He earned a Ph.D. from the Department of Music, Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London with a dissertation titled, "Inheriting Innovation: a study of Taksim within a 20th century lineage of Turkish tanbur players,' after completing a bachelors degree from SOAS. Dr. Poulos is currently a lecturer in the Department of Turkish and Modern Asian Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and has also taught at the School of Music Technology, Educational Institute of Epirus. Dr. Poulos contributed to two edited volumes, Ottoman Intimacies, Balkan Musical Realities (2013), and Learning Culture through City Soundscapes- An educational tool (2013), and is the author of Music in the Islamic World: sources, perspectives, practices (2015).