Dr Antonis Theocharous is an Associate Professor and Director of the Heraclitus Research Centre for Social Research and Regional Development. He has served as national representative for Cyprus for the Programme Committee for Social Sciences and Humanities of the EU's Horizon and 7th Framework Programme. Dr. Theocharous has also served as National Coordinator for two ESFRI projects: the European Social Survey (ESS) and the Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities (DARIAH). He also acted as a scientific coordinator for more than 30 EU or nationally funded research projects including the development of the Smart Specialisation strategy for the Republic of Cyprus. His research is interdisciplinary and focuses on deviant behaviours, crime and substance use, the links between political instability and tourism development and innovation policies as tools for regional regeneration. He has published in leading academic journals on topics such as political instability and tourism development, cross cultural examination of the impact of political instability on tourism development at the regional level, various models of tourism destination choice, and mass media depictions of various facets of political instability.