Assist. Prof. Dr. Christos Kakarougkas | Motivation and Employee Engagement | Strategic Business Management Award

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Assist. Prof. Dr. Christos Kakarougkas | Motivation and Employee Engagement | Strategic Business Management Award

University of the Aegean | Greece

Christos S. Kakarougkas is an Assistant Professor specializing in Human Resource Management of Tourism Enterprises and Organizations. He holds a Doctoral Diploma from the University of the Aegean, where his research focused on the impact of reward systems on organizational culture change in Greek five-star hotels. He also earned a Master’s Degree in Hospitality Management from Thames Valley University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Tourism Business Management from ATEI Larisa. With extensive academic and professional experience, he has taught in undergraduate and postgraduate programs across Greek universities, including the University of the Aegean, University of West Attica, and Hellenic Open University, as well as international programs in collaboration with Metropolitan College and Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. His teaching covers Human Resource Management, Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship, Global Booking Systems, and Hospitality Administration. Beyond teaching, he has supervised numerous graduate and postgraduate theses, developed vocational training curricula, and contributed to adult education programs in leadership, tourism management, and entrepreneurship. His research interests include organizational culture, human resource practices in tourism, and strategic management of hospitality enterprises. He has been recognized for his scholarly contributions and active engagement in educational innovation. Christos continues to advance knowledge in tourism management while fostering excellence in academic and professional development.

Profiles:  Google Scholar 

Featured Publications

Katsoni, V., Upadhya, A., & Stratigea, A. (2017). Tourism, culture and heritage in a smart economy. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, 38.

Stavrinoudis, T., & Kakarougkas, C. (2017). A theoretical model of weighting and evaluating the elements defining the change of organizational culture. In Tourism, culture and heritage in a smart economy: Third International Conference (pp. xx–xx).

Stavrinoudis, T., & Kakarougkas, C. (2017). Factors of human motivation in organizations: A first scientific modeling for a more effective application in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Cultural and Digital Tourism, 4(2), 20–30. https://doi.org/xxxx

Stavrinoudis, T., Kakarougkas, C., & Vitzilaiou, C. (2022). Hotel front line employees’ perceptions on leadership and workplace motivation in times of crisis. Tourism and Hospitality Management, 28(2), 257–276. https://doi.org/xxxx

Kakarougkas, C., & Stavrinoudis, T. (2021). COVID-19 impact on the human aspect of organizational culture and learning: The case of the Greek hospitality industry. In Organizational learning in tourism and hospitality crisis management (Vol. 8, pp. 49–xx).

Kakarougkas, C., & Stavrinoudis, T., & Psimoulis, M. (2023). Evaluating the COVID-19 pandemic changes on hotel organizational culture. Journal of Global Business Insights, 8(1), 80–94. https://doi.org/xxxx

Kakarougkas, C., & Papageorgakis, E. (2023). Evaluating the effectiveness of training methods on the performance of human resources in Greek hotel businesses. Journal of Advances in Humanities Research, 4863, 11–xx. https://doi.org/xxxx

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Surbhi Agrawal | Innovative Leadership | Research Excellence Award

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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Surbhi Agrawal | Innovative Leadership | Research Excellence Award

RV Institute of Technology and Management, India

Profiles:  Google Scholar 

Featured Publications

Bora, K., Saha, S., Agrawal, S., Safonova, M., Routh, S., & Narasimhamurthy, A. (2016). Cd-hpf: New habitability score via data analytic modeling. Astronomy and Computing, 17, 129–143.

Saha, S., Basak, S., Safonova, M., Bora, K., Agrawal, S., Sarkar, P., & Murthy, J. (2018). Theoretical validation of potential habitability via analytical and boosted tree methods: An optimistic study on recently discovered exoplanets. Astronomy and Computing, 23, 141–150.

Agrawal, S., Basak, S., Mathur, A., Theophilus, A. J., Deshpande, G., & Murthy, J. (2021). Habitability classification of exoplanets: A machine learning insight. The European Physical Journal Special Topics, 230, 2221–2251.

Viquar, M., Basak, S., Dasgupta, A., Agrawal, S., & Saha, S. (2018). Machine learning in astronomy: A case study in quasar-star classification. In Emerging Technologies in Data Mining and Information Security (pp. xxx–xxx). (Publisher details not provided).

Basak, S., Saha, S., Mathur, A., Bora, K., Makhija, S., Safonova, M., & Agrawal, S. (2020). Ceesa meets machine learning: A constant elasticity earth similarity approach to habitability and classification of exoplanets. Astronomy and Computing, 30, 100335.

Naik, P., Agrawal, S., & Murthy, S. (2015). A survey on various task scheduling algorithms toward load balancing in public cloud. American Journal of Applied Mathematics, 3(1-2), 14–17.

Sarkar, J., Saha, S., & Agrawal, S. (2014). An efficient use of principal component analysis in workload characterization—a study. AASRI Procedia, 8, 68–74.

