This time Scientific Bangladesh interviewed Dr. Engr. Imran Khan, Associate Professor, Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), and Director, ICT Cell, Jashore University of Science and Technology (JUST). He has published record 9 articles during his PhD time. Here are his stories, experiences, and insights.
1. Scientific Bangladesh: Would you like to tell us about your academic and research life? In another way, how would you like to introduce yourself to our readers?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: I completed my PhD from the University of Otago, New Zealand (Centre for Sustainability and Dept. of Physics) and my M.Sc. in ECE, combinedly from the University of Ottawa, Canada, and Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET), Bangladesh. My B.Sc. in Engineering in ECE was also from KUET. Although I was first class first in my class and had the opportunity to join KUET as a faculty member, I was very keen to explore the technical job sector. Hence, I joined Banglalink as a Jr. Engineer in the Transmission Planning department in 2008. However, I did not find that job satisfactory enough as it was not possible to work independently. Thus, I decided to join the university as a lecturer. At present, I am serving as an Editorial Board Member for the SN Applied Sciences Journal published by Springer Nature. In addition, I am also acting as a special issue Editor for two journals, SN Applied Sciences, and Sustainability. I also lead the Energy Research Lab. at Jashore University of Science and Technology (JUST).
2. Scientific Bangladesh: What has made you a researcher and/or a teacher? In another way, what is the story behind your becoming a researcher?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: My actual research life started during my PhD journey, and I am still learning. There is an interesting history related to my research life that I must share. In my research centre (Centre for Sustainability), there is a practice that every fortnightly all the members of the research centre including Professors, Faculties, Post-docs, and all PhD and M.Sc. students have to meet in the meeting room to share their research outcomes/updates. If anyone publishes a research article in a peer-reviewed high-quality journal, he/she deserves a chocolate fish and great appreciation from the professors and faculties. I observed that in most of the meetings one of our Post-docs (Dr Debbie Hopkins, now at the University of Oxford) received chocolate fish for her research publications. Later, she was called the ‘publication queen’ of the centre. That event motivated me a lot toward research and publication. So, I set my goal that before finishing my PhD at the University of Otago, I had to publish quality research articles from my PhD thesis and show that I also can reach the top position among all the postgraduate students in the centre. Consequently, during my PhD journey, I published 9 journal articles in high-impact reputed journals and 2 IEEE conference papers. Interestingly, it is a record in my research centre. As far as I know, till today no other postgraduate students are able to break my record in the centre. Unfortunately, this type of research update meeting is absent in our universities in Bangladesh. Instead, we like to discuss many other topics including politics except research in any gathering in the universities.
3. Scientific Bangladesh: What is your research area? What type of research facilities/ infrastructures you have developed over the years and how?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: I am a multi-disciplinary researcher, and my research focuses on energy security challenges and transitions toward a low-carbon and sustainable future. I am interested in exploring the interactions between technology, society, environment, and economy in relation to energy access and security. Detailed insights from these explorations can underpin new policymaking related to resource efficiency, negative climate change, energy access, and resilience. A few of my research areas are prosumerism, sustainability assessment of electricity generation systems, electrical peak demand management, renewable solution to energy poverty for developing economies, waste to energy, and bioenergy. At JUST, I have started developing an Energy Research Lab. Unfortunately, the lab is not complete yet due to financial deficiency.
4. Scientific Bangladesh: Tell us about your publications and patent, if any. Tell more about your most loved publication/s and/or patents.
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: Most of my published articles are in international peer-reviewed journals published by renowned publishers such as Elsevier, Springer Nature, and AIP and can be found on my personal webpage (https://just.edu.bd/t/i-khan/publications). I have published numerous research articles, book chapters, and peer-reviewed conference articles. ‘Renewable Energy and Sustainability is my latest book published by Elsevier. I love multi-disciplinary energy research as I found it challenging to tackle many different aspects of different disciplines in the energy research field. My predominant focus is in the energy field of developing countries.
5. Scientific Bangladesh: Tells us about research grants and awards you have obtained till now.
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: Research is my passion and I love to do it. Although I received several research grants from my university, most of the time it is insufficient to purchase all the required experimental equipment. Regarding awards, I would say research publications in high-impact quality journals are my noteworthy achievements. In addition, securing a position in the world’s top 2% scientists list for the third time is another milestone in my research career. Notably, only two scientists were enlisted in the world’s top 2% scientists list from JUST for the career-long category this year and I am one of them. I think it is a great achievement for my academic and research career so far.
6. Scientific Bangladesh: Do you have any research that has been commercialized or developed products What should Bangladesh do to encourage the commercialization of research outputs?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: Not yet. However, in my Energy Research Lab, there are potential research outputs (e.g., IoT-based smart meters) that could be commercialized. In my opinion, the commercialization of any product that has been developed in a research lab depends on industry-academia collaboration, which is absent in Bangladesh at the moment. Additionally, we need to encourage our potential researchers (i.e., faculty members) to conduct more research in their respective research fields. Consequently, more research outputs will be available and from which the probability of commercialization would be increased. Unfortunately, in Bangladesh research practices in the universities are at the marginal level and one of the crucial reasons is the ‘same way of evaluation’ for everyone that is if you publish in high-impact journals or even in Nature or Science; you and the faculty member who publishes in predatory/local journals will receive the same benefit from the university during your next promotion/position. That is if you could fulfill the so-called publication criteria and experience in years of teaching you will be promoted to the next position. So, our promotions are not performance-based. Whereas this is completely different in the developed world. For instance, if you have outstanding performance in research there is a possibility that from a Lecturer position you could be promoted to Professor directly. So, for exceptionally talented faculties or researchers, we need performance-oriented promotion rules. Or at least we should provide incentives to outstanding researchers. BUET’s recent initiatives are good examples in this regard, which should be adopted by other universities in Bangladesh. As a result, the number of quality research publications and university ranking would be improved.
