review Magazine 

Books

• I.Vasileiou and S.Furnell. 2019. Cybersecurity Education for Awareness and Compliance. IGI Global, Hershey, PA. 306pp.

Chapters in Books

• Vasileiou, I. (2021). “The Cyber Skills Gap”, in Cybersecurity Issues in Emerging Technologies”,  (in press)
• S.M.Furnell, and I.Vasileiou. 2019."A Holistic View of Cybersecurity Education Requirements", in Cybersecurity Education for Awareness and Compliance, I.Vasileiou and S.Furnell (Eds.), IGI Global, Hershey, PA, pp1-18.
• I.Vasileiou and S.Furnell. 2019. “Personalising Security Education ‐ Factors influencing individual awareness and compliance”, Information Systems Security and Privacy, Fourth International Conference, ICISSP 2018, Madeira, Portugal, January 22-24, 2018, Revised Selected Papers, P.Mori, S.Furnell and O.Camp (Eds.), Communications in Computer and Information Science, Springer. 

Refereed papers in journals

• Vasileiou, I., Knahl, M. , Sankaran, G., Siestrup,G. (2020) A Measurement Model of Value of Data for Decision Making in the Digital Era, Journal of Integrated Supply Management (accepted)
•  Furnell, S. and Vasileiou, I. (2017), “Security Education and Awareness: Just let them burn?“, in Network Security
• Vasileiou, I. (2008), “Blended Learning: The transformation of Higher  Education curriculum”, Open Education: The journal forOpen and Distance Education and Education Technology

Refereed conference contributions

• Papathanasaki, M., Dimitriou, G., Maglaras, L, Vasileiou, I., Janicke, H. (2020) “From Cyber terrorism to Cyber Peacekeeping: re we there yet?”, 24^th Panhellenic Conference on Informatics, 20-22 November 2020
• Vasileiou, I. (2020) “Cyber Security Education and Training Delivering industry relevant education and skills via Degree Apprenticeships, HAISA 2020
• Vasileiou, I. (2020) “Athena SWAN: One for All, or All for One?”, Advance HE EDI Conference, Edinburgh, March 2020 
• Vasileiou, I. (2020) “Social Inclusion in STEM: Schemes, Myths and Suggestions”, Advance HE STEM Conference, Manchester, January 2020 
• Vasileiou, I. and Haskell-Dowland, P. (2019) “Addressing STEM Geek Culture Through Peer Learning”, Proceedings 11^thInternational Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies, Palma Spain, July 2019
• C. Barnyard and I. Vasileiou (2019) “Student-centred analytics: Putting analytics into the hands of students”, Collaborative European Research Conference (CERC), Darmstadt, Germany, 29 March
• G. Sankaran, M. Knahl, G. Siestrup and I. Vasileiou (2019) “Value of Smart Data for Supply Chain decisions in a rich uncertain world”, Collaborative European Research Conference (CERC), Darmstadt, Germany, 29 March
• S.Furnell, N.Outram and I.Vasileiou (2018) “Digital Technologies in Education: When to say goodbye”, World Congress of Education, Dublin, Ireland, 15-18 July
• Vasileiou, I. (2018), “An evaluation of Accelerated Learning Degrees”,  HEA STEM Conference Newcastle, UK, 31 January – 1 February 2018
• I.Vasileiou and S.Furnell. 2018. “Enhancing Security Education Recognising Threshold Concepts and other influencing factors”, in Proceedings of ICISSP 2018 - 4th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, 22-24 January 2018, pp398-403.
• S.Furnell, I.Vasileiou, N.Outram (2017) “iPads in Education: Positive Pedagogies versus Problematic Practicalities”, London International Conference on Education (LICE-2017), Cambridge, UK, 11-14 December 2017 (accepted)
• Vasileiou, I. (2011), “What is to be a Teacher in Higher Education: The relationship between Teaching and Research”, 6thInternational Conference on Open and Distance Learning, Loutraki, Greece 6-9 November 2011.
• Vasileiou, I. (2009), Integrating PDP (Personal Development Planning) and the e-portfolios in Accelerated Learning coursesemphasising on employability, Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Open and Distance Learning, Athens, Greece, 27-29 November 2009.
• Vasileiou, I. (2007), Can ICT support learning and teaching in Computing courses? How do we choose and use? Proceedingsof the 4th International Conference on Open and Distance Learning, Athens, Greece, 23 -25 November 2007

Cyber Workforce of the Future

Dr Vasileiou's research sits at the intersection of cyber security, organisational resilience, human behaviour, skills and emerging technology.

