Ravindi Nanayakkara
Academic/ Researcher/ Mathematician/ Statistician/ AFHEA/ Data Science Enthusiast
La Trobe University
Biography
Hello, and welcome to my personal website!
I completed my PhD in Statistics in 2022 at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, La Trobe University, Australia. My doctoral research focused on stochastic modelling and statistical analysis of spatial and long-range dependent data. The findings were applied to analyse cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation data from the Planck mission, offering novel tools to better understand the early stages of the Universe. For the exceptionally high quality of my thesis, I was honoured with the Nancy Millis Medal, a prestigious award presented to outstanding PhD candidates. I have presented my research at several national and international seminars and conferences. My research interests include Spatial Statistics, Applied Statistics, Stochastic Analysis and Modelling, Astrostatistics, Data Science, and Mathematics/Statistics Education.
I currently serve as the Academic Skills Advisor (Maths/Coding) and the Manager and Coordinator of the Maths, Science, and Coding Hubs at La Trobe University. I lead the strategic and operational management of the Maths Hub-a multi-campus, university-wide, multidisciplinary support centre with a team of 15-20 staff. In addition to the Maths Hub, I manage the Coding Hub and Science Hub, ensuring effective and tailored academic support is provided across disciplines. I am also a Sessional Lecturer/Academic in the Department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at La Trobe University, where I teach Mathematics and Statistics to students from both mathematical and non-mathematical backgrounds. I’m passionate about teaching Statistics and Data Science at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, finding a unique beauty in Statistics and striving to spark that same curiosity and appreciation in others.
My contributions to teaching and learning have been recognised through multiple awards. In 2018, I was awarded as a ‘Customer Service Champion’ by the La Trobe University Customer Service Champions Executive Staff for positively impacting students and their studies. I received four consecutive ‘Tutors as Partners’ scholarships in 2019 and 2020 for my exceptional teaching and tutoring skills. In 2021, I was honored as an Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, and in 2024, I received the Vice-Chancellor’s Education Award for Teaching Excellence, with the citation: “For creating welcoming, innovative and engaging learning environments using effective teaching and learning strategies that positively influenced, encouraged and inspired statistics students and their studies.” The Maths Hub team, under my leadership, was also highly commended for the Vice-Chancellor’s Cultural Qualities Award for Care.
In my leisure time, I enjoy capturing moments with my camera, listening to Bollywood music, and baking sweet treats.
Interests
- Spatial Statistics
- Applied Statistics
- Stochastic Analysis and Modelling
- Astrostatistics
- Data Science
- Mathematics/Statistics Education
Education
PhD in Statistics, 2022
La Trobe University, Australia
Professional Graduate Diploma in IT, 2017
BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, United Kingdom
BSc (Hons.) in Statistics with Computer Science (Special), 2016
University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Skills
R Programming
Python Programming
Maple Programming
Data Analysis using SPSS
Statistics
Mathematics
Data Science
SQL
High Performance Computing
Teaching
Research Communication
Conference Speaking and Organization
Leadership and Team Management
Strategic Planning and Coordination
Budget and Resource Management
Experience
Academic Skills Advisor (Maths/Coding) | Maths Hub, Science Hub, & Coding Hub Manager & Coordinator
La Trobe University
Work carried out:
- Managed and coordinated multi-campus, university-wide, multidisciplinary academic support centres: the Maths Hub (15-20 staff), Coding Hub (6 staff), and Science Hub (13 staff).
- Enhanced and expanded the blended teaching and learning model of the Maths Hub.
- Organized, rostered, and promoted summer term, Semesters 1 & 2 schedules, exam revision weeks, and winter break sessions; finalized Maths Hub timetables with academics, tutors, and students in 2025.
- Implemented online Zoom Maths Hub sessions via the CareerHub platform and Maths Hub LMS, enhancing student access with an interactive view.
