Speakers

Dr. Xiaochun Qiao

Professor, Institute of Population Research

Peking University, China

Dr. Xiaochun Qiao is a professor at the Institute of Population Research, Peking University, vice president of China Population Association (CPA), the pioneer member of International Network of Health Expectancy and Disability Process (REVES), vice president of International Commission of Historical Demography (ICHD), and editor-in-chief of the Journal of China Population and Development Studies (CPDS). He got B.S.in Computational Mathematics at Liaoning University in 1982, and then started working at the population census office of Liaoning Province. He got both master and PhD degrees in demography at Renmin University of China in 1987 and 1994, respectively, and conducted post-doc research and to be research associate at Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA from 1999 to 2001. He was an overseas fellow at the Institute of Developing Economy, Japan External Trade Organization, Japan in 2003, and visiting professor of Department of Sociology at University of Waterloo, Canada in 2008. He served as editor-in-chief of the leading journal of Population Research (in Chinese) from 1994 to 1999 and executive editor-in-chief of Journal of Population and Development from 2006 to 2020. He was a council member of IPPF at Asia and Oceania, and was invited by UN, UNFPA, and WHO as advisors. His research interests focus on population policy, population Aging, Health Expectancy, Population Census, Population Projection, and Quantitative Methods for Social Sciences. He has published more than two hundred articles and fifteen books in both English and Chinese.

Dr. Anja Heikkinen

Professor, Faculty of Education and Culture

Tampere University, Finland

Dr. Anja Heikkinen is a Professor of Education in the Faculty of Education and Culture of Tampere University in Finland (https://equjust.wordpress.com/). During her career she has been working as a teacher of mathematics, sciences and philosophy in gymnasia, vocational college and folk high school, as a planner and a chief of educational affairs in state and municipal administration, and as a lecturer and professor in fields of vocational, adult and general education in universities of Jyväskylä and Tampere, besides as a visiting scholar in number of universities in Europe and elsewhere. She has been initiating networks and collaborative projects of historical, cross-cultural and gender-critical research and studies in vocational and adult education across all continents, as well as acting a convener and steering committee member in national and European research associations, such as the European Educational Research Association and the European Society for the Research on Education of Adults. In all her actions, she has promoted dialogue and collaboration between researchers, practitioners and policymakers in tackling the problems of participation, equality and justice through adult, vocational and higher education. Lately, she has been occupied with initiatives to open universities to the urgent and intertwined challenges of rapidly increasing forced migration, social and economic inequalities and environmental degradation. Her mission is to transform the university into a societally and environmentally responsive community, where studies and research are integrated into a transformative action, which promotes equality, justice and well-being of the human and non-human inhabitants on the planet earth. Some of these ideas are included in her recent publications, such as Disciplinary Struggles in Education (https://trepo.tuni.fi//handle/10024/115765), Myths and Brands in Vocational Education (https://www.cambridgescholars.com/myths-and-brands-in-vocational-education) and Adult Education and the Planetary Condition (https://issuu.com/svv-ohjelma/docs/adult_educ_planetary_cond_2016).

Dr. Ahmed Shafiqul Haque

Professor, Political Science

McMaster University, Canada

Dr. Ahmed Shafiqul Huque is a Professor of Political Science at the McMaster University, Canada. His research and teaching interests are in public administration and management, public policy, development, South Asian government and politics, governance and climate change. He has published thirteen books and numerous research articles in leading international journals including Public Administration Review, Governance, Public Management Review, International Review of Administrative Sciences, International Journal of Public Administration, Journal of Comparative and Comparative Politics, Pacific Affairs and Asian Survey. Dr. Huque was the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Public Administration and Policy, and Contributing Editor for Southeast Asia for the on-line Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Policy. He has provided consulting services to various organizations including the Companies Registry of Hong Kong Government, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and assessed grant applications for NORAD and DFID.

