Dr. Zulfiqar Ali is a statistician with extensive academic and research experience. He earned his Doctorate in Statistics from Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad under the supervision of Dr. Ijaz Hussain. During his Ph.D., Dr. Ali enriched his research experience through a collaboration with Dr. M.A. (Marco) Grzegorczyk in the Netherlands under the Short Exchange Program of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.
In May 2022, Dr. Ali joined the College of Statistics Sciences at the University of the Punjab as an Assistant Professor of Statistics. Prior to this appointment, he served as a visiting and contract faculty member at several universities in Pakistan, including Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, International Islamic University Islamabad, University of Sargodha, and University of Sialkot.
Dr. Ali's research is focused on statistical data collection, modeling, and forecasting, with a particular emphasis on biomedical research, animal sciences, climate projections, water management, meteorology, and geo-statistics. His areas of expertise are diverse, encompassing clinical trials, case control studies, latent class analysis, randomized control trials, ecological statistics, environmental statistics, stochastic processes, time series process modeling, statistical theory and methods, modeling aridity and drought, neural network forecasting, spatio-temporal modeling, spatial data analysis, longitudinal data analysis, and geo-spatial environmental data modeling. Dr. Ali is adept at deploying modern statistical approaches for monitoring natural processes.
Throughout his career, Dr. Ali has taught a wide range of courses. These include Advanced Computer Languages, Introduction to Biomedical Research, Categorical Data Analysis, Introduction to Epidemiology, Statistical Computer Packages II, Sampling Techniques, Biostatistics, Simulation and Modeling, Design and Analysis of Medical Studies, Research Methodology, and Demography for BS Statistics, BS Statistics (ADP), and BS Biostatistics programs. Additionally, he has instructed MPhil/Ph.D. students in Spatial Statistics, Multivariate Analysis, Time Series Analysis, and Advanced Topics in GIS.
Dr. Zulfiqar Ali is a prolific author, with over 54 full-length research articles published in reputable international scientific journals, amassing a total impact factor of 175. In most of these articles, he has served as the principal (corresponding) author.
In terms of research projects, Dr. Ali has completed a project as the Principal Investigator with funding of Rs. 200,000 from the University of the Punjab, Lahore. He has supervised six MPhil theses and nine BS theses, and currently oversees the research of five PhD, seven MS/MPhil, and three BS students. Notably, two of his PhD students have successfully defended their research proposals before the Advanced Studies and Research Board.
At the University of the Punjab, Dr. Ali actively contributes to various committees and services. He is a member of the Departmental Doctoral Programme Committee (DDPC) at the College of Statistical Sciences. He also serves on the Exams Inspection Committee (Internal) and the Decoration Committee for the Sports Fest 2023. Furthermore, Dr. Ali is involved in the HEC Revision Committee at the departmental level and acts as the Focal Person for both the ORIC and the Carrying Counselling Center. Dr. Ali has reviewed articles for several international journals.
His outstanding performance has been recognized through consecutive performance-based salary increments for 2022 and 2023, as well as an honorarium for his exceptional contributions in 2023.