Her areas of expertise include:

• Human factors in cyber security and digital risk

• Organisational cyber resilience and cyber governance

• Cyber skills, workforce development and professional capability

• Social engineering and cyber psychology

• Trusted and responsible artificial intelligence

• Organisational adoption and governance of emerging technologies

• Academia, industry and government collaboration

• Regional cyber ecosystems and innovation

• Cyber security education, professional learning and skills policy

• Secure by Design and organisational security practice

• Diversity and inclusion within technology and the cyber workforce

1. BSc(Hons) Computing Informatics, University of Plymouth UK
2. PGCE post 16, University of Plymouth UK
3. EdD - Doctor of Education, University of Sheffield UK  “Flexible Learning for Computing Degrees in Higher Education”

Awards and Nominations

1. 2026 RISCS NCSC Impact Award, recognising impact from work on Cyber Skills and Growth

2. 2025 Finalist, Academic Award, Women in Tech Awards

3. 2025 Finalist, Innovation Award, East Midlands Enterprising Women Awards

4. 2025 Best Researcher recognition, Digital Futures Institute

5. 2024 Winner, Cyber Security Diversity Academic Champion, Ethnic Minority in Cyber Network 

6. Earlier recognition includes the WISE Advisor Award shortlist, Students as Partners recognition and awards for student support and STEM engagement.

National and external leadership

2025 to present
Member, UK Government Women in Tech Taskforce

2025 to 2026
Chair, UKC3

2024 to 2025
Board Member, UKC3

2024 to present
EPSRC SPRITE+ Academic Expert Fellow

2025
UKSec Steering Committee Member

2023
Consultant, NCFE and Department for Education Level 3 Reform

2022 to 2024
Member, QAA Apprenticeships Toolkit in Higher Education Advisory Group

2022 to 2023
Member, NCFE and Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education Technical Education Advisory Board

2022 to 2024
Committee Member, UCISA Security Group

2020 to 2023
Advisor and Consultant on Digital and Cyber T Levels, Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education

2021
Advisor, SFIA Version 8 Review

2020 to 2022
Core Team Researcher, Women's Higher Education Network

2020 to present
Reviewer, ESRC New Investigator Award

2016 to 2024
Member, IFIP Working Group 11.8 Information Security Education

Earlier professional service includes leadership roles within BCS, curriculum and apprenticeship development, education governance, STEM engagement and equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives.

• PFHEA - Principal Fellow of Higher Education Academy
• FCIIS - Fellow of the Charted Institute for Cyber Security Professionals
• FBCS - Fellow of the Chartered Institute of IT (BCS)

• Apple Teacher
• Online Teaching : Creating Courses for Adult Learners, The Open University
• Social Engineering Awareness Course GCHQ/RedGoat
• Supplemental Instruction Supervisor PASS/SI
• mySAP ERP Instructor E-Business Software Integration

• Vasileiou, I. (2025), Cyber Workforce of the Future: A Call for Action on Skills, Taxonomy and National Alignment. White Paper published in collaboration with the Cyber Innovation All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), July 2025 - Imminent.

Current PhD supervision

As Director of Studies

• 2022       Mr Ahmed Al-Gailani, “Privacy on Banking systems using the Cloud”
• 2021           Ms Chandrima Rodrigo, “Personality and Character Traits that Influence an Internet User’s behaviour towards Cyber Crime”
• 2020           Mr Chirag Dattani, Impact of Internationalisation of UK HE on Learning Technologies
• 2018           Mr Craig Banyard, Learning Analytics: A Student perspective
• 2018           Ms Trudy Ward, Agile Methodologies for Medical Devices

As Supervisor

• 2018           Mr Zinnar Ghasm “A framework for tailored cyber security training.                “
• 2017           Mr Ganesh Manikandan “An ontology-based framework for measuring business value of smart data by considering impact of uncertainty on supply chain processes.”

Completed PhD supervision

• 2018           Dr Martin Dorigo “Visualising Structures of documents for visually impaired people.”
• 2016           Dr Eiman Almami “Managing the Semantics of Learning Environments to Accommodate Students with Differences inLearning.”

