Tasos studied Economics at the University of Macedonia (Greece) in 2002. During this time, he became interested in the subnational heterogeneity of economic development including the function of local labour markets. His undergraduate dissertation examined the role of Greek Foreign Direct Investments in the Balkan countries and the role of the City of Thessaloniki as a cross-country metropolitan centre. He was awarded two performance scholarships for his second and third year of studies.
Further pursuing his research interests he joined the MSc in Regional and Urban Planning Studies at London School of Economics partly funded by a Greek Scholarship Foundation studentship. This has expanded his understanding of spatial planning and growth-affecting policy formulation. His masters dissertation examined the different approaches of public participation in two significant projects in London and Thessaloniki.
After completing his MSc, he joined the Highland Council’s development plans team to get a first-hand perspective of the application of planning principles in practice. This experience was followed by working in the private sector in Greece before joining Plymouth University as a research assistant in 2012 and doctoral student in 2013.
His doctoral thesis, funded by Plymouth University, investigated the 2008 crisis and the differential responses of local authority districts in the UK. In particular, he examined the determining factors behind the varying resilience performance of localities and their policy implications.
In 2016, Tasos joined City-REDI, as a policy and data analyst. In this position he worked on a range of consultancy and research projects from the West Midlands Databook to the Birmingham Economic Review 2017; 2018.
Following his PhD completion in 2018 he became a research fellow, pursuing research on a spectrum of topics. Primarily, work on economic resilience continues as part of his ESRC postdoctoral fellowship. Furthermore, Tasos is currently involved in a range of collaborative projects relevant to regional development and growth. These, span from the spillover effects of the creative industries to the impact of the engagement with the digital economy on regional productivity, the motivations to entrepreneurship, social capital and the effect of electoral politics on the distribution of public goods.
Complementing his research, Tasos writes regularly for the City-REDI blog with research updates, policy briefings and summaries of events attended.