- Offered face-to-face and online individual and group academic skill consultation sessions related to various mathematics, statistics, and business statistics subjects; R programming; data analysis using Jamovi; and research-specific consultations for honours, masters, and PhD students.
- Enhanced the Coding Hub’s blended teaching and learning model, LMS site, and introduced a dedicated ‘Cybersecurity’ section.
- Enhanced the Science Hub by updating the LMS, introducing online Biology help sessions, and improving face-to-face Anatomy Hub support at Bendigo and Bundoora campuses, ensuring spaces met standards and included virtual reality technology.
- Mentored Discipline Hub tutors by conducting training sessions, creating instructional videos, and providing guidance to ensure high-quality teaching aligned with university academic integrity policies.
- Introduced an online system for tutors to complete Discipline Hub (Maths, Science, & Coding) consult records and attendance tracking; maintained accurate data records and analyzed Discipline Hubs feedback surveys to support continuous teaching improvement.
- Responded to student queries on LMS access, help sessions, information requests, and Mathematics/Statistics support.
- Developed digital Maths/Coding Hubs resources for at-need cohorts.
- Promoted Discipline Hubs via updates, newsletters, Orientation Week, and Open Day.
Academic Skills Advisor (Maths/Coding) | Maths Hub & Coding Hub Manager and Coordinator
La Trobe University
Work carried out:
- Managed and coordinated the multi-campus and university-wide, multi-disciplinary mathematics support centre: Maths Hub comprising of 15-20 Maths Hub staff members.
- Transformed the Maths Hub into a blended teaching and learning mode by reintroducing the face-to-face help sessions and established the Bendigo and Bundoora campuses’ face-to-face Maths Hub spaces.
- Organized, rostered, and promoted the 2024 Semester 1, exam revision weeks, winter break help sessions and Semester 2 finalized Maths Hub timetables with the academics, tutors, and students.
- Implemented online Zoom Maths Hub sessions via the CareerHub platform and Maths Hub LMS, enhancing student access with an interactive view.
- Offered face-to-face and online individual and group academic skill consultation sessions related to various mathematics, statistics, and business statistics subjects; R programming; data analysis using Jamovi; and research-specific consultations for honours, masters, and PhD students.
- Mentored the Maths Hub tutors by conducting training sessions, creating instructional videos, advising and guiding them to offer quality Maths Hub teaching that meets the academic integrity of the university policy.
- Introduced the online system of completing the Maths Hub consult records for the tutors to record student attendance and assisted them with completing the records.
- Maintained accurate data records for continuous teaching improvement.
- Responded to online student queries regarding accessing the Maths Hub LMS, attending help sessions, providing the required information, and solving mathematics and statistics problems.
- Developed and implemented digital, extra-curricular Maths and Coding Hub learning programs and resources that target specific at-need student cohorts across all campuses and relevant disciplines.
- Transformed the Coding Hub into a blended mode by introducing the face-to-face Python help sessions and mentored the Coding Hub tutors.
- Conducting the research study on evaluating the effectiveness of the university-wide multi-disciplinary mathematics support centre: Maths Hub in blended mode-In progress..
Sessional Lecturer/Academic
La Trobe University
Tutored undergraduate and postgraduate subjects:
- Probability and Statistics for Data Science (STM4PSD)
- Data-based Critical Thinking (STA1DCT)
- Statistics for Psychology (STA1PSY)
- Statistics for Life Sciences (STA1LS/SS)
- Introduction to Data Analysis (STA1IDA)
- Making Sense of Data (STM1001)
- Practice of Science (BIO2POS)
Work carried out:
- Delivered mini-lectures and conducted lab sessions for the Master of Data Science students following the “Probability and Statistics for Data Science” module.
- Performed sessional academic duties including conducting workshops, practice classes, lab sessions and evaluating assignments of the undergraduate and postgraduate subjects.
- Assisted in performing the subject coordination duties of the subjects, “Probability and Statistics for Data Science” and “Statistics for Psychology”.
