Dr. Zulfiqar Ali is an accomplished statistician specializing in environmental and biomedical statistics. He earned his Ph.D. in Statistics from Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad under the supervision of Dr. Ijaz Hussain. During his Ph.D., he was selected for the HEC Short Exchange Program, conducting collaborative research with Dr. Marco Grzegorczyk in the Netherlands, enhancing his expertise in advanced statistical modeling.
Dr. Ali joined the University of the Punjab in May 2022 as Assistant Professor at the College of Statistical and Actuarial Sciences. Since his appointment, he has been actively involved in teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate programs, delivering a variety of courses such as Advanced Computer Languages, Biostatistics, Simulation and Modeling, Spatial Statistics, Epidemiology, and Advanced GIS. He also contributes to interdepartmental programs such as MPhil GIS at the Institute of Geography.
Research Interests: |
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Environmental and Climate Statistics |
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Drought and Flood Risk Modeling |
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Spatio-temporal and Geostatistical Modeling |
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Biomedical and Public Health Analytics |
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Probabilistic Forecasting and Machine Learning |
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Statistical Computing and Simulation |
Dr. Ali authored more than 70 research articles in high-impact international journals. His work emphasizes drought index development, regional climate modeling, ensemble forecasting, and statistical applications in health and environmental monitoring. His cumulative impact factor exceeds 250. |
He has successfully completed a funded research project on climate hazard assessment and is currently leading another on flood forecasting and climate warming, both supported by the University of the Punjab. |
Supervision: |
Dr. Ali has actively supervised a wide range of research students. From 2022 to 2025: |
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1 Ph.D. thesis submitted; 1 in pre-submission stage |
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4 Ph.D. thesis titles approved by the ASRB |
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11 M.Phil. and 12 BS (Hons) theses completed |
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Currently supervising 5 M.Phil. and 7 undergraduate students |
| Academic and Administrative Roles: |
Dr. Ali plays a vital role in departmental and university-level academic governance. He serves on the Departmental Doctoral Program Committee (DDPC), Exams Inspection Committee, and Decoration Committee for annual university events. He is the departmental focal person for the Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) and career counseling. Additionally, he contributed to policy development under the HEC curriculum revision initiative and coordinated activities under the CM Laptop Scheme. |
In 2024, he was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Boys Hostel 18, University of the Punjab. He has also served as Presiding Officer in the 2024 General Elections of Pakistan. |
Workshops and Seminars: |
Dr. Ali actively participates in and organizes academic events. He conducted national workshops on: |
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Statistical Analysis for Medical Research Using R (Institution of Allied Health Sciences, Lahore) |
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Academic Writing and Statistical Data Analysis (UAF PARS Campus, Faisalabad) |
He also attended international training workshops, including the AHK-NCRD–AARDO Collaborative Training on Disaster Management and Climate Change Adaptation. |
| Achievements: |
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Consecutive performance-based salary increments (2022–2024) |
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Honorariums for outstanding performance in 2023 and 2024 |
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Multiple Ph.D. students have presented and defended their research proposals |
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Significant interdisciplinary research collaborations in public health, climate science, and environmental sustainability |