Dr. Golam M. Mathbor

Interim Dean and Professor, School of Social Work

Monmouth University, New Jersey, USA

Golam M. Mathbor, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Social Work at Monmouth University. Mathbor served as the associate dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monmouth University from July 2006 through June 30, 2014. He is the founding chair of the Department of Philosophy, Religion, and Interdisciplinary Studies and served as its chair for two terms for the period 2007–2010 and 2013–2016. Currently, he is serving as president of the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies (AIBS), and as a member, Board of Directors of the Council on American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC), USA. Mathbor is also serving as advisor of Phi Eta Sigma National Freshman Honor Society-Monmouth University Chapter since 2005. In the past, Mathbor served as vice president and president of the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID) from 2000–2001 and 2001–2002 respectively. Also, he served as vice president and associate secretary-general of the International Consortium for Social Development (ICSD) from 2008–2013 and 2004–2008 respectively. For the academic year 2003–2004, Mathbor served as chair of the Faculty Senate of Monmouth University. Also, Mathbor served as coordinator of the MSW Program in International and Community Development Concentration at Monmouth University from July 1, 2000, to June 30, 2006. During his leadership, this cutting edge master’s program received a national award for being the best program for its splendid record of incorporating global components in the curriculum from the Council on Social Work Education, the accreditation organization for social work education in USA. He worked as project coordinator for “Developing International Social Work Education and Curricula: An Educational Partnership between Monmouth University and the Higher School of Social Work and Social Pedagogics ATTISTIBA, Riga, Latvia” a project financed by the U.S. Department of State. Also, Mathbor served as a member of the Global Social Work Education Commission of the US Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) from July 1, 2004–June 30, 2010. He is the founding president of the Long Branch Concordance, a 501c (3) nonprofit community service organization in the state of New Jersey serving in the City of Long Branch. During the course of his decades long career, he has visited 58 countries mostly on official assignments delivering keynote addresses, conference presentations, chairing various conferences, and conducting international research projects.

Dr. Niaz Ahmed Khan

Professor, Department of Development Studies

University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dr. Khan is a Professor (Grade 1) in the Department of Development Studies at Dhaka University. He is the immediate past Vice Chancellor of University of Dhaka,  immediate past Vice Chancellor (Acting) of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), former Chairman of the Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka; Senior Academic Adviser, National Defence College (NDC), and Senior Academic Adviser, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development. He pursued higher education and research in the University of Oxford, University of Wales Swansea, and Asian Institute of Technology. His career reflects a rich blend of academic and practicing development management experiences gained in Bangladesh, Thailand and UK. He has published prolifically (170 publications including some 45 in Web of Science/Scopus indexed).

Dr. Sharif Nafe As-Saber

Professor, Public Administration & Vice Chancellor,

Stamford University Bangladesh

Dr. Sharif Nafe As-Saber is an internationally recognized academic, researcher, and higher education leader who serves as the Vice-Chancellor of Stamford University Bangladesh. Bringing nearly three decades of global academic and administrative experience across Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and South Asia, he has built a stellar reputation in public administration, international and comparative management, and ethical governance. His impressive educational background includes a PhD in International and Comparative Management from the University of Tasmania, an MBA in International Business from Monash University in Australia, an LL.B., and both a Bachelor and Master of Social Science in International Relations from the University of Dhaka. Prior to his current leadership role at Stamford University Bangladesh, Professor As-Saber held prestigious senior academic and administrative positions globally, including serving as a senior academic at Sultan Qaboos University and at RMIT University in Australia, where he notably functioned as Deputy Head and Dean of Research and Innovation in the School of Management. An active voice in national policy discussions, industry-academia collaborations, and global research partnerships, he also serves as the president of the Dhaka University International Relations Alumni Association (IRAA) and Editor-in-Chief of the Fashion Business Journal, continuously striving to align modern research, student leadership, and high-quality educational standards in his homeland.

Dr. Tanja Joona

Professor, Arctic Sustainability Science and Adjunct Professor, Public International Law

The Arctic Centre, University of Lapland

Tanja Joona is Professor of Arctic Sustainability Science and Adjunct Professor of Public International Law at the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland. She is the Principal Investigator of the Strategic Research Council's REBOUND consortium, which explores pathways towards a just green transition in the Arctic. Her research focuses on Arctic governance, comprehensive security, preparedness, sustainability, resilience, and the just green transition, with particular emphasis on the rights and participation of local communities in environmental, land-use, and energy governance. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the Arctic Initiative program (IV) and a visiting researcher at the Northern Arizona University (2026). She has multiple positions of trust in the society e.g. she serves as Chair of the Arctic Working Group of the Baltic Sea Commission