- Demonstrated R coding practices, debugging methods, efficient R programming techniques and provided real-world examples and case studies to illustrate the practical applications of R.
- As a Maths Hub tutor, offered help sessions for undergraduate and postgraduate students to solve problems related to numerous Statistics, Data Science and Mathematics subjects.
- Offered research-specific consultations for undergraduate and postgraduate students including data analysis using the statistical software SPSS and Jamovi, help for R programming and Latex documenting.
- Initiated a ‘Data Science’ section in the La Trobe University Maths Hub and created a series of worksheets, answer sheets, and R code explaining the answers.
- Initiated and successfully organized an online Statistics Kahoot Quiz Competition which was hosted semester-wise via zoom in the year 2020.
- Created 100+ online quizzes for various undergraduate Mathematics, Statistics, and Data Science subjects.
Lecturer/Consultant
National Institute of Business Management (NIBM - Sri Lanka)
Taught subjects:
- Business Statistics for Information Technology
- Business Statistics for Human Resource Management
- Python Programming
- Programming Fundamentals (C Language)
- Computer Networks
- Computer Technology
- Number Systems
- Database Systems
Key highlights:
- Achieved a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) band score of 99.5/100 for the third quarter of 2017.
- Achieved an average score of 95/100 on the Student Satisfaction Index.
Work carried out:
- Prepared and delivered lectures and conducted lab sessions of the above teaching modules.
- Demonstrated Python and C language coding techniques, their best practices and provided guidance on problem-solving and debugging.
- Set mid-year and final-year examination papers.
- Prepared in-class assignments and take-home assignments.
- Evaluated in-class assignments, take-home assignments, and mid-year and final-year examination papers.
- Proposed and designed a new course titled, “Advanced Diploma in Data Science” which has been currently established by NIBM.
- Represented NIBM as an academic at the National IT Conference (NITC) of Sri Lanka which was held in partnership with the SEARCC Conference 2017.
- Mentored, guided, and trained the students for the “NIBM Software Competition 2017”.
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Department of Statistics,University of Colombo
Tutored undergraduate and postgraduate subjects:
- Business Statistics
- Applications in Statistical Inference
- Basic Statistical Computing
- R lab sessions
Work carried out:
- Delivered lectures and conducted lab sessions and tutorials for undergraduate Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science students.
- Conducted R lab sessions and tutorials for Master of Applied Statistics students.
- Prepared in-class assignments, take-home assignments, and case studies of various undergraduate Statistics subjects.
- Evaluated assignments and final-year examination papers.
- Offered research-specific consultations for Master of Applied Statistics students.
- Guided and supported fourth-year honours Statistics students by offering research-related help and help for statistical modelling, data analysis using SPSS, Minitab, R and R programming.
- Performed final exam invigilation duties of various undergraduate and postgraduate subjects.
Research Intern/Trainee Data Analyst
Corporate Planning Division, Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd
Work carried out:
- Conducted the internship research study on “Factors Influencing Customer Churn”.
- Prepared the consultancy proposal and the research proposal.
- Designed the questionnaire for telephone interviews and prepared the data coding sheet.
- Performed data validation, data visualization and predictive analytics.
- Made a SWOT analysis for the five main mobile service providers in Sri Lanka.
Awards and Achievements
The Vice-Chancellor’s Cultural Qualities Award for Care: Highly Commended
The Vice-Chancellor’s Cultural Qualities Awards are given to recognize staff who demonstrate the university’s values and contribute to its culture. The Maths Hub team, managed by me, was highly commended for the Vice-Chancellor’s Cultural Qualities Award for Care, with the citation: ‘Through one-on-one tutoring and collaborative study sessions, the Maths Hub team helped over 300 students achieve success and improve their academic performance through more than 1,000 visits.’
