Dr. Asta Rau accumulated a wealth of management and marketing experience in the corporate and small business sectors before taking up tertiary studies and graduating with a PhD (Education) from Rhodes University in 2005.
In the seven years since graduation she has been working as a professional researcher in the fields of HIV/AIDS-TB, Media Leadership, Higher Education, and Monitoring & Evaluation. More recently she began research on Health Systems. She has participated in 28 research projects and has taken a leading role in several. In 2011 she was principal investigator for a review of the implementation of the 2007-2011 North West Province HIV/AIDS strategic plan, and principal consultant for the development of the province’s 2012-2016 HIV/AIDS & TB Plan — both products fed into the current national HIV/AIDS & TB strategic plan. She was co-principal investigator of CADRE’s (Centre for AIDS Development and Research) development of an HIV Prevention Communication Training Programme for Eastern and Southern Africa. For South Africa’s HEAIDS (Higher Education HIV/AIDS) programme she was the primary investigator for research on the curricular response to HIV/AIDS at Rhodes University. The Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership saw her as principal investigator of a regional project which included organizing and co-facilitating a regional Media Leadership Lekgotla; this project culminated in her authoring a research-based book.
Throughout her research career Asta has remained involved in teaching and capacity building – particularly in research methodology and in HIV& AIDS.
Dedicated to ongoing learning and professional development, after her doctorate she obtained a postgraduate qualification in Monitoring and Evaluation from Stellenbosch University. She has subsequently been involved in several M&E projects and the delivery of two university-accredited M&E courses.
Asta is passionate about research. Her goal is to continue to learn about and conduct rigorous, insightful, useful work. She also has a strong interest in evaluation and results based management and the application of these strategic approaches to pressing social issues.