Saha, S., Agrawal, S., Bora, K., Routh, S., & Narasimhamurthy, A. (2015). ASTROMLSKIT: A new statistical machine learning toolkit: A platform for data analytics in astronomy. arXiv preprint arXiv:1504.07865.

Safonova, M., Mathur, A., Basak, S., Bora, K., & Agrawal, S. (2021). Quantifying the classification of exoplanets: In search for the right habitability metric. The European Physical Journal Special Topics, 230(10), 2207–2220.

Mr. Idrissa Zida | Inequality | Young Scientist Award

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Mr. Idrissa Zida | inequality | Young Scientist Award

Cedres/University Thomas Sankara | Burkina Faso

Idrissa Zida is a dedicated Ph.D. student in Economics at Thomas Sankara University, Burkina Faso, specializing in macroeconomics and development management. He holds both a master’s and a bachelor’s degree in the same field from Thomas Sankara University, where he built a strong foundation in research and economic analysis. His academic journey is complemented by active engagement in various professional and civic organizations, including serving as Deputy Secretary General at the Center for Studies and Research on Human Development in Africa (CERDHA) and President of the Youth Association for the Emergence of Zondoma (AJEZ). Idrissa has also gained hands-on experience through internships at institutions such as the General Directorate of Economy and Planning, Journal L’Economiste du Faso, and the Diocesan Communication Center. His research focuses on public debt, income inequality, and development policy in sub-Saharan Africa, as evidenced by his 2025 publication in Economic Change and Restructuring. Idrissa is passionate about promoting inclusive economic growth, policy innovation, and community development. With a growing academic and professional portfolio, he continues to contribute to sustainable development discourse and the advancement of socioeconomic research in Africa.

Profile:  ORCID 

Featured Publications

Zida, I., Ouedraogo, I., & Sawadogo, R. (2025). Effects of public debt on income inequality in sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the direct and indirect transmission channels. Economic Change and Restructuring. Advance online publication.

Aizan Zafar-AI in HealthCare-Best Scholar Award

Published on by Leadership and Management

Professional Profile 

Early Academic Pursuits:

Aizan Zafar embarked on his academic journey with a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology from Guru Ghasidas Central University, Chhattisgarh, graduating with distinction and a commendable CGPA of 8.71 in 2016. This early academic success laid the foundation for his subsequent pursuits in the field of computer science.

He continued his educational journey by pursuing a Master's degree in Information Technology at the University of Hyderabad, Telangana. During this period (2017-2019), Aizan engaged in research on machine learning, focusing on an efficient approach for effective clustering using validity index. His dedication and scholarly pursuits earned him a CGPA of 8.1 in the first division with distinction.

Professional Endeavors:

Following his Master's degree, Aizan Zafar transitioned into a Ph.D. program at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology Patna, commencing in July 2019. As a Ph.D. scholar, he delved into the realm of Natural Language Processing, particularly concentrating on Medical Question Answering and Dialogue Systems.

In the course of his doctoral journey, Aizan showcased exceptional research prowess by contributing to various projects and initiatives. His experience as a Teaching Assistant for courses such as Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, and Computer Network reflects his commitment to academic responsibilities.

Contributions and Research Focus:

Aizan's research endeavors have been prolific, spanning diverse areas within Natural Language Processing and Conversational AI. His notable contributions include the development of "Sevak," an intelligent Indian language chatbot, and "PERCURO," a holistic solution for clinical text employing conversational data for Question Answering systems.

Aizan's research has culminated in several published and accepted papers, demonstrating his expertise in knowledge-infused abstractive question answering systems, medical dialogue generation, and knowledge graph-assisted medical dialog generation. He has also showcased his commitment to advancing the field through organizing workshops and courses on Deep Learning for NLP.

Accolades and Recognition:

Aizan Zafar's academic prowess is underscored by his qualification in AIEEE (2012), GATE in 2017 (for M.Tech.), and GATE in 2019 (for Ph.D.). These achievements underscore his consistent dedication to academic excellence.

Impact and Influence:

Aizan's influence extends beyond his individual achievements. His organizational roles in workshops and courses, such as the GIAN Workshop on Deep Learning Techniques for Conversational AI and the CEP course on Deep Learning for NLP, highlight his commitment to knowledge dissemination and community building.

Legacy and Future Contributions:

As an emerging scholar in the field of Natural Language Processing and Conversational AI, Aizan Zafar's legacy is shaped by his significant contributions to medical question answering systems. With ongoing works focusing on enhancing abstractive question answering through first-order logic, Aizan is poised to leave a lasting impact on the intersection of AI and healthcare.

Looking forward, Aizan's dedication to learning, collaborative spirit, and leadership qualities position him as a future leader in the field, with the potential to shape the trajectory of Conversational AI and Natural Language Processing. His multifaceted approach, from research to teaching and organizational roles, signifies a holistic commitment to the advancement of knowledge in the realm of computer science and AI.

Notable Publications

 

Citation

A total of 14 citations for his publications, demonstrating the impact and recognition of his research within the academic community.

  • Citations     14           14
  • h-index       3              3
  • i10-index    0             0