Dr. (Mrs). Nirma Sadamali Jayawardena is an Assistant Professor in Marketing at University of Bradford, United Kingdom. She has work experience as a secondary school teacher, lecturer and as a researcher in Sri Lanka, Australia, and India.

Her research interests are in the areas of virtual reality advertising, 360-degree video advertising, consumer psychology, digital video advertising, experimental research, qualitative research, and consumer behaviour.  Her research work has been published in multiple international peer reviewed journals. She has also presented her research in several international and national level research conferences. Additionally, she has contributed to magazine articles, book chapters, books, and industry reports.

She served as a reviewer to several journals including International Journal of Information Management, Industrial Marketing Management, International Journal of Consumer Studies, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Journal of Business Research, and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. Prior to obtaining the Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing from the Griffith University, Australia, she completed her BSc in Business Management (Hons) degree with a first-class honours specializing in Project Management from NSBM Green University, Sri Lanka. Additionally, she completed her MBA in International Business from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Further, she completed her Graduate Diploma in Research from Griffith University, Australia.   She started her career as a secondary school teacher which is the steppingstone leading to academia. She was able to improve teaching skills after working as a secondary school teacher in Business Studies and Accounting (English medium) in two reputed private secondary schools in Sri Lanka. She prepared students under the subject of Business Studies and Accounting for GCE Ordinary Level Examination in Sri Lanka.

She also served as a full-time lecturer in the Faculty of Business Management at ICBT campus, Sri Lanka. Further she worked as a research assistant in the Department of Marketing and in Accounting, Economics and Finance department of Griffith University, Australia.  She also worked as a Market Research Trainee at AEC Group LTD, Brisbane, Australia.

She has teaching experience for a diversified age groups including secondary schools, undergraduates, and post-graduates. During her PhD, she conducted several research training sessions to the South Pacific Central Banks conducted by Griffith Asia Institute.

She has research skills on various software including NVivo, Leximancer, SPSS, and Vos-Viewer. She has work experience on projects funded through several grants such as Griffith University Internal Grants, Central Bank of Solomon Islands and BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants Scheme by The British Academy. 

She has achieved several scholarships including Australian Government Research Training Program Stipend Scholarship, Griffith University International Postgraduate Research Scholarship and University of Tasmania, Tuition Fee scholarship for PhD in Education. She won several international and national levels awards including ‘Emerald Outstanding reviewer award’ from South Asian Journal of Marketing in year 2023; Emerging Scholar Award in Twenty-First International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations held in University of Auckland, New Zealand; Emerging Scholar Award in Twenty-eighth International Conference on Learning held in Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland; Griffith University Academic Excellence award in year 2018; ‘Women Icon of the Year Award’ from Woman Icon organised by Times Woman with The Women Icon Organization in year 2021 and  lastly ‘Honourable Mention Research Award’ from Relationship Marketing for Impact Research Cluster at Griffith University in year 2021.

She has conducted numerous guest lectures, workshops, keynote speeches, and conference sessions at leading national and international institutions. These include, but are not limited to, Griffith University (Australia), Griffith Asia Institute, the Central Bank of Solomon Islands, O P Jindal Global University (India), University of Bradford (United Kingdom), Uva Wellassa University (Sri Lanka), University of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka), Tribhuvan University (Nepal), NSBM Green University (Sri Lanka), Woxsen University (India), University of Greater Manchester (United Kingdom), FIIB (India), KIU University (Sri Lanka), Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing Research Bureau, Emerald Publishing (India), IFERP Academy, Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University (Turkey), New Delhi Institute of Management (India), and ASM’s IBMR, Pune (India). Her engagements cover research methodology, systematic literature reviews, digital marketing, consumer behaviour, visual memory in advertising, positioning strategy, innovation, and integrated marketing communications, reflecting sustained academic leadership and extensive international collaboration across Asia, Europe, and Australia.