The Vice-Chancellor’s Education Award for Sessional Teaching Excellence
The Vice-Chancellor’s Education Awards are the highest level of recognition at the university level and celebrate a wide range of contributions to student learning. The awards recognize educators renowned for the excellence of their teaching, as well as non-teaching staff who have made significant contributions to enhancing the quality of learning and teaching at La Trobe. Received the Vice-Chancellor’s Education Award for Sessional Teaching Excellence for the citation: ‘For creating welcoming, innovative and engaging learning environments using effective teaching and learning strategies that positively influenced, encouraged and inspired statistics students and their studies.’
WIMSIG Conference 2024 ECR Travel Award
Received a WIMSIG Conference 2024 Early Career Researcher Travel Award from the WIMSIG Conference Committee to attend the WIMSIG Conference 2024, which was held at the Sydney Mathematical Research Institute (SMRI), University of Sydney, on October 1st and 2nd, 2024. At the conference, I presented the results of my research project related to Mathematics and Statistics Education.
The Nancy Millis Medal
Received the Nancy Millis Medal which is a prestigious award presented to outstanding PhD candidates for the exceptionally high quality of their theses. The Nancy Millis Medal is awarded to the authors of outstanding doctoral theses. Examiners are asked if they consider the thesis to be in the top five per cent of theses they have examined. Nominated theses are then assessed following the examination process and are considered for award through a selection process that involves the School’s Director of Graduate Research. Final recommendations are approved by the Board of Graduate Research.
Early Career & Student Statisticians Conference Scholarship
Received a scholarship from the Statistical Society of Australia Victorian Branch to attend and present the results at the Early Career & Student Statisticians Conference 2021, which was held virtually via Zoom from July 26 to August 1, 2021. During the conference, I gave a talk titled “Probing Multifractionality of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation,” based on the results of my third PhD project.
Associate Fellow
Achieved the status of Associate Fellow (AFHEA) in recognition of attainment against the UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and learning support in higher education.
See certificate‘Tutors as Partners’ Scholarship
A scholarship which is awarded to one Statistics tutor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, La Trobe University in recognition of excellent teaching and tutoring skills.
3MT Thesis Competition - School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences - Second Runner-up
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition is an annual, nationwide event aimed at fostering excellence in research presentation and communication. Second Runner-up of the SEMS heat of the 3MT Thesis Competition and got qualified to the SHE College heat and represented SEMS as a contestant.
Virtual Poster Pitch Competition - First Runner-up
‘Tutors as Partners’ Scholarship
A scholarship which is awarded to one Statistics tutor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, La Trobe University in recognition of excellent teaching and tutoring skills.
‘Tutors as Partners’ Scholarship
A scholarship which is awarded to one Statistics tutor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, La Trobe University in recognition of excellent teaching and tutoring skills.
Travel Grant to attend Young Statisticians Conference 2019
Received a travel grant from the Statistical Society of Australia Victorian Branch to attend the Young Statisticians Conference, which was held at Manuka Oval, Canberra, on October 1st and 2nd, 2019. During the conference, I delivered a talk titled ‘Stochastic Modelling and Statistical Analysis of Cosmic Microwave Background Data’, based on the results of my first PhD project.
‘Tutors as Partners’ Scholarship
A scholarship which is awarded to one Statistics tutor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, La Trobe University in recognition of excellent teaching and tutoring skills.
Customer Service Champion
Awarded as a ‘Customer Service Champion’ by the La Trobe University Customer Service Champions Executive Staff. This award is given to the wonderful ‘Customer Service Champions’ that have been nominated by the staff and students for making such a positive difference in students and their studies.
La Trobe University Full Fee Research Scholarship (LTUFFRS)
Awarded a La Trobe University Full Fee Research Scholarship (LTUFFRS) to undertake my PhD studies.
La Trobe University Postgraduate Research Scholarship (LTUPS)
Awarded a La Trobe University Postgraduate Research Scholarship (LTUPS) to pursue my PhD studies.