Dr. AKM Ahsan Ullah

Professor of Global Studies and Migration

University of Brunei Darussalam, Brunei

Throughout his professional career, Professor Ahsan Ullah has held significant positions across a range of esteemed international development, research, and academic institutions. His affiliations include Plan International; BRAC—one of the world’s largest and most influential NGOs; the Southeast Asian Research Centre (SEARC) at City University of Hong Kong; the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand; and several Canadian universities including the University of Ottawa, Saint Mary’s University, and McMaster University. He has also served at the American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt, where he was Associate Director of the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) and Assistant Professor at the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP). Professor Ullah has provided consultancy services to prominent international organizations, including the World Bank, Dalhousie University (Canada), and International Development Department (IDD), UK. Prior to his current role at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), he played a pivotal role in shaping migration and refugee studies at AUC through strategic leadership and interdisciplinary research collaboration. Over the course of his career, Professor Ullah has successfully secured more than three million USD in competitive grants to support research and development initiatives. His work has spanned diverse geographical contexts, including South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, North America, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), reflecting a global engagement with critical issues in migration, development, and international relations.

Dr. Katja Heikkinen

Head of Education and Research, Faculty of Health and Well-being

Turku University of Applied Sciences, Finland

Katja Heikkinen, is a Doctor of Sciences in Health Sciences and a registered nurse. She is a leader of Master education and research in the faculty of a Health and Well-being at the Turku University of Applied Sciences in Finland (https://www.turkuamk.fi/en/about-us/organisation-and-management/health-and-well-being/).  She is a chair of the TUAS Research Ethics Committee. Board member of strategic management Cohehre (Consortium of Institutes of Higher Education in Health and Rehabilitation in Europe) https://www.cohehre.com/). She has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed and national publications and produced educational materials and written chapters for textbooks. She has contributed to national evidence-based guideline work on COPD patient care and surgical pain management through Hotus, the Nursing Research Foundation in Finland. Nursing Research Foundation sr, (NRF) in Finland (LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/katja-heikkinen-25a50b51/)

Dr. Nikolay N. Yagodka

Political Science Researcher and Senior Lecturer

People's Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow, Russia

Nikolay N. Yagodka is a political science researcher and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Public Administration at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) in Moscow, Russia.  (ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2354-3115) (e-mail: yagodka-nn@rudn.ru).

Dr. Said Al-Riyami

Associate Professor, College of Economics & Political Science (CEQS)

Sultan Qaboos University, Oman

Dr. Said Al-Riyami is an Associate Professor of Management and the Dean of the College of Economics & Political Science (EQUIS accredited), at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. Before joining academia, he worked in different public institutions. Dr. Said obtained his Ph.D and MBA from the University of Texas at El Paso, USA. He has published number of articles in Web of Science and Scopus Indexed journals. His main research interests include organizational leadership, job embeddedness, ostracicism, organizational behaviour and proactivity. Email: saidalriyami@squ.edu.om

Dr. Mostaq M. Hussain

Professor, Faculty of Business

University of New Brunswick-Saint John, Canada

Dr. Mostaq M. Hussain is a Professor of Accounting in the Faculty of Business at the University of New Brunswick-Saint John. He obtained his B.Com (with honors) and M.Com (in accounting) from the University of Dhaka and MSc, and Ph.D. (in Accounting) from the University of Vaasa, Finland. He worked in different universities in Japan (Nihon University), Sweden (Umeo University), Finland, Qatar (Qatar University), Kuwait (American University of Kuwait), UAE (University of Sharjah and Canadian University in Dubai) and Oman (Sultan Qaboos University. He is the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Accounting and Finance (IJAF). He has published a number of articles in international refereed journals and book chapters, and received more than two dozens of scholarships/awards from different institutions in Finland, Sweden, Japan, Norway, UK and Canada, including Literati Club’s 'Awards for Excellence', and Sultan Qaboos University’s 'Distinguished Research Award'.

Dr. Kamrul Hossain

Director, National Institute for Environmental and Minority Law (NIEML)

The Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Finland

Kamrul Hossain is an expert in international law. He is a Research Professor and the Director of the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law (NIEML) at the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland. Currently, he chairs the University of the Arctic’s Legal Research and Education and leads the Thematic Network on Arctic Law. His research mainly focuses on international environmental law, ocean governance, and human rights laws, especially as they relate to the Polar and the Arctic regions. Over the years, he has published extensively on nearly all aspects of Arctic governance, including climate change and environmental management, biodiversity, Arctic geopolitics and security, the law of the sea, and human rights, emphasizing legal, institutional, and policy perspectives. He has served as the Principal Investigator (PI) for approximately two dozen research grants at both the international and national levels, funded by organizations such as the Research Council of Finland, the Nordic research funding agency – NordForsk, the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM), the Finnish National Agency for Education, UArctic, the Sasakawa Foundation and the Council of the Baltic Sea States.

