William Ashraf

Bill's current reserach foci are “Studies in Higher Education”:

1. Strategy development, innovation and competitive advantage in the digital transformation of learning and teaching

2. Student Voice: Understanding HDR student’s digital expectations

3. Digital Learning Objects: adoption and best practice to secure student success in higher education (a big data/learning analytics approach)

Bill is a microbiologist by training obtaining his PhD – University of Warwick (UK). He has worked as a Medical Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellow – University of Nottingham (UK) and Senior Lecturer in Microbiology (Biomedical Sciences)– University of Bradford (UK). At Bradford he also successful supervised PhD students (biochemistry/microbiology) and externally funded post-doctoral research fellows (molecular biology/protein chemistry) to completion. In 2002 he was also awarded a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship.

He developed the use of podcasting as a distance-learning/support tool and was a finalist for The Times Higher 2006 Awards for the ‘most imaginative use of technology in distance learning’. In 2006 he also obtained his Executive MBA (University of Bradford).

Currently, he is an Associate Professor at Macquarie University (MQ) and Convenor for HDR Supervision Enhancement Program (Continuing Professional Development) in the Office of the Dean of HDR. I am delivering (workshops, seminars, 1-2-1 ‘clinics’/mentoring, bespoke faculty/school level events to support and enrich our HDR Supervision Enhancement Program) and leading on the partnering with faculties to redesign and implement the HDR Supervision Continuing Professional Development and Fellowship Programme.