About Us

You are here

SIDRA | Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy » About Us

About Us

On thought leadership, the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy or SIDRA was established as a platform for thought leadership in dispute resolution theory, practice and policy, and this includes of course the area of mediation as well. SIDRA strengthens Singapore’s thought leadership in this area through its research projects, such as its Singapore Convention on Mediation research project, which produced the first commentary on the Convention, and the International Dispute Resolution Survey research project, which captured respondents’ considerations in the use of international commercial dispute resolution, including arbitration, mediation and litigation.

 

Senior Minister of State Edwin Tong
Singapore Parl Debates; Vol 94, Sitting No 117; 4 February 2020

The Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy (SIDRA) is a platform for thought leadership in international dispute resolution theory, practice and policy. A research centre at the Singapore Management University School of Law, SIDRA leads the way through projects, publications and events that promote dynamic and inclusive conversations on how to constructively engage with and resolve differences and disputes at global, regional and national levels. In particular, SIDRA differentiates itself through its focus on applied research that has practical impact on industry. Specifically, SIDRA is mandated with three research programs:

A fuller description of each research program, including its research overview, research team, events and publications can be found in the sub-page for each program. Ably supported by, amongst others:

  • SIDRA’s research teams
  • Ms Yap Wai Lian (SIDRA’s Centre Manager); and
  • Mr Alvin Goh (Senior Associate Director, SMU Provost Office)

SIDRA is helmed by a Steering Committee overseeing a Leadership Team.

 

STEERING COMMITTEE

Jessie Tan

Jessie Tan

Director, Legal Industry Division, Singapore Ministry of Law

YIP Man

YIP Man

Professor of Law; V3 Group Professor in Family Entrepreneurship; Associate Dean (Faculty Matters & Research), SMU Yong Pung How School of Law

Lee Pey Woan

LEE Pey Woan

Dean, SMU Yong Pung How School of Law

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Nadja Alexander

Nadja Alexander

Director

Dr Nadja Alexander is Professor of Law and Director of the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy at Singapore Management University. She holds honorary appointments in Australia and the United States. 
Nadja has been engaged in diverse dispute resolution settings in more than 40 countries as trainer, policy-adviser, scholar and practitioner. A multi-award winning author and educator, she is consistently recognized as a global thought leader in the field of mediation (Who’s Who Legal).  

Most recently, in 2023 she was conferred the inaugural award for Outstanding International ADR Educator by the Asia Pacific Centre for Arbitration and Mediation. Over the years, Nadja has trained  thousands of mediators throughout Asia, the Pacific, Australia, North America, the Middle East and Europe. 

She holds positions on the International Advisory Board of the UN Office of the Ombudsman and the APEC lead academic working group for Online Dispute Resolution.  Her expertise has directly contributed to the design and drafting of dispute resolution legislation across civil and common law jurisdictions. 

In terms of research, Nadja is the primary investigator of SIDRA’s International Dispute Resolution Empirical Research Programme and the Singapore Convention on Mediation Programme. In 2020 her peer reviewed article, ’10 Trends in International Mediation’ won an international award (Institution for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, New York).  Her books include International and Comparative Mediation, The Singapore Convention on Mediation: A Commentary, and The EU Mediation Law Handbook.

Nadja Alexander

Darius Chan

Deputy Director

Associate Professor of Law (Practice) Darius Chan is an international arbitrator, advocate and academic. He serves concurrently as the Deputy Director of the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy, as well as the Director of the Singapore Management University Law Academy. His practice and teaching interests focus on international investment and commercial arbitration, private and public international law.

Darius is consistently recommended by legal directories, which includes being ranked by Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration Future Leaders as a “Most Highly Regarded Individual” in Asia-Pacific. Darius speaks and publishes widely, and his writings have been cited by the Singapore High Court and Court of Appeal. Darius is qualified in Singapore, New York and England & Wales (Inner Temple).

Rachel Tan

Rachel Tan

Research & Development Lead

Rachel is an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore. Prior to joining SIDRA, Rachel clerked for a world-renowned arbitrator and was an associate focusing on disputes at a large law firm. Rachel also spent three years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Foreign Service Officer from 2011 to 2014.

Rachel’s interests focus on public international law, mediation and conciliation, and arbitration. She holds a BA (Honours) and an LL.B (Honours) from the National University of Singapore, and is an accredited Tribunal Secretary at the HKIAC. Rachel has won several prizes, including winning the Best Memorial Prize in the B.A Mallal Moot Competition in 2015, placing 3rd in the Fountain Court Chambers Christopher Bathurst Prize Competition 2017, placing 1st in the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Singapore) Procedural Order Competition 2018, and winning the Championship of the Essex Court Chambers – Singapore Academy of Law International Mooting Competition 2019.

Research Team

Mark McLaughlin

Mark McLaughlin

Global Visiting Assistant Professor

Mark McLaughlin is the Global Visiting Assistant Professor at Singapore Management University and SIDRA. His research focuses on dispute resolution, the Belt and Road Initiative, and international economic law.

Mark has published articles and book chapters on the Chinese approach to investor-state arbitration, the interaction between state-owned enterprises and international investment law, and the legal infrastructure of investor-state mediation. He holds an LL.B. from the University of Glasgow and a Ph.D. from the China University of Political Science and Law, where he was a lecturer in international investment law. Mark was awarded a Chinese Government Scholarship from 2016-2019.

Mark’s main focus of research is on the Belt & Road Initiative. 

