Core researchers

Dr Mersha Aftab

MA Design Management Course Director

Dr. Mersha Aftab is a senior lecturer in Design Management and the course director for postgraduate design management courses at Birmingham City University. Before joining the Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Media in September 2019, she was a Senior Lecturer in Innovation at the Faculty of Arts, Design and Social Sciences,...

Dr Jemma Browne

Head of Architecture

Jemma is the Head of Architecture, C ourse Director BA (Hons) Design for Future Living and Associate Professor Teaching and Learning. She teaches history and theory of Architecture and Design and coordinates the overall delivery and development of this strand of all the courses in the School, as well as contributing to the...

Dr Sandra Costa

Academic lead for Landscape Architecture & Course Director MA Landscape Architecture

Sandra is a lecturer and researcher in landscape architecture and design with diversified experience encompassing teaching, research and professional practice. She has lectured in the UK and Portugal   in undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Her teaching explores current issues and challenges faced by landscapes and the...

Dr Colette Jeffrey

Associate Professor of Wayfinding & Inclusive Design

Dr Colette Jeffrey is an Associate Professor of Wayfinding and Inclusive Design at Birmingham City University where she teaches wayfinding and graphic design on the BA(Hons) Graphic Design course, supervises PhDs, and researches real-world wayfinding behaviour. Her PhD investigated why people get lost in buildings and the...

Professor Rachel Sara

Oscar Naddermier Professor of Architecture | National Teaching Fellow

Rachel’s research explores the way in which health and wellbeing can be affected by architecture and design. She also explores ‘other' forms of architecture, specifically examining transdisciplinary architecture practices through collaborations between architecture and dance, co-design and hands-on, community-based...

Dr. Jieling Xiao

Reader in Architecture and Sensory Environments | Research Degree Coordinator

Jieling teaches Environmental Design across different courses at the Birmingham School of Architecture. Trained as an architect and urban designer, Jieling believes that designers need to consider more than just how the hardware of architecture functions for its users. Interested in creative spatial practice related to...