Dr. Andrew Francis

Biography

Professor Andrew Francis is the Head of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). He obtained his PhD from UNSW in 1999 and previously earned a BSc (Hons) from the University of Sydney in 1994. He began his academic career studying Pure Mathematics at the University of Sydney and UNSW, subsequently completing a postdoctoral position at the University of Virginia. He has held various positions, including a lecturer at Western Sydney University from 2000 until early 2024, and has been involved in interesting opportunities throughout his career including being an ARC Future Fellow. His research focuses on algebraic models in bacterial genome evolution and he has led a research centre in mathematics data science. From 2020 to 2023, he served as Deputy Dean of the School and has significant involvement with the Australian Research Council, including serving on ERA panels and the College of Experts. His work intersects with evolutionary biology, utilizing discrete mathematics, group theory, graph theory, and combinatorics to address problems in phylogenetics and epidemiology.

Research Interests