Funding
7. Scientific Bangladesh: How do you manage funds for research? From where do you get funds for research?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: Although not sufficient, there are many sources for research funds such as university research grants, the University Grants Commission(UGC), the Ministry of education, and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
8. Scientific Bangladesh: Do you think Bangladeshi researchers apply enough for international funds?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: No and one of the main reasons is the lack of information and willingness to write the research proposal.
9. Scientific Bangladesh: Inadequate fund for research is a major problem in Bangladesh. What would you say in response to pointing fingers by many to this basic problem worldwide, not only in Bangladesh?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: I agree with this point that we have inadequate research funding in Bangladesh. In developed countries majority of the research, funds come from the industry. In addition, the governments of developed countries understand the potentiality of research funding; therefore, they also provide funds to universities and research organizations. Whereas, in Bangladesh this is rare. In addition, there is a conceptual misunderstanding about research invention. In Bangladesh, people think research means inventing any new product; this might be true for some research fields. However, the research outputs vary from one subject area to another. So, adequate funding should be ensured for all research disciplines. For example, research in sustainability assessment in the energy sector might not invent a new product but it could show sustainable energy pathways for a sustainable future. Hence, ensuring research funds for sustainability is equally important as the research involved in inventing new products or medicine.
Supervisory experiences
10. Scientific Bangladesh: How many researchers (PhDs and Masters) have you developed by this time? In other words, share your supervisory experience and story.
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: At present, several undergraduate and postgraduate research students are working under my supervision in my Energy Research Lab.
11. Scientific Bangladesh: What 1. Qualities and 2. skills you expect in prospective researchers?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: In terms of quality, I would expect at least strong research ethics along with motivation from a prospective researcher. Skills vary from one research area to another. However, in general, a prospective researcher should have at least the following basic skills: project management capability, team-leading quality or ability to work in a team, good communication skills, data handling, and IT skills.
Editorial and Review experiences
12. Scientific Bangladesh: Tell us about your experience and story as a journal or book editor and reviewer.
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: At present, I am an Editorial Board member for the SN Applied Sciences Journal published by Springer Nature. I am also serving as a special issue Editor for two journals, SN Applied Sciences, and Sustainability. I have edited the book titled Renewable Energy and Sustainability published by Elsevier. I have served as a reviewer for numerous reputed journals in the energy field including Applied Energy, Renewable Energy, Journal of Cleaner Production, Renewable, and Sustainable Energy Reviews, and Energy Policy. Consequently, I have received ‘outstanding reviewer’ recognition from many journals such as Applied Energy, and Renewable Energy.
13. Scientific Bangladesh: How important is the experience of working as an editor of a scientific Journal and reviewer? What is your experience in those cases?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: It is very important to perform as an Editor or Reviewer for a scientific journal as it helps to know about the latest research and knowledge gap in the respective research field. It also helps to improve the critical thinking capability of the researcher.
Organizational experiences and stories
14. Scientific Bangladesh: What are the professional organizations of researchers you involved with? How important it is for researchers to join such professional bodies?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: The Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB)
15. Scientific Bangladesh: Do you think different professional bodies of scientists play their due role in Bangladesh? What are your suggestions for the leading professional organizations of scientists?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: Marginally. The leading professional organizations of scientists could play a vital role by suggesting the government ensure the involvement of a scientist in policy-making steps in his/her respective field. This is very important for effective policy making.
Suggestions from your experiences
16. Scientific Bangladesh: What would be your three suggestions for early career researchers?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan:
1) Be ethically sound while doing research. 2) Always try to be a learner instead of an expert. 3) A balance between personal life and research life must be maintained.
17. Scientific Bangladesh: If asked what will be your three suggestions for the Science Ministry of Bangladesh?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: 1) Ensure sufficient research grants to eligible researchers. 2) Provide more funds for research lab development in universities. 3) Scientists should get all sorts of support so that they do not need to think about their regular needs, rather they could contribute more to research and innovation.
18. Scientific Bangladesh: Would you like to give any suggestions to our university authorities?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: Promotion to the upper positions should be performance-based rather than experience-oriented. Encourage research by providing proper recognition and incentives to potential researchers.
Miscellaneous
19. Scientific Bangladesh: How important is leadership ability to become a great researcher? Should researchers take leadership training? Did you ever get training on Leadership?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: Leadership is one of the criteria to be a great researcher. Training might be helpful in this regard. No, I have not received any leadership training.
20. Scientific Bangladesh: Doing Research is a stressful job. What do you do to manage stress? do you exercise regularly?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: A balance between research life and personal life must be maintained. I try to maintain this balance.
21. Scientific Bangladesh: How important for the researcher to maintain an updated profile in the different professional networks?
Would you like to share your google scholar, LinkedIn, or any other profile?
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: This is important to maintain an updated profile to showcase your research. My google scholar: https://scholar.google.co.nz/citations?user=O6DbHRoAAAAJ&hl=en
23. Scientific Bangladesh: Would you want to contribute regularly to Scientific Bangladesh and have a profile as an Author? If yes, then register at https://scientificbangladesh.com/registration-2/
Dr. Engr. Imran Khan: Sometimes
Scientific Bangladesh: Thank you for sharing your experiences and insights. We look forward to your regular contributions to the Bangladeshi research ecosystem by and through Scientific Bangladesh.
