Skip to content
Zahirul IslamEvidence Atlas
Short CV generated from this website. The full CV (35 pages, 107 assignments) is available as a PDF.
Full CV (PDF)

Md. Zahirul Islam

Senior Research, MEAL & MIS Specialist

Data Analyst · Data Systems Architect · Full-Stack Web Developer

zahirul.islam@arced-international.com
+880 1688 831919
Dhaka, Bangladesh
iamzahirul.com

Profile

13+ years designing, running and analysing surveys, impact evaluations and randomized controlled trials; 100+ research assignments for universities, UN agencies, governments and NGOs; 30+ international partners. Builds the data systems, dashboards and web platforms behind programmes (29 live).

Experience

Survey Design & Field Quality Assurance Specialist — ARCED International2026 – Present · Nairobi / Dhaka

Technical team member on evaluation and research bids in Kenya and East Africa.

  • Bids include ActionAid LRP evaluations, a Christian Aid energy-access evaluation, the IUCN CREATES baseline and a MEDA climate-smart agriculture assessment.
  • Owns questionnaire design and programming, enumerator screening and training, high-frequency checks, back-checking and audio audits.
  • Maintains consent registers and evidence ledgers; cleans and documents data.
Senior Project Associate — ARCED FoundationJan 2023 – Present · Dhaka

Research Associate on university-led field experiments and evaluations — from instrument design through field operations to clean, documented datasets.

  • Clean-air and air-filter RCTs in garment factories and households (UC San Diego), with sensor, productivity and health data streams.
  • CDSP IV impact assessment in coastal Noakhali (IFPRI/IFAD); Skill for Growth firm survey in Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj (Minnesota).
  • World Bank education studies: formative-assessment impact evaluation, learning-loss assessment, teacher and student phone surveys, climate-action mindsets in 140 schools.
  • Technical and financial proposals, budgets, IRB submissions, data-security protocols; mentors junior staff.
  • Brick-kiln tracker and dashboard across 43 districts with the Department of Environment (NUS, 2023–present).
Project Associate — ARCED FoundationJan 2020 – Dec 2022 · Dhaka

Study Coordinator and Field Manager on COVID-era research.

  • World Bank remote-learning RCT and teacher surveys; REACH to TEACH virtual teacher training.
  • GAIN price tracing; University of York internet-user study; IFRC market-based livelihoods assessment in Teknaf.
  • Sesame Workshop early-learning baseline; USAID/MTaPS programme evaluation.
Project Assistant — ARCED FoundationMay 2017 – Dec 2020 · Dhaka

Survey and study coordination for tracer studies, baselines and evaluations.

  • Tracer studies: ILO B-SEP across 47 districts; Swisscontact B-SkillFUL.
  • Baselines and evaluations for Oxfam, Plan International, BDRCS, Islamic Relief, Save the Children and Action Against Hunger.
  • SurveyCTO programming, translation, audio checks and field reporting.
Junior Project Assistant — ARCED FoundationMay 2013 – Apr 2017 · Dhaka

Field supervision, data-entry systems and analysis support — the foundation years in data digitisation and field quality control.

  • Studies for IPA, MIT, BIGD/UCL, University of Warwick, SANEM, HELVETAS, Swisscontact and Terre des Hommes.
Senior Research Officer (R&D) — Chowdhury GroupAug 2008 – Apr 2013 · Bangladesh

Research and development support for the group's businesses — the start of a long habit of building systems other people can rely on.

