Dr. Thuli Mphambukeli is currently a Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Free State (UFS). She obtained the degree of Bachelor of Community and Development Studies, the degree Master of Town and Regional Planning at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the degree of Bachelor in Theology at Faith Bible College, and a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from UFS. She is currently registered for her second PhD in Human Settlements. She was a Fellow The World Academy of Sciences Italy (hosted at University of Konstanz, Germany); an Alumni of the Brown International Advance Research Institute, Brown University, USA; an Alumni of the Public Affairs Research Institute, University of Witwatersrand as well as the University of the Free State Rector’s Prestige Scholar. She is a recipient of many research grants and awards such as the BRICS Think Tank Academic Forum Grant, NRF Knowledge Interchange and Collaboration (KIC) Individual Travel Grant, South Africa, the Herrenhausen Conference Travel Grant by the Volkswagen Foundation, Hanover, Germany, BRICS Think Tank Academic Forum Seed Funding, South Africa, African Peacebuilding Network (APN) Individual Research Grantee, 2018, and African Pathways Programme (APP)/BRICS Teaching and Research Mobility Grantee. She has published extensively in local and international journals.