• Development economics
• Applied microeconomics
• Gender economics
• Economics of education and health

Bilal has completed his PhD in Economics from the Department of Economic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Following the completion of his doctoral studies, he worked as a post-PhD fellow at IIT Kanpur for six months. He holds a postgraduate degree in Economics from the Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi, and an undergraduate degree in Physics, Mathematics, and Electronics from the University of Kashmir.

His doctoral thesis, titled ​“Essays on Gender Norms and Outcomes over the Life-cycle”, examines the influence of gender norms on individual and household outcomes across different stages of life. His work contributes to a deeper understanding of how social and cultural factors shape economic behaviors and outcomes.

His research interests lie in the areas of development economics and applied microeconomics, with a particular focus on gender, families, and household decision-making. He explores the interactions within families and communities that drive economic choices and outcomes.

Alongside working with large-scale secondary datasets, he is also interested in designing and implementing primary data collection, including Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), to generate evidence for policy.