Overview
Background
Dr Richard Bean is an affiliate at the UQ Cyber Research Centre.
Richard brings to his work a rich background in data science honed in academia in Australia and Iran, as well as in government (Queensland Health) and industry sectors (ROAM Consulting, Redback, and the Australian Energy Market Operator). With over 60 publications to his name, his research interests span a wide range of areas, including combinatorics, statistics, power systems, classical cryptography, and transport. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Energy and current chair of the Newcastle branch.
Richard is well-known in the public sphere, frequently appearing on radio shows to share his insights into the solutions for various unsolved ciphers. His research extends into areas of national science and research priorities, such as Energy, Transport, Health, and Cyber Security.
In addition to his academic pursuits, Richard has a passion for cycling and is active in cycling advocacy. He also enjoys tackling classical cryptography challenges in his free time.
Availability
- Dr Richard Bean is:
- Not available for supervision
- Media expert
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
-
Renewable energy
-
Power systems
-
Combinatorics
-
Classical cryptography
Research impacts
Richard has previously focused his research on a broad array of topics. These include the combinatorics of Latin squares and designs, the analysis of gene microarray expression data, clustering techniques, and scheduling battery charging using energy forecasting. His research in transport has shed light on the effect of weather and land-use on bike share demand in cities worldwide.
Whether in academia, industry, or the public sphere, Richard's work consistently strives to make an impact by shedding new light on complex data and helping to shape the future of energy, transport, health, and cyber security.
Works
Search Professor Richard Bean’s works on UQ eSpace
2025
Book Chapter
Machine learning for energy management
Bean, Richard, Snow, Stephen, Li, Xiang, Glencross, Mashhuda and Chapman, Archie (2025). Machine learning for energy management. Research handbook on energy management. (pp. 123-160) edited by Reinhard Madlener and Valentin Bertsch. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781800376502.00013
2025
Conference Publication
Understanding the asymmetric impact of forecast accuracy on decision quality
Abolghasemi, Mahdi and Bean, Richard (2025). Understanding the asymmetric impact of forecast accuracy on decision quality. 23rd Australasian Data Science and Machine Learning Conference (AusDM'25), Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 26-28 November 2025. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: AusDM'25.
2025
Other Outputs
Most e-scooter riders follow the rules—here’s what we found
Buning, Richard J., Lieske, Scott and Bean, Richard (2025, 08 13). Most e-scooter riders follow the rules—here’s what we found ZagDaily
2025
Conference Publication
New records for Playfair solutions
Bean, Richard and Helm, Louie (2025). New records for Playfair solutions. HistoCrypt 2025, Poznań, Poland, 16-18 June 2025. Tartu, Estonia: D-Space at Tartu University Library. doi: 10.58009/aere-perennius0158
2025
Journal Article
Predict+optimize problem in renewable energy scheduling
Bergmeir, Christoph, De Nijs, Frits, Genov, Evgenii, Sriramulu, Abishek, Abolghasemi, Mahdi, Bean, Richard, Betts, John, Bui, Quang, Dinh, Nam Trong, Einecke, Nils, Esmaeilbeigi, Rasul, Ferraro, Scott, Galketiya, Priya, Glasgow, Robert, Godahewa, Rakshitha, Kang, Yanfei, Limmer, Steffen, Magdalena, Luis, Montero-Manso, Pablo, Peralta, Daniel, Kumar, Yogesh Pipada Sunil, Rosales-Pérez, Alejandro, Ruddick, Julian, Stratigakos, Akylas, Stuckey, Peter, Tack, Guido, Triguero, Isaac and Yuan, Rui (2025). Predict+optimize problem in renewable energy scheduling. IEEE Access, 13, 60064-60087. doi: 10.1109/access.2025.3555393
2024
Other Outputs
E-scooter movement data analysis; Exploring use of active transport facilities, travel speeds, helmet use, and scooter types
Scott Lieske, Buning, Richard, Pyrohova, Svitlana, Bean, Richard and Jindalucksawong, Purit (2024). E-scooter movement data analysis; Exploring use of active transport facilities, travel speeds, helmet use, and scooter types. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.
2024
Other Outputs
Bad weather, hills and the dark deter cyclists, particularly women. So what can we do about it?
Bean, Richard, Pojani, Dorina and Corcoran, Jonathan (2024, 06 05). Bad weather, hills and the dark deter cyclists, particularly women. So what can we do about it? The Conversation
2024
Other Outputs
Natural barriers facing female cyclists and how to overcome them: a cross national examination of bikesharing schemes
Bean, Richard, Pojani, Dorina and Corcoran, Jonathan (2024). Natural barriers facing female cyclists and how to overcome them: a cross national examination of bikesharing schemes. Mendeley Data. (Dataset) doi: 10.17632/vmy42hywwx.1
2024
Journal Article
Natural barriers facing female cyclists and how to overcome them: a cross national examination of bikesharing schemes
Bean, Richard, Pojani, Dorina and Corcoran, Jonathan (2024). Natural barriers facing female cyclists and how to overcome them: a cross national examination of bikesharing schemes. Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research, 2 100025, 1-15. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmr.2024.100025
2023
Other Outputs
Seven metals, ringed with four magical inscriptions: what other secrets does the ‘Alchemical Hand Bell’ hold?
