Danijela Serbic is a Professor (Education-Focused) in the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London, a Senior Fellow of Advance HE and a former longstanding member of the British Psychological Society’s Undergraduate Education Committee. She is the founder and director of THESIS (Teaching in Higher Education: Supporting and Inspiring Students), an award-winning pedagogic community dedicated to enhancing teaching, supporting staff development and improving the student experience. Her work has received national recognition, including the British Psychological Society Higher Education Teacher of the Year 2023 award and a place on the shortlist for the Times Higher Education Awards 2024 for innovation in teaching.
Danijela is passionate about supporting higher education educators to develop confidence, purpose and a strong teaching identity. She believes that excellent teaching grows when educators feel valued, supported and able to develop approaches that reflect their own strengths and experiences. Her work focuses particularly on creating opportunities for colleagues at the beginning of their teaching careers and those on the teaching-focused career pathway to develop as educators.
Through THESIS, Danijela has built a collaborative and inclusive community where colleagues can share practice, develop pedagogic initiatives, engage in educational scholarship and strengthen their leadership skills. She provides mentorship and guidance to colleagues as they explore new approaches to teaching and contribute to wider conversations about higher education.
Alongside her work in staff development, Danijela has enhanced the student experience through curriculum innovation, most notably through redesigning the final-year Research Project module and embedding employability throughout the student learning journey. She continues to contribute to educational leadership at institutional, national and international levels through mentoring, scholarship and her work supporting psychology education across the UK.
Advance HE recognises there are different views and approaches to teaching and learning; as such, we encourage sharing of practice, without advocating or prescribing specific approaches. NTF and CATE awards recognise teaching excellence in a particular context. The profiles featured are self-submitted by award winners.
