Dr Nigel Francis is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE and an award-winning lecturer teaching immunology at Cardiff University. He is the co-creator of Immunology Wars and the #DryLabsRealScience network.
Dr Nigel Francis has been working in higher education since 2011 and currently teaches immunology at Cardiff University, he is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE and an award-winning lecturer, having been recognised for his teaching excellence by the Royal Society of Biology in 2021 and the British Society for Immunology in 2020.
He is a passionate and innovative educator, who champions the creation of digital resources in collaboration with his students. He is the co-creator of Immunology Wars, where the immune system is explored and explained in a galaxy far, far away through the characters and storylines of Star Wars. The digital immunology teaching tools that he has created have been adopted internationally and his motivation to create these is underpinned by his own undergraduate experiences as a hearing-impaired student, who was unable to follow traditional didactic lectures. His work, therefore, aims to create a more inclusive digital learning environment for all students.
Nigel also supports his fellow academics through running the #DryLabsRealScience network, providing opportunities for educators to showcase their innovative teaching approaches to laboratory-based classes that arose in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The resources created by the network are driving a fundamental change towards practical-based teaching. Nigel is currently working on a 360-degree virtual laboratory simulation that will allow students to explore a wide range of lab techniques, providing opportunities that would otherwise be restricted by lack of access to equipment or facilities.