Dr. M Rezaul Islam

Professor & Chairman, Department of Public Health

University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

M. Rezaul Islam, PhD, is a distinguished academic and currently serves as a Professor at the Department of Public Health, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Previously, he was a Professor of Social Work at the Institute of Social Welfare and Research (ISWR), University of Dhaka. He holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) and a PhD from the University of Nottingham, UK, and brings over 30 years of experience in teaching, research, and global academic collaboration. Dr. Islam’s scholarship spans social work, public health, health and inequality, community development, migration, climate change, disasters, and social policy. He has published over 220 peer-reviewed journal articles, 50 book chapters, and 38 authored or edited books, many of which address critical issues in South Asia and the Arab world. He has held visiting and collaborative roles at institutions including the University of Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia, University of Johannesburg, and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD). Widely recognized for his commitment to social justice and empowerment of marginalized communities, Dr. Islam is also deeply engaged in research capacity building and doctoral supervision, guiding numerous scholars whose work contributes to advancing knowledge and practice in these vital fields.

Dr. Mohammad Mainul Islam

Former Chairman & Professor, Department of Population Sciences

University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dr. Mohammad Mainul Islam is a professor and former Chairman of the Department of Population Sciences at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, with over 23 years of experience in Population and Development, Sociology, Global Health, and China Studies. In 2025, Professor Islam was recognized as one of the world’s top 2% scientists on the list by Elsevier and Stanford University. Dr. Islam holds a PhD degree in Demography from Peking University of Beijing, China, where he received the First Prize of Academic Excellence Award, and later he completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Global Health at McGill University. He has also received advanced training from institutions including  Johns Hopkins, Stanford University, Brown University, University of Quebec, the University of Laval, University of Bergen, and Beijing Language and Culture University. As a scholar, Dr. Islam has authored over 89 scientific publications and presented at more than 250 conferences in both domestic and abroad. His research has appeared in The Lancet, Lancet Global Health, PLOS ONE, and other leading journals. He currently leads a China-Bangladesh comparative research project funded by CCS and SISS. Beyond his primary role, he teaches in the Departments of Chinese Language and Culture, Linguistics, and Sociology at the University of Dhaka. He has served on the Syndicate of Dhaka University and is currently a Syndicate member of Comilla University, nominated by the Government of Bangladesh.

Dr. Bijon Kumar Sil

Consultant R&D

 Mp. Biomedical Asia Pacific, Singapore

Dr. Bijon Kumar Sil is currently working as Consultant R&D at Mp Biomedicals Asia Pacific, Singapore. Dr. BIJON has completed his PhD at the age of 30 years from University of Surrey, UK and postdoctoral studies from Kittasato University, Japan in Immunology. He is the director of The Awesome Place an emerging Technology based R&D organization. His main area of interest focuses on Biomedical Sciences. His area of expertise includes Den, Immuno, Pattho, PCR, HCV, ELISA, Infect, RT-PCR, HIV, RT, Mab, MULTIPLEX-PCR, HBV, MULTIPLEX, Pab, and Chemillumi. He is author and co-author of 32 journal papers and attended over 20 international conferences world-wide.

Sadequl Islam

Professor, School of Social Sciences

Laurentian University, Canada. 

Currently a professor, and a former chair of economics at Laurentian University, Ontario, Canada. He studied at Rajshahi cadet college during 1966-1970 and obtained the first position in HSC examination in Arts under Rajshahi Board. During 1972-1977, he studied undergraduate and graduate economics at Dhaka university and ranked first in first class in Master of Arts degree from Dhaka university. He was also awarded a Chancellor’s Gold Medal by Dhaka University for writing the best essay on “ Problems of higher education in Bangladesh” in 1977. I hold an MA and a Ph.D in economics from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg. His research and teaching fields include macroeconomics, international economics, applied econometrics, and the Chinese economy. His publications include many articles in scholarly journals and a book The Textile and Clothing Sector of Bangladesh in a changing World Economy published by the centre for Policy Dialogue and the University Press. He was a visiting scholar at El Colegio de Mexico, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), and the Centre for Policy Dialogue, Dhaka. He presented many articles at seminars and conferences in Canada, USA, Sweden, France, UK, China, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.