Ludovica Castelli is a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Leicester, working on the Third Nuclear Age project funded by the European Research Council. Her research examines the history of the nuclear domino metaphor, particularly its implications in the Middle East. Her scholarly interests include International Relations Theory, Nuclear Studies, U.S. foreign policy, and Middle Eastern nuclear politics, focusing on discursive practices and nuclear politics.

Ludovica co-authored a peer-reviewed article titled “Justifying Attacks Against Nuclear Facilities” published in the Nonproliferation Review. She is currently working on a second article, “The ‘Villa in the Jungle’ Nuclear Paradigm: Israel’s Nuclear Politics in a Changing Regional Security Complex,” which is under review with Middle Eastern Studies. Additionally, she is a co-author of the book “The Global Third Nuclear Age,” currently under review.

Dr Victor Nian is the Co-Founder & CEO of the Centre for Strategic Energy and Resources (CSER). Dr Victor Nian’s vision for CSER is to foster the development of clean energy ecosystems for empowering and accelerating the global energy transition effort in an equitable manner across countries and regions in the world. Dr Nian brings onboard a suite of expertise in energy transition and sustainable development, especially in energy policy and strategy, modelling analysis and scenario planning, technology assessment and roadmapping, and net-zero emission pathways, along with his consultancy and advisory experiences to public and private organisations. He is recognised as one of the go-to-persons on energy and sustainability related issues in Southeast Asia.

Dr Nian firmly believes in the ecosystem approach in tackling the most difficult challenges in energy transition. In the spirit of “research and innovation without borders”, he established a virtual laboratory, entitled UNiLAB on Integrated Systems Analysis Tools, hosting an international network of experts from more than 15 countries and organisations. He is a Founding Member and elected Council Member of the International Society for Energy Transition Studies, a non-profit organisation with more than 300 members from over 40 countries.

Prior to establishing CSER, Dr Nian, as an aspiring entrepreneurial individual, has served in various capacities including setting up and leading virtual centres of excellence, energy and carbon consulting businesses, and expert networks. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and a BEng (Hons) in Electrical Engineering with a Minor in Management of Technology, all from the National University of Singapore. Dr Nian was the first scholar from the National University of Singapore to publish independent studies in academic journals on nuclear energy related topics.

Dr Aisha Al-Sarihi is a research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute. Dr Al-Sarihi’s areas of research expertise and interest include clean energy policy and climate economics, policies and governance, with a focus on the Arab region. Following her PhD,  she was a research officer at the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Middle East Centre. She was also a former visiting scholar at Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. Before joining MEI, Dr Al-Sarihi was a research associate in the Climate and Environment Program at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC). She holds a PhD from the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and a MSc and a BSc, with distinction, in environmental science from Sultan Qaboos University.