Professor Bhattacharya has nearly 40 years’ experience across maritime practice, higher education, research and institutional leadership. He is currently Provost and Vice-Chancellor Academic at Sharjah Maritime Academy in the UAE, where he leads academic strategy, curriculum development, quality assurance, research, faculty development, and government and industry engagement. In this role, he works closely with ministries, regulators, professional bodies and maritime industry partners to strengthen maritime education, workforce development and applied research in support of the UAE’s maritime ambitions. Before moving to the UAE, Professor Bhattacharya held senior executive roles at Southampton Solent University in the UK, including Dean of the Warsash Maritime Academy, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange, and as Provost – the University’s senior-most academic leadership post. Among several achievements he led Solent to the award of Triple Gold in the UK Teaching Excellence Framework in 2023. He holds a PhD in Sociology from Cardiff University’s Seafarers International Research Centre, awarded under a Nippon Foundation Fellowship, and has published widely on maritime safety, regulation, risk, labour and global shipping. Before academia, he spent 15 years in the maritime industry, serving on large internationally trading tankers as a Master and then in a shore-based manager role in Singapore.