Prashant Pillai MBE
Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange, Professor of Cyber Security, University of Wolverhampton, UK
BIOGRAPHY
Professor Prashant Pillai MBE is an award-winning academic leader and visionary who has over 20 years of UK Higher Education experience. Prof Pillai is the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. He is a globally renowned scholar, outstanding university educator and innovation champion who provides direction and leadership to academic and commercial research, business engagement and education across different Science and Engineering disciplines. Over the years, Prof Pillai has acquired over £10m in external research income and led several national/international collaborative and multi-partner Research and KE projects in the areas of communication networks and cyber security. He has been invited for talks for over 50 national and international events/conferences and has published 110 papers within peer-reviewed journals and conferences with over 4200 citations. With an educational background in electronics and cyber security and an avid interest in artificial intelligence, Prof Pillai has a passion of researching complex issues that lie in the interaction of these areas. His current research interest lies in the application of AI for developing novel security solutions for cyber resilient networks. Over the years he has actively engaged in organising over 150 scientific conferences, workshops, and seminars.
Prof Pillai is a currently an advisor to the Cabinet Office and works closely with various government departments like DSIT, BEIS, DLUHC, DIT, FCDO, Home Office, etc. He has strong experience of working with several local authorities and West Midlands Combined Authority on various strategic initiatives to drive research and innovation in the region. He has a strong expertise in building networks and successfully founded and led several national and international networks like IEEE UK and Ireland Blockchain Group, national Ethnic Minority in Cyber Network, West Midlands Cyber Working Group, Black Country Smart City Group, etc. Prof Pillai was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to cyber security and education. Prof Pillai was awarded the 2023 India UK Achievers Honours Award in the category “Education, Science and Innovation”.
Workshop: Research Funding: Hard nut to crack?
Professor Levent Altinay will share his experience of successful funding applications to the prestigious funding bodies including EU, Horizon, ESRC (Economic Social Research Council), Newton, British Academy, British Council and TUBITAK. During the workshop, Altinay will cover a wide range of topics including creative idea generation for research funding, formation of multidisciplinary research consortiums, use of networks, research design, dissemination of research findings and the generation of academically robust, practically meaningful research impact.