Mariam Gotsiridze

Mariam Gotsiridze

Principal Research Fellow

Mariam Gotsiridze is a lawyer specializing in international dispute settlement. Prior to joining SIDRA, Mariam worked for the government of Georgia. For 10 years (2012-2022) she was a Head of Department in the Ministry of Justice in charge of state representation in international arbitration. Mariam has been involved in major investment and commercial arbitration matters before ICSID, ICC, SCC arbitrations, as well as before ad hoc arbitration under UNCITRAL rules. She has negotiated number of Bilateral Investment Treaties and Free Trade Agreements on behalf of Georgia. Mariam was the Head of Delegation for Georgia in UNCITRAL Working Group III, in ICSID Rule amendment process and in Modernization of the Energy Charter Treaty. Mariam has contributed to legislative reforms and other developments in arbitration and mediation in Georgia.

Mariam’s main focus of research is on the Belt & Road Initiative. 

Eunice Chua

Eunice Chua

Research Fellow

Eunice is the CEO of the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (FIDReC). Prior to her appointment at FIDReC, Eunice was an Assistant Professor of Law at the Singapore Management University School of Law where she specialised in alternative dispute resolution, evidence and procedure. Eunice has previously served as a Justices' Law Clerk and an Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court of Singapore. While at the Supreme Court, she concurrently held appointments as a Magistrate of the State Courts and Assistant Director of the Singapore Mediation Centre. She was also the Deputy CEO of the Singapore International Mediation Centre and played a key role in its establishment.

Eunice’s main focus of research is on the Singapore Mediation Convention. 

Shouyu Chong

Shouyu Chong

Research Fellow

Shouyu has been a Research Fellow at SIDRA since March 2020. He was formerly a Research Associate of SIDRA in 2019. After being shortlisted for SSRC research funding, he has been awarded SMU’s Fellowship for Social Science (Graduate) Research in May 2022, and will concurrently be a Research Fellow with SMU until May 2024. 
 
Shouyu is also a PhD Research Student at the Centre of Construction Law & Dispute Resolution, King’s College London (KCL), and a Visiting Lecturer at the Dickson Poon School of Law, KCL. His PhD research is funded by the Centre of Construction Law & Dispute Resolution (Nash Research Scholarship), and the Society of Construction Law (UK) (Frances Paterson Scholarship). He is writing up his  doctoral thesis on party autonomy underlying the enforcement of commercial choice of court and arbitration clauses. Furthermore, he researches and publishes his papers on private international law and cross-border ADR mechanisms. One of his papers, was awarded a ‘Commendation’ in by the 2020 Society of Construction Law (UK) Hudson Prize.
 
At SIDRA, Shouyu continues to research and write extensively on the Singapore Convention on Mediation and ADR in Singapore. His research output with the SIDRA Research Team contributes significantly to the development of Singapore and international ADR law and policy. 

Shouyu’s main focus of research is on the Singapore Mediation Convention. 
 

Angela Abala

Angela Abala

Research Associate

Angela Abala is an incoming Research Associate at SIDRA. She is qualified to practice law in the Philippines and the State of New York.

Before joining SIDRA, Angela worked as a Judicial Fellow for the Hon. Charles N. Brower, assisting him on investment arbitration cases, and interned for the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. Angela previously spent time working for the Philippine Office of the Solicitor General on domestic civil and criminal cases, as well as international arbitration cases. Angela also has extensive teaching experience, having taught courses on public international law and Philippine law.

She has a Master of Laws in International Legal Studies (with Distinction) and a Certificate in International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution from Georgetown University Law Center and a Juris Doctor degree from Ateneo de Manila University School of Law.

Angela’s main focus of research is on International Dispute Resolution. 

Zhang Yuying

Zhang Yuying

Research Associate

Yuying is a Research Associate at SIDRA and recently called to the bar in Singapore. She has always had an interest in amicable dispute resolution (ADR), which led to her taking courses on International Commercial Arbitration and Professional Mediation Skills during her studies at the Yong Pung How School of Law at Singapore Management University. She then went on to join IMSG in 2019 and 2020, which is the first ever international moot competition organised in Singapore that focusses on mediation advocacy and mediation. She competed in the teams that won gold for Mediation and silver for Mediation Advocacy in 2019, and gold for Mediation Advocacy and bronze for Mediation in 2020.

Yuying’s main focus of research is on the Belt & Road Initiative. 

Wooseok Shin

Wooseok Shin

Research Associate

Wooseok is a South Korean Research Associate at SIDRA. Prior to joining SIDRA, he served as a trainee/intern at renowned institutions, including the UNCITRAL and HKIAC, as well as prominent global law firms such as Herbert Smith Freehills in Singapore, King & Wood Mallesons in China, and Lewis Brisbois in the U.S. Wooseok obtained an LL.M. in International Arbitration and Commercial Law from Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution in the United States, with recognition as the first Korean recipient for full tuition scholarship awarded by Weinstein Foundation as a JAMS Scholar. Wooseok holds an LL.B. degree and a B.A. in Business Management from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. During his tenure at law schools in China and United States, Wooseok has spearheaded teams for prestigious international moot courts, including Willems C. Vis-moot, Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot, and FDI Investment Arbitration Moot. He speaks English, Korean and Chinese (Mandarin) fluently and has basic knowledge of Japanese.

Wooseok’s main focus of research is on the Singapore Mediation Convention.