1. 2025 Cyber Local, Innovate UK £150,000
2. 2024 Cyber Local, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT,UK) £76,000
3. 2024 Office for Students Wave 1 Degree Apprenticeships £315,000
4. 2023 DSIT/DFE Research into Qualifications Mapping in Digital and Cyber £10,000
5. 2022 Office for Students Capital Funding £5.8 million
6. 2022 LLEP/DCMS Digital Skills Partnership £95,000
7. 2021 Office for Students Short Courses Pilot Digital Skills £130,000
8. 2018 KTP Lead Academic: To develop a tool that manages medical device standard compliance for agile-style software development, £160,000
9. 2018 KTP Lead Academic: To develop a dynamic software analysis tool using large data to predict the impact of new chemicals and compounds upon the environment and to enable certification testing to be optimized, £160,000
10. 2017 Peer Assisted Learning for Mature students in STEM, Plymouth University, £2,500
11. 2011 Peer Assisted Learning Scheme (PALS), Plymouth University £25,000

QR Fubnding £25,000

HEIF £6,000

0000-0001-6174-3586

Dr Vasileiou's work focuses strongly on translating research into organisational, regional and national impact.

She has contributed to national policy discussions on cyber skills, workforce development, organisational resilience and the role of higher education in responding to technological change.

In March 2025 she convened a parliamentary roundtable on the future cyber workforce, bringing together representatives from government, academia, industry and professional bodies. This work informed the white paper Cyber Workforce of the Future: A Call for Action on Skills, Taxonomy and National Alignment, published in collaboration with the Cyber Innovation All Party Parliamentary Group.

Her policy activity has continued through national roundtables, government engagement, policy briefings and collaboration with organisations working across cyber security research, policy and professional practice.

She also contributes to national work on technology workforce participation through the UK Government Women in Tech Taskforce.

Her work on Cyber Skills and Growth received recognition through the 2026 RISCS NCSC Impact Award.

 Dr Ismini Vasileiou has a strong track record of leading change across higher education, industry, government and the wider cyber security ecosystem.

She founded and leads the East Midlands Cyber Security Cluster, creating a regional platform that brings together universities, businesses, government, professional bodies and education providers to strengthen cyber capability, skills, innovation and organisational resilience. Through this work she has developed new partnerships, secured external investment and translated regional needs into practical programmes and policy activity.

As Principal Investigator for major government funded initiatives, including CyberSprint and Cyber Growth, she has led the design and delivery of interventions responding to cyber skills shortages, workforce development, SME growth and organisational resilience. CyberSprint engaged 93 schools and colleges and introduced stronger alignment between education, professional standards and national skills frameworks.

Her leadership has also contributed to wider change in cyber education and workforce policy. She has worked with government departments, professional bodies and national organisations on curriculum development, apprenticeships, technical education, skills frameworks and workforce strategy, helping connect policy objectives with implementation in education and industry.

She has convened parliamentary and national policy discussions on the future cyber workforce and led the development of policy outputs calling for greater alignment between education, skills, professional standards and employer needs.

Within higher education, she has held senior academic leadership roles with responsibility for large teams, curriculum development, external partnerships and strategic change. Her approach to change leadership is characterised by collaboration, evidence based decision making and a focus on translating strategy into measurable outcomes.

Dr Vasileiou has a strong track record of leading change across higher education, industry, government and the wider cyber security ecosystem.

She founded and leads the East Midlands Cyber Security Cluster, creating a regional platform that brings together universities, businesses, government, professional bodies and education providers to strengthen cyber capability, skills, innovation and organisational resilience.

Through this work she has developed new partnerships, secured external investment and translated regional needs into practical programmes, research and policy activity.

As Principal Investigator for major government funded initiatives including CyberSprint and Cyber Growth, she has led the design and delivery of interventions responding to cyber skills shortages, workforce development, SME growth and organisational resilience.

Her leadership has also contributed to change in cyber education and workforce policy. She has worked with government departments, professional bodies and national organisations on curriculum development, apprenticeships, technical education, skills frameworks and workforce strategy.

Within higher education she has held senior academic leadership roles with responsibility for large academic teams, curriculum development, external partnerships and strategic change.

Her approach to leadership is characterised by collaboration, evidence based decision making and translating strategy into measurable outcomes.

Cyber Ecosystem and Regional Leadership

Dr Vasileiou is Founder and Director of the East Midlands Cyber Security Cluster.

The Cluster brings together academia, industry, government, professional bodies, education providers and the wider cyber community to strengthen regional cyber capability.

Its work spans organisational cyber resilience, skills, SME growth, innovation, education, policy engagement and collaboration.

Through the Cluster, Dr Vasileiou has developed and led programmes that connect research with practical challenges faced by businesses and communities, while creating opportunities for regional organisations to engage with national cyber policy and initiatives.

She also founded the East Midlands Cyber Summit, which brings together leaders and practitioners from academia, industry and government to explore cyber resilience, skills, innovation, emerging technology and regional growth.