Public Defence of Doctoral Thesis by Doctoral Researcher Hedayat Selim

Doctoral Researcher Hedayat Selim successfully defended her doctoral thesis entitled “Psychological aspects in the evaluation of asylum claims based on sexual orientation” on Friday, 22 August 2025. Professor Jan Antfolk, Åbo Akademi University, and the Principal Investigator of Psych-AID, served as the custos, while Associate Professor Hilary Evans Cameron, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada, served as the opponent. The thesis was supervised by Professors Jan Antfolk, Julia Korkman, and Elina Pirjatanniemi, and reviewed by Professors Evans Cameron and Professor Annelies Vredeveldt (VU University Amsterdam).

Opening of defence by Professor Antfolk

The Defence

The event started with Prof. Antfolk welcoming and introducing the audience. After that, Hedayat delivered her lectio praecursoria, in which she laid out the motivations behind her research project, the materials and methods used within the thesis, and provided a summary of the main results. This was followed by the formal examination by Prof. Evans Cameron, who focused her questions on the scope of the work, the limitations of the methods, and the impact of the work. Finally, after two hours of questions, Professor Evans Cameron declared that the doctoral thesis should be accepted and that Hedayat should be conferred with the Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology title.

Hedayat presenting
Hedayat presenting
Hedayat presenting
End of presentation
Prof. Cameron and Hedayat getting ready for rounds of questions and answers
Rounds of questions and answers

In attendance at the occasion were members of the Psych-AID networks, faculty members of the psychology department, members of the university community, as well as Hedayat’s family and friends. Collaborators of the Psych-AID network also joined online.

  • Hedayat Selim
  • Hedayat after defence
  • Hedayat’s thesis
  • Hedayat with her supervisors and the opponent after the defence
  • Hedayat with her supervisors and the opponent after at dinner
  • The audience seated before the defence
  • The audience seated before the defence
  • after defence
  • Hedayat with her father
  • At the dinner after the defence
  • Hedayat and Jenny
  • Hedayat with her supervisors and the opponent after the defence
  • Hedayat at dinner
  • Prof. Cameron at the dinner

Hedayat will continue to work on the Psych-AID project as a postdoctoral researcher. From all of us at Psych-AID, we are so happy and proud of you, Hedayat. Congratulations and success in your research career. The doctoral thesis can be read at Doria and is based on the following original peer-reviewed publications.

  1. Selim, H., Korkman, J., Pirjatanniemi, E., & Antfolk, J. (2022). Asylum claims based on sexual orientation: A review of psycho-legal issues in credibility assessments. Psychology, Crime & Law. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2022.2044038
  2. Selim, H., Lindblad, P., Vanto, J., Skrifvars, J., Alvesalo‐Kuusi, A., Korkman, J., Alvesalo-Kuusi, A., Pirjatanniemi, E., & Antfolk, J. (2024). (In)credibly queer? Assessments of asylum claims based on sexual orientation. Legal and Criminological Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/lcrp.12278
  3. Selim, H., Helenelund, M., Vanto, H., Skrifvars, J., Alvesalo-Kuusi, A., Pirjatanniemi, E., Korkman, J., & Antfolk, J. (2024). “How would you define your sexuality?” Analyzing the questions asked in official asylum interviews with sexual minorities. Manuscript submitted for publication. http://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.12238.98887
  4. Selim, H., Eilittä, E., Paimala, E., Vanto, H., Alvesalo-Kuusi, A., Pirjatanniemi, E., Korkman, J., & Antfolk, J. (2025) Delayed disclosure of sexual orientation in the asylum procedure: Reasons reported by the applicants and consequences on the asylum decision. Manuscript submitted for publication. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/zqkmy_v1