Selected studies

  • Demand for Clean Air in the Workplace — UC San Diego, Nov 2025 – Mar 2026. Ready-made garment factories, Bangladesh.
  • Impact Assessment of CDSP IV — IFPRI, IFAD, Nov 2024 – Feb 2025. Companiganj, Hatiya and Subarnachar, Noakhali.
  • Skill for Growth — Human Capital & Labour-Market Frictions — University of Minnesota, Apr 2024 – Feb 2025. Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj.
  • Household Air Filter Project — UC San Diego, Dec 2022 – Mar 2025. Pallabi and Mirpur, Dhaka; 40-household pilot → 1,000-household scale-up → 2,500-household follow-on.
  • Father Engagement in Humanitarian Play Labs — New York University, LEGO Foundation, 2022 – 2023. Rohingya camps and host communities, Cox's Bazar; 1,000 fathers and 1,000 mothers of children aged 0–24 months.
  • Shaping Student Mindsets for Climate Action — World Bank, Mar – May 2024. 140 schools, Bangladesh; 140 schools · 8,400 students · 560 teachers.
  • EZ-Bike Battery Market — Audit & Exit Surveys — Stanford University, Georgetown University, ADB, PEDL, 2024 – 2025. Electric three-wheeler battery market, Bangladesh.
  • Garments Whistleblowing Escrow — Endline — Columbia University, Princeton University, Ben-Gurion University, 2022 – present. Dhaka, Savar, Narayanganj, Comilla and Chittagong; 6,700 apparel workers.
  • Brick Kiln Tracker — 43 districts — National University of Singapore, Department of Environment, Bangladesh, 2023 – present. 43 districts, nationwide; 43 districts.

Publications

  • Bazaluk, O., Kader, S. A., Zayed, N. M., Islam, Md. Zahirul, et al. (2024). Determinant on Economic Growth in Developing Country: A Special Case Regarding Turkey and Bangladesh. Journal of the Knowledge Economy (Springer).
  • Gomes, R., & Islam, M. (2024). An examination of residents' mental health in particular Dhaka City neighborhoods in the context of civic health and environmental well-being. Research Square.
  • Islam, Md. Z., Chowdhury, R., & Alam, Md. M. (2024). Building Sustainable Futures: Integrative Strategies for Disaster Resilience and Economic Empowerment in Cox's Bazar. ARCED Foundation with GUK — quantitative baseline of 908 Rohingya and host-community participants.
  • Ishaq, M., Islam, Md. E., Rahman, H., Rahman, & Islam, Md. Z. (2022). COVID-19 lockdowns and tobacco use among private university students in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Global Journal for Research Analysis, Vol. 11, Issue 2.

Education

  • Professional Master of Development Studies (PMDS), Jagannath University, Dhaka (2018 – 2019)
  • MBA, Human Resource Management, Atish Dipankar University of Science & Technology, Dhaka (2010 – 2012)
  • Bachelor of Arts (BA), Pangsha Government College, National University of Bangladesh (2005 – 2009)

Training & certifications

  • Reproducible Research Fundamentals — World Bank Group — DIME Analytics (2025)
  • Crash Course on Effective Research Communications — BIGD, BRAC University (2025)
  • WEkEO for Atmosphere Monitoring (workshop) — Copernicus & Mercator Ocean International (2025)
  • Data science & analytics series (incl. Power BI, NumPy, regression in ML) — UniAthena with Cambridge International Qualifications (2025)
  • Human Subjects Research — SBE Foundations — CITI Program (—)
  • Data Ethics, AI and Responsible Innovation — The University of Edinburgh (2020)
  • Research Ethics — The Global Health Network (2019)
  • Protecting Human Research Participants — NIH Office of Extramural Research (2018)
  • Professional Project Management (35-hour PMP preparation) — Project Management Solutions Bangladesh (2016)

Tools

  • Statistics & analysis: Stata, R, SPSS, Python (pandas, NumPy), Excel (advanced)
  • Data collection: SurveyCTO, ODK, KoboToolbox, Survey Solutions, CSPro, SurveyMonkey
  • Dashboards & GIS: Power BI, Tableau, Looker Studio, ArcGIS, QGIS, Google Earth
  • Methods: RCTs & impact evaluation, Tracer studies, Audit studies, CATI phone surveys, FGD / KII / IDI
  • Web & design: HTML5 / CSS3, WordPress, GitHub, Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator

Profiles

  • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7167-178X
  • Google Scholar: scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22Md.+Zahirul+Islam%22
  • Research & data profile: iamzahirul.github.io
  • ARCED Foundation profile: arced.foundation/profile?slug=zahirul-islam
  • LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zahirul-islam-dhaka/
  • Google Site: sites.google.com/view/zahirul97
  • GitHub: github.com/iamzahirul
  • Web & MIS portfolio: zahirul.vercel.app
  • Facebook: www.facebook.com/zahirulislam07
  • X (Twitter): x.com/raselnet97