Prof de Villiers has been a lecturer at the University of Pretoria since 2002. He holds a PhD, MSc, BSc(Hons) and a Higher Education Diploma (HED).Prof de Villiers is a South African National Research Foundation (NRF) -rated researcher and he was involved in various international collaborative research projects from 2002 to 2013. His research expertise is in the fields of inter- and intra-continental teacher migration, teacher training in life sciences education, controversial topics in life sciences, and community-based service-learning. His topical work on teacher migration has been some of the most quoted studies in the Faculty of Education. In 2002 he was awarded one of the most prestigious grants of its kind in the world – the Commonwealth Academic Fellowship.

He is involved in various research projects, some of which involve international affiliations. His research focus areas are inter- and intra-continental teacher migration studies, teacher training in life sciences education, values and beliefs in the life sciences classroom, and community-based service-learning.