A professor and five researchers from the University of Dhaka’s Institute of Applied Statistics and Data Science (IASDS) have received international awards at the ISCB–GMDS 2026 conference held in Freiburg, Germany, in recognition of their research.
Among the six award recipients, three are current students and two are recent graduates. Most of the research projects were led by IASDS Professor Dr Md Hasinur Rahman Khan. Two awardees could not attend the conference, while the other three presented their research and formally received their awards.
The joint conference of the International Society for Clinical Biostatistics (ISCB) and the German Association for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS) was held from September 27 to October 1. Around 1,400 researchers, academics and professionals from different countries participated in the event.
IASDS PhD researcher Nasrin Sultana received the prestigious ISCB Student Conference Award (STCA), which was awarded to only six young researchers worldwide.
Her research, titled “A Copula-Based Semi-Competing Risks Model for Recurrent and Terminal Events in Presence of Cure Fraction and Its Efficient Estimation via Stochastic Optimization,” was supervised primarily by Prof Dr Md Hasinur Rahman Khan, with Dr Mawdud Alam as co-supervisor.
Five IASDS researchers also received the Conference Attendance Support Program (CASP) Award, which was given to only 16 researchers worldwide.
The recipients were Prof Dr Md Hasinur Rahman Khan, Md Monowar Hossain and Maharun Nahar Jui from his research group, and recent graduates Md Hasibul Islam Jitu and Maliha Binte Alauddin.
Under the awards, the conference organisers covered the recipients’ registration fees, accommodation, conference courses, airfare and other related expenses.
The six IASDS researchers presented their work on areas including small area estimation, survival and competing risks analysis, spatial modelling, causal inference, high-dimensional variable selection and machine learning.
Their studies explored the use of modern statistical and data science methods to estimate reliable statistics for small areas in Bangladesh, identify important variables from high-dimensional data, analyse spatial effects, determine cause-and-effect relationships and assess different types of risks.
The researchers also exchanged views with international experts and researchers during scientific sessions, helping expand research networks and creating opportunities for future collaborative studies.
The conference was organised under the theme “Big Data. Small Data. Your Data. – Transitions in the Age of Biomedical AI.” It brought together researchers working on emerging statistical methods, modelling, artificial intelligence and data science in medical and health research.
The event also focused on strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration among biostatistics, epidemiology, medical informatics, bioinformatics, data science, biomedical AI, statistics, mathematics, computer science and biomedical research.
DU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr ABM Obaidul Islam congratulated the IASDS faculty members and researchers on receiving the international awards and research support.
He said the recognition earned by a faculty member, a PhD researcher and four young researchers from the same institute was a significant achievement for the university and Bangladesh’s statistics and data science research.
He also said the growing role of biomedical AI and data science in healthcare, public health and scientific research makes such international recognition particularly significant for strengthening the university’s global research visibility and expanding opportunities for international collaboration.
