Aqeel Awan holds a BSc Hons in Economics and Politics from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), and an MPhil in Development Studies from the Lahore School of Economics. He joined LSE with over five years of experience in academic and policy research.

Aqeel has multiple awards and honours to his name. Including LSE’s PhD Studentship, Aqeel has won four competitive scholarships. These awards fully funded his education from high school to undergraduate and graduate level. He was also awarded a gold medal by the Lahore School of Economics for his accomplishments. 

Aqeel has published his research in Human Relations. He also contributes to Pakistan’s newspapers and magazines – The News International and The Friday Times – with opinion pieces.

Aqeel finds himself particularly inclined towards conducting research on informal organisations and the power dynamics which arise from the contradictions between formal and informal organisational structures. He has conducted extensive research on the organisational, work and economic lives of a transgender community – Khwajasiras of Pakistan. He is also currently exploring livelihood construction among the dispossessed fisher folks of Karachi, Pakistan.