Gaza Education Research Virtual Fellowship (GERVF)
The Gaza Education Research Virtual Fellowship (GERVF) is a solidarity initiative run by the Centre for Comparative and International Research in Education (CIRE) with education scholars and institutions in Gaza, Palestine.
How does GERVF operate?
GERVF was first developed in 2025-2026 in collaboration with the Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza and draws on a model of support outlined in the FOP (Friends of Palestinian Universities) Guide for UK-Palestinian Higher Education Collaboration. The initiative is rooted in principles of equity and academic solidarity. It unpacks the challenges and opportunities involved in sustaining meaningful collaborations across borders in times of crisis.
The theme for this inaugural Fellowship cohort was “Scholasticide in Gaza” - the targeted destruction of educational institutions and the broader impact on education and scholarly life.
The Fellows
Dr Ahmed Kamal Junina
Dr Ahmed Kamal Junina is an Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics and Head of the English Department at Al-Aqsa University, Gaza. His research focuses on language education in conflict zones, critical pedagogy, academic literacies, and translanguaging.
His current project, Knowlash and the Crisis of Learning, explores how students and educators in Gaza sustain virtual higher education amid efforts to suppress liberatory knowledge-building processes, a phenomenon he terms Knowlash, defined as the deliberate obstruction or destruction of liberatory knowledge-building, particularly in contexts of war and systemic violence.
Project Title: Knowlash and the Crisis of Learning: Investigating the Suppression of Liberatory Knowledge and Learning Outcomes in Gaza’s Virtual Higher Education
Prof. Magdy S. Aqel
Prof. Magdy S. Aqel holds a PhD degree in Instructional Technology-eLearning from Ein Shams University, Egypt, which he earned with a scholarship from UNISECO by 2010. He currently works as a full professor at the Faculty of Education at the Islamic University of Gaza. Prof.
Prof. Magdy is interested in AI education, augmented reality in education, virtual learning environments, flipped classrooms. and adaptive learning. He is also interested in STEAM learning, learning math and science using technology, using simulation in math and science.
Project Title: Developing an AI-Based Instructional Model to Enhance Education Students' Capacity for Practicing Sustainable Learning
Dr. Munawwar Najim
Dr. Munawwar Najim is an Associate Professor of Education at the Islamic University of Gaza, specialising in gender studies, crisis education, and the socio-political impacts of conflict on Palestinian women.
During the 2023 Gaza war, she oversaw education for 2,200+ displaced students. She is also a consultant at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Director of IUG Schools. Dr. Najim has co-authored over 40 publications and supervised around 50 MA and PhD theses.
Research Project Title: Challenges and Resilience Strategies: The Experience of Displaced Female Higher Education Students in Gaza During the October 2023 Aggression