Ilona Biernacka Ligięza 

Proffesor Ilona Biernacka_ligięza gained a master’s degree in Linguistics in 1997 at the Univeristy of Wrocław, Poland. She completed her doctoral studies at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Wrocław, which she defended in 2001. Her habilitation was successfully completed on the 8th of February 2013 by the Faculty Council of Political Science at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, and Ilona Biernacka-Ligięza acquired the academic degree of a habilitated doctor and got Professorship there. She is a certified English philologist (diploma 2005) and competent in German and Russian. Professor Biernacka-Ligięza’s research interests are interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary focusing on three academic areas: linguistics, media and social communication and political sciences. Apart from academic achievements she also has relevant professional experience in local government and administration, where she applied theoretical knowledge in practice first hand. She was the spokesperson of a local government in Poland which role helped her to learn about functioning of self-government structures and develop practical skills. She has significant experience in academic teaching and mentoring both in Polish and in English. This included PhD and MA supervision and mentoring early career scholars. She has carried out research projects on her own as well as part of a team, and developed a publication and research record.