Profiles

Name: Peter Francis
Type: PhD Student
Department/School: Information Systems

Peter enjoys working with both people and technology, and completing a PhD presented him with an opportunity to do both. “My research aims to describe current practice in the support of people with autism, both what is done and the people who are involved.” Peter’s research aims to provide a way to describe support that can be utilised by technology designers and to identify opportunities for new digital assistive technologies.

Undertaking a PhD offered Peter a unique opportunity to explore something he is passionate about in depth, “it represented an opportunity to continue researching in an area that I believe has both great need and where there is great potential for appropriately designed technology.”

While embarking on a PhD has produced a number of challenges for Peter, not the least being trying to balance family life with his research work, he says that there are also a number of enjoyable aspects, especially the intellectual challenge. Not only that but also “the opportunity to entertain ideas, make a contribution and build a better world.”

Another enjoyable aspect of his research came as a pleasant surprise to Peter, and that was the chance to communicate with fellow researchers worldwide, “while research can be competitive, it is still very collaborative. There is a sense of fellowship in the research community.”

Peter has found that the offices and facilities available to PhD students in Information Systems at the University of Melbourne are excellent. But more importantly, being at the University has resulted in “clear benefits in being a part of an active research community. The university has a good profile nationally and overseas. I have found this to be an advantage when working with people and organisations in the wider community.”