Natalie Kowalik is the Programme Manager for the African Doctoral Academy. She holds a PhD in Social Sciences, Communication Studies from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She received an MPhil degree in Intercultural Communication from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She has been involved in postgraduate development and postdoctoral fellowship programmes at various South African universities and has worked with several African partner institutions. She is also a member of the Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi) at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, the Transcultural Production Studies Network, the European Network for Cinema and Media Studies (NECS), the European Communication Research, Education Association (ECREA), the IAMCR Public Service Media Polices Work Group, and the Postgraduate Forum for Southern Africa (PGFSA).