Iron Silk Road
Dr. Irene Anastasiadou
Historian
Transnational and Global History of Railways
Assistant Professor, BITS Pilani, Dubai
Email:
Address:
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
About the Project
Iron Silk Roads is a long-running research project on railways and Europe–Asia relations from the Second World War to the present. It examines how railway infrastructure has shaped — and been shaped by — globalization, transnational governance, and shifting geopolitical ties between the two continents.
The project developed during an IPODI Marie Curie Fellowship at Technische Universität Berlin (2014–2016) and continued through teaching and research positions at TU Berlin's China Centre, Shanghai University, the University of Amsterdam, and currently BITS Pilani — Dubai. It builds on earlier doctoral work at Eindhoven University of Technology on the history of interwar European railways (Building Europe on Rails, 2008).
Research themes: Europe–Asia relations · transnationalism · global history · history and theory of infrastructure · global governance · sustainability · the role of international organizations (UN, NGOs) in modern railway networks.
ACADEMIC TIMELINE
2025 - present
2024 – 2025
2021 – 2023
2017 – 2019
2015 – 2017
2014 – 2016
2012 – 2014
2008 – 2010
2003 – 2008
2000 – 2003
Assistant Professor, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Dubai campus
Visiting Assistant Professor, BITS Pilani, Pilani, India
Lecturer, University of Amsterdam (UvA)
Fellow, Shanghai University
Lecturer, China Centre, Technische Universität Berlin
Course: Iron Silk Roads, Transport and Mobility in Modern Asia
IPODI Marie Curie Fellow, Technische Universität Berlin
Iron Silk Roads project
Postdoctoral Researcher, Delft University of Technology
Postdoctoral Researcher, Eindhoven University of Technology
PhD Candidate, Eindhoven University of Technology
Thesis: Building Europe on Rails, Transnational Railway Developments in Interwar Europe
Postgraduate Researcher, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Master's thesis on railways and the configuration of modern Greece (IKY Greek state fellowship; Erasmus visiting researcher at TU Eindhoven 2002–2003)
1995 – 1999
BA, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
RECOGNITION
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Fritz Thyssen Foundation Travel Grant (2015) - research travel under IPODI Marie Curie / TU Berlin
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IPODI Marie Curie Fellowship (2014 - 2016) - TU Berlin
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IKY Greek State Fellowship (2000 - 2003) - University of Athens
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Erasmus Fellowship (2002 - 2003) - visiting researcher, TU Eindhoven