Associate Professor of International Public Law, International Balkan University, Skopje, North Macedonia. Dr. Shikova teaches courses in International Public Law and EU law contributing both to the Faculty of Law and to broader university programs in the social sciences. Her academic role is complemented by international teaching engagements, including guest lectures at the University American College Skopje (2014–2015), Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín in Slovakia (2017), and Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul (2019).

Dr. Shikova holds a Ph.D. in International Law from the University “St. Cyril and Methodius” in Skopje, North Macedonia. As part of her doctoral research, she was a Fulbright Visiting Research Scholar at the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. (2011–2012). She also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree and a Bar Exam qualification, enabling her to practice law. She is a founder and member of the managerial board of the Centre for Change Management (CCM), a think tank committed to democratic governance and non-violent societal transformation.

She has more than 25 years’ experience working in projects focused on public administration reforms, good governance and EU integration, gained through the support of national and international constituencies in various public sector domains. Her professional experience combines academic expertise with hands-on policy development. Prior to joining academia, she spent more than a decade designing, coordinating, and implementing public policy initiatives. As an international expert, she contributed to the EU-funded project “EU4PAR – Support to Ukraine’s Public Administration Reform Strategy,” advancing Ukraine’s EU accession efforts. She is also active in regional initiatives such as the WEBER platform, which monitors public administration reforms across the Western Balkans.

Dr. Shikova’s academic and professional contributions extend internationally through her involvement in several European COST Actions focused on governance, minority protection, and autonomy models. She has served as the national representative in the COST Action RECAST, as a substitute member in the COST Action ETHMIGSURVEYDATA, and as national representative and Vice Leader of Working Group 1 on Legal Arrangements for Non-Territorial Autonomy within COST Action CA18114 – the European Non-Territorial Autonomy Network (ENTAN).

Her scholarly interests lie in human rights, minority protection, democratization, EU law, and public administration reform. She has authored and co – authored books, academic articles, book chapters, and policy papers on these topics, with a strong focus on EU conditionality, integration processes, public administration reforms, democracy and human rights.