After Oxford and Cambridge, this Daffodil Uni professor is off to Harvard

Professor Kudrat-e-Khuda, a faculty member and associate dean of the law department at Daffodil International University, has been appointed to the editorial board of the Yearbook of International Environmental Law, published by the University of Oxford.

The Oxford University Press publishes over 500 journals and a few of them include editorial or advisory board members from Bangladesh. These include four from the University of Dhaka and one each from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology and Noakhali University of Science and Technology.

Professor Kudrat-e-Khuda has conducted over fifty research projects since the beginning his academic career, focusing on environmental law, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and cyber security. His research has been published in prestigious journals from Oxford, Cambridge, and McGill University, as well as by major academic publishers like Springer, SAGE, Taylor & Francis, Routledge, and Thomson Reuters. He believes these contributions led to his selection for the editorial board at Oxford.

In June, he was invited to an international conference on legal philosophy organised by Oxford's Faculty of Law. Later in September, he participated in a professional fellowship at Cambridge University. Previously, he served as an associate member at Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement during 2020–2021.

Professor Kudrat-e-Khuda mainly works on environmental issues and cyber security. His environmental studies cover air, water, river and soil pollution in Dhaka, as well as issues such as e-waste, medical waste, the impact of brick kilns and plastics on human health and the environment, and the interrelationship between environmental protection and human rights. He has also researched cyber security in Bangladesh, focusing on legal and institutional gaps, social media-related cyber crimes, and the challenges and opportunities in the use of artificial intelligence.

One of his most impactful studies is on the Rohingya crisis, published in Cogent Social Sciences, a Taylor & Francis journal. It has been read over 54,391 times, making it one of the top ten most-read articles in the journal’s history.

Professor Kudrat-e-Khuda shared a personal story that marked the beginning of his serious commitment to research. Early in his PhD programme, a friend who had published a paper in the IBS journal questioned his ability to understand academic research because of his law background. That moment sparked a strong determination in him. Just six months later, he published his own paper in the same journal and proudly showed it to that friend.

He was invited to a Harvard Law School event earlier, but couldn’t attend in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He participated online instead. This year, he has been invited again to an event at Harvard, giving him the chance to finally attend in person.

At 42, his accomplishments are impressive. From junior scholarships to fellowships from Cambridge University, the Asian Development Bank, IBS, IAF (Germany), and several awards including the DIU Best Research Award and Global Pitch Award—his accolades span the globe. He is also one of three legal experts from Bangladesh selected by the Bangladesh Accreditation Council.

Currently, he serves as Country Director for the Digital Society Project at North Dakota State University, and as a research fellow at INTI International University (Malaysia) and Shinawatra University (Thailand). He is also a visiting professor at Lyceum of the Philippines University and Chandigarh University in India.

He is on the editorial boards of 12 peer-reviewed journals published in countries such as Canada, Germany, Saudi Arabia, India, and Turkey. He sees all his achievements as equally significant but considers his fellowship at Germany’s International Academy for Leadership—focused on open society and liberalism—as a milestone.

An alumnus of Rajshahi University, Professor Kudrat-e-Khuda encourages young people to avoid wasting time and to pursue practical education and training. He stresses the importance of structured planning and becoming skilled and competent, urging students to focus on applied research.