My work over the past decade has looked at how universities can help solve challenges facing society. I have started to focus specifically on upskilling and retraining workers and the impact of AI on society, and this is my research priority in 2025.
I am an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at UCL Institute of Education, and I am a Specialist Advisor to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. I am based in the UK, but have extensive international experience, including recent research in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.
I am available for research work and other opportunities. You can contact me on LinkedIn. See ORCID for some of my publications.
Academic work
My open-access book on the role of universities in African development and society was published in September 2024. Full information and reviews are available on this page.
I also have a recent working paper on engagement activity at the University of Rwanda published by the Centre for Global Higher Education at the University of Oxford, a book chapter on open data and university-business engagement, and slightly older academic articles on universities and cities and the Marshall Plan.
Other work
Over the past few years I have completed work for the British Council, the Royal Society, the British Academy, Imperial College London, Greater Manchester Universities, KPMG, GuildHE, Rwanda Action, the University of Hamburg, Universities UK, the Government Office for Science, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (now Research England) and British Council International Education Services.
In 2018-19 I led an eight country research project for the British Council on ‘smart cities’ which attracted national and international press coverage.
Publications for some of these projects can be found on my ORCID profile.
In the past I’ve worked for Open Impact Analytical Services, the National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education (NCEE), Universities UK, UNESCO Vietnam, and the Association of Commonwealth Universities. I have been a Research Affiliate at the University of Rwanda, an Associate at Yorkshire Universities, an Associate at Work and Learning Opportunities (a Sussex-based social enterprise), and an Advisory Associate at the Class of 2020, a Dutch NGO focused on urban campuses. I have also been a reading committee member for the UK Government’s Chevening scholarship programme.
