Dr. Pascal Zhelev received his PhD in International Economic Relations from the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he is currently an Associate Professor of the Department of International Economic Relations and Business. He also received a Master's degree in International Finance from the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, China. His research interests cover a wide range of topics in the field of international political economy, including regional economic integration, international trade, foreign direct investment, international competitiveness, industrial policy and emerging economies.

Throughout his career, Dr. Zhelev has accumulated valuable international academic experience through research trips to various countries, including Poland (University of Warsaw), Austria (Vienna University of Economics and Business), Russia (Novosibirsk State University), USA (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the Fulbright Visiting Fellows Program), China (scholarship of visiting scientists of Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Slovakia (University of Economics in Bratislava) and others.

In the period from 2016 to 2019, he served as Secretary General for International Cooperation at UNWE-Sofia. In 2019, Dr. Zhelev participated in the higher Management program of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan and held the position of Vice-Rector for International Relations and Internationalization at the Korkyt Ata Kyzylorda University.

Currently, Dr. Zhelev holds the position of Deputy Dean for Quality Assurance and International Cooperation at the Faculty of International Economics and Politics of UNWE in Sofia. He is also the coordinator of the Double Degree Master's Program in International Business and Management between UNWE and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

He actively cooperates with academic organizations, being a member of the Governing Committee of the Association of Economic Universities of Southern and Eastern Europe (ASECU) and the Coordinating Committee of the Academic Network of the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean (BSEMAN). It is noteworthy that Dr. Zhelev is the Deputy editor-in-Chief of the Bulgarian Journal of International Economics and Politics and a member of the editorial boards of the UNWE Yearbook (Bulgaria), UNWE scientific articles (Bulgaria), the Journal of Development Studies (Georgia) and the Journal Foreign Affairs (Ukraine).