Biography:

Dr. Bilal Mirza joined the Centre for Policy Studies at the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology in January 2013, where his research work relates to the notion of inclusive development and pro-poor innovation perspectives in the science, technology, and innovation policy at national and regional level. As a United Nations University-MERIT scholar, Dr. Bilal completed his doctoral degree (Innovation & Development Studies [Development Economics]) with thesis entitled “Energy poverty and rural energy markets in developing countries” in 2012, under the supervision of Prof. Adam Sizrmai and Prof. Rene Kemp at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. His research work has been widely cited across research publications in energy poverty measurement. Dr. Bilal has presented his work at different forums in Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, and Canada. He has also been involved in trainings at the United Nations University office in the Netherlands, covering the domain of innovation policy design and evaluation in developing countries. From July 2011 until June 2012, he worked as a faculty member at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan (GIK) Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, where he was involved in teaching, research and training. Dr. Bilal has also been actively involved in trainings of policy makers and research at the OIC (Organization for Islamic Cooperation) Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH), Pakistan Council of Science and Technology (PCST), Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Pakistan, and National Rural Support Program (NRSP, Pakistan). Dr. Bilal is also a recipient of several grants, including United Nations University scholarship for his PhD studies, UNU fieldwork support, and UNU grant for innovation policy training, among others. Bilal took his Masters (M.S.) degree in Management of Technology (Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management) from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL/ETHL), Switzerland in 2004.