Aminath Riyaz is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Sciences and is the course coordinator & curriculum developer for library and information science (LIS) discipline within the faculty. She also teaches research methods and supervises postgraduate research students. Aminath has supervised over 50 research students at MNU on Dhivehi language, social sciences, and Maldives history & culture, and has produced two theses herself: Master of Philosophy (Media & Information) in 2009 studying the Maldives information culture, and Doctor of Philosophy (Media, Culture & Creative Arts) in 2018, both at Curtin University, Australia. Aminath also worked at Curtin University as a Research Assistant for two projects: (1) qualitative research on journalism shield law, and (2) analyzing information behavior using draw & write technique as a research method. Furthermore, Aminath initiated and piloted a digital repository at MNU in 2010 and led the establishment of a national digital library through the creation of a digital repository and a union catalogue by computerising catalogues of 21 libraries across the Maldives as a voluntary project during 2010 to 2013.

Aminath’s past work experience includes several positions in Australian universities, namely: Records Officer, Education & Training Officer, and lastly Information Management Business Analyst at the Department of Records & Information Management, Curtin University. She also worked as a Library Technician at Edith Cowan University, and a Tutor at the University of New South Wales. Aminath’s LIS career commenced as a Librarian Trainee at the Allied Health Services Training Centre in 1992 (the precursor to the Maldives National University) and progressed through to the position of the first Chief Librarian at MNU. Prior to joining the MNU as an academic in 2019, Aminath also advocated for women empowerment through her role as the coordinator for capacity & membership development of SABAH project, for home-based workers, overseen by the Economic Ministry.

In addition to leading local research projects, Aminath is the principal investigator for international surveys, namely the World Values Survey wave 7, and Values in Crisis survey waves 1 & 2. Check out https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aminath-Riyaz-3 or https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1591-5073 for Aminath’s research publications.