PhD. Lia Pop has been working as a Lecturer at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca since 2019. Prior to her academic career, she worked for more than 13 years as a psycho-pedagogue in Romania’s public special education system, particularly supporting students with autism spectrum disorders and associated disabilities. With a strong commitment to providing high-quality education for all, she completed her PhD in Educational Sciences and specialised in several interdisciplinary fields including Management, Psychology, Pedagogy, and Special Education. Her expertise covers areas such as management styles, clinical and educational psychology, developmental psychology, and personal and professional coaching. In addition, she has contributed more than 32 academic publications to the field of Educational Sciences.

Her academic and research interests focus on Full Inclusive Education and Equity as Pedagogy, Alternative and Augmentative Communication, Assistive Technology and Universal Design for Learning, Creativity and Innovative Pedagogy, Moral Inclusion and Transdisciplinarity, Proactive Learning Environments and Challenge Based Learning, GRIT and Lifelong Learning, as well as Educational Policies and the parity of esteem between teaching and research. Throughout her academic career, she has also played a leading role in establishing the European Laboratory for Pedagogical Research and Student Centred Learning, currently known as ELaRA, European Research Group, EUt+. Within this pedagogical laboratory, she has coordinated a wide range of academic and research activities since 2021, including workshops, teacher and student training sessions, conferences, roundtables, and Summer Schools.