Prof Golam Rasul among world’s top 2pc scientists
Professor Golam Rasul of IUBAT has been ranked 10th among Bangladeshi researchers and 16,733rd worldwide in the 2026 Stanford–Elsevier database of the world’s top 2 per cent scientists, extending his inclusion to eight consecutive years since 2019.
The recognition is particularly notable because Professor Rasul is the first former Bangladesh Civil Service officer to be included in the database, marking an unusual career trajectory from public administration to internationally recognized research and policy leadership.
Based on the August 2026 Scopus data, the database is compiled by a team led by Stanford University’s John P. A. Ioannidis uses standardized citation indicators to assess research impact.
Professor Rasul is included in both the Career-Long Impact and Single-Year Impact categories, reflecting sustained as well as recent scholarly influence.
From civil service to international science
Professor Rasul’s career has followed an unusual path. After graduating from Jahangirnagar University, where he studied economics, he joined the Bangladesh Civil Service Administration Cadre and served for more than 15 years in government, including in ministries and field administration.
He later obtained a PhD in Regional and Rural Development Planning from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand, and moved increasingly into research, teaching and international development policy.
Before joining the International University of Business Agriculture and Technology (IUBAT) in 2022, he served as Chief Economist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu.
His experience in public administration, combined with advanced training in development planning, has shaped a research career that connects economic analysis with the institutional realities of development policy.
Research at the food-water-energy-climate nexus
Professor Rasul’s research spans agriculture, food security, poverty and livelihoods, environmental sustainability, climate change adaptation, natural-resource management and the food-water-energy nexus.
A central theme of his work is that development challenges cannot be addressed effectively in isolation.
His research on the food-water-energy nexus, particularly in South Asia and the Hindu Kush Himalaya, has examined these interconnections and their implications for poverty, livelihoods and resilience.
This system’s perspective has become increasingly important as countries confront climate change, resource constraints and growing economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
A sustained record of research impact
Professor Rasul has authored around 200 scientific publications and policy papers, with his research receiving more than 12,000 citations according to publicly available citation data.
His research has evolved from early work on rural development, agriculture, poverty and livelihoods to broader questions of climate change, environmental sustainability, resource management and the food-water-energy nexus.
More recently, his work has examined food systems, energy security, global economic shocks, resilience and the political economy of sustainable development.
At IUBAT, he continues to combine research and teaching with policy engagement and public communication.
He regularly contributes to national, regional and international media on development, economic, environmental and geopolitical issues, bringing research-based perspectives to debates on Bangladesh’s economy, food security, energy, climate change, sustainability and regional affairs.