Bean, Richard, Gannon, Corinna and Lang, Sarah (2023, 06 07). Seven metals, ringed with four magical inscriptions: what other secrets does the ‘Alchemical Hand Bell’ hold? The Conversation
2023
Conference Publication
The cipher of Emperor Rudolf II’s “Alchemical Hand Bell”
Bean, Richard, Gannon, Corinna and Lang, Sarah (2023). The cipher of Emperor Rudolf II’s “Alchemical Hand Bell”. 6th International Conference on Historical Cryptology HistoCrypt 2023, Munich, Germany, 20 - 22 June 2023. Linköping, Sweden: Linköping University Electronic Press. doi: 10.3384/ecp195690
2023
Journal Article
Deciphering the Hermeticae Philosophiae Medulla: textual cultures of alchemical secrecy
Piorko, Megan, Lang, Sarah and Bean, Richard (2023). Deciphering the Hermeticae Philosophiae Medulla: textual cultures of alchemical secrecy. Ambix, 70 (2), 150-183. doi: 10.1080/00026980.2023.2201744
2023
Journal Article
Forecasting the Monash microgrid for the IEEE-CIS technical challenge
Bean, Richard (2023). Forecasting the Monash microgrid for the IEEE-CIS technical challenge. Energies, 16 (3) 1050, 1-23. doi: 10.3390/en16031050
2023
Book Chapter
Preserving the privacy and cybersecurity of home energy data
Bean, Richard, Zhang, Yanjun, Ko, Ryan K. L., Mao, Xinyu and Bai, Guangdong (2023). Preserving the privacy and cybersecurity of home energy data. Emerging trends in cybersecurity applications. (pp. 323-343) edited by Kevin Daimi, Abeer Alsadoon, Cathryn Peoples and Nour El Madhoun. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-09640-2_14
2022
Other Outputs
How closely monitoring households’ energy data can unleash their solar outputs and (possibly) make them more money
Bean, Richard and Horrocks, Neil (2022, 12 20). How closely monitoring households’ energy data can unleash their solar outputs and (possibly) make them more money The Conversation
2022
Journal Article
Weather to scoot? How weather shapes shared e-scooter ridership patterns
Kimpton, Anthony, Loginova, Julia, Pojani, Dorina, Bean, Richard, Sigler, Thomas and Corcoran, Jonathan (2022). Weather to scoot? How weather shapes shared e-scooter ridership patterns. Journal of Transport Geography, 104 103439, 1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2022.103439
2022
Other Outputs
E-scooters are becoming wildly popular – but we have to factor in the weather
Kimpton, Anthony, Pojani, Dorina, Corcoran, Jonathan, Loginova, Julia, Bean, Richard and Sigler, Thomas (2022, 09 27). E-scooters are becoming wildly popular – but we have to factor in the weather
2022
Conference Publication
Forecasting and optimizing a microgrid for the IEEE-CIS technical challenge
Bean, Richard (2022). Forecasting and optimizing a microgrid for the IEEE-CIS technical challenge. 32nd Australasian Universities Power Engineering Conference (AUPEC), Adelaide, SA Australia, 26-28 September 2022. Piscataway, NJ United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/aupec58309.2022.10215542
2022
Conference Publication
Solving an alchemical cipher in a shared notebook of John and Arthur Dee
Bean, Richard, Lang, Sarah and Piorko, Megan (2022). Solving an alchemical cipher in a shared notebook of John and Arthur Dee. International Conference on Historical Cryptology HistoCrypt, Amsterdam, Netherland, 20-22 June 2022. Linköping, Sweden: Linköping University Electronic Press. doi: 10.3384/ecp188388
2022
Journal Article
Eavesdropping on the Biafra-Lisbon link - Breaking historical ciphers from the Biafran war (vol 46, pg 1, 2022)
Bean, Richard W., Lasry, George and Weierud, Frode (2022). Eavesdropping on the Biafra-Lisbon link - Breaking historical ciphers from the Biafran war (vol 46, pg 1, 2022). Cryptologia, 46 (3) 2061772, 290-290. doi: 10.1080/01611194.2022.2061772
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Richard Bean directly for media enquiries about:
- ciphers
- codes
- combinatorics
- cryptanalysis
- cryptography
- cryptology
Need help?
For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team: