Udoy Saikia is a Social Demographer with postgraduate degrees from the London School of Economics, UK, and a PhD from Flinders University, Australia. His research focuses on “evidence-based policy research” related to population, human wellbeing, and sustainable development, a journey that began with his collaboration with the United Nations (UN) in Papua New Guinea, leading to the production of the Bougainville Human Development Report 2007. Udoy has published over 50 scholarly articles, book chapters, and refereed conference papers or reports.
The “Human Wellbeing Index,” the most innovative aspect of his research, has been the core focus of recent UN Human Development Reports. As the Lead Author and Team Leader, he completed the research project that resulted in the National Human Development Report for Timor-Leste in 2018, which provided policy pathways to achieve a demographic dividend. His work has garnered attention from policymakers at the highest level in Timor-Leste, reflecting the international impact of his research. Udoy has over 14 years of experience working with the UN system, demonstrating his research leadership through various national and international collaborations, securing a total of AUD $1.5 million in research grants, including two ongoing Australian Research Council (ARC) grants: an ARC Linkage grant ($458,790) as the Lead Chief Investigator and an ARC Discovery grant ($490,170) as a Co-Investigator.
He has successfully supervised 25 PhD students, including four ongoing candidates. His contributions to teaching have been recognized with several awards, including the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2011), the Citations for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2012) from the Office of Learning and Teaching, Government of Australia, and the College Research Excellence Award (2021).
Udoy has also served as Vice President of the Australian Population Association, the leading professional body for population research in Australia, for two consecutive terms (2011-2015), and was reappointed for the 2019-2021 term. Additionally, he is one of three Australian experts appointed by the International Science Council (ISC) to review the United Nations Global Report on Sustainable Development in 2019.