Fast-track your analytical and strategic expertise with CERP Learning Hub’s 2026-2027 programs. Whether you are building core capabilities through our 1-day online Foundation Courses or mastering high-stakes decision-making in our 2-day in-person Masterclasses, each offering pairs rigorous empirical methods with hands-on application to help you lead in an evolving landscape.
Bridge the gap between evidence and action through our Smart Policy for Practitioners masterclass. Taking place at CERP, Lahore, from November 11th to 12th, 2026, this two day, in depth course brings senior practitioners together to examine where research evidence succeeds, and fails, at driving real policy change. Participants will learn to tell technically sound evidence apart from politically actionable evidence, evaluate policy proposals on political feasibility as well as technical merit, and apply a stakeholder influence mapping exercise to a live or recent issue. The course closes with participants constructing a short policy translation pitch, converting a research finding into an actionable recommendation for a named decision maker.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Faculty
Nadia Mukhtar
Applied Economist & Lecturer
Nadia Mukhtar is an applied economist and Lecturer at LUMS, holding an MSc in Economics for Development from the University of Oxford. She brings extensive consulting and policy experience advising the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, USAID, FCDO, and Pakistan's Ministry of Commerce on international trade strategy, regional integration, and industrial competitiveness.
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Designed for researchers, analysts, and monitoring and evaluation professionals, the Advanced Econometrics for Impact Evaluation masterclass provides an applied deep dive into the econometric techniques used to estimate causal impact. This two day, in depth course, taking place at CERP Lahore from February 17th to 18th, 2027, goes beyond a methods survey. Participants will assess whether a study's identification strategy credibly isolates cause and effect, differentiate econometric methods including RCTs, difference in differences, regression discontinuity, and instrumental variables based on their underlying assumptions and appropriate use cases, and apply an appropriate method to a structured practice dataset. The course closes with participants reviewing a peer's evaluation design and proposing a specific methodological improvement.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Faculty
Tareena Musaddiq
Assistant Professor, LUMS
Tareena Musaddiq is an Assistant Professor of Economics at LUMS. Her research applies quantitative methods to evaluate the effectiveness of education and health policies, with a focus on improving outcomes for children from early childhood through college-going. She has worked on topics including early childhood education, the role of edtech in supporting student learning, school meal programs, child and maternal health, and girls' education and early marriage in Pakistan. Prior to joining LUMS, she was a Researcher at Mathematica and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgia State University.
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Inclusive policies require inclusive evidence. The Gender, Inclusion, and Evidence in Program Design masterclass explores how data and research can be used to identify inequalities, evaluate program designs, and inform policies that leave no one behind. This two day, in depth course, taking place at CERP Lahore from April 28th to 29th, 2027, brings gender specialists together to examine whether program designs genuinely account for gendered barriers to access, and to tell gender blind, gender sensitive, and gender transformative approaches apart using real examples. Participants will evaluate the evidence base behind an inclusion focused intervention for its weaknesses, apply an inclusion audit framework to a real or sample program, and propose a specific, evidence backed design adjustment to improve outcomes.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
1. Analyze how a given program design accounts for (or fails to account for) gendered barriers to access, across sectors such as social protection, health, and education.
2. Differentiate between gender-blind, gender-sensitive, and gender-transformative program design, using concrete examples across different sectors and contexts.
3. Evaluate the evidence base behind an inclusion-focused intervention for methodological or contextual weaknesses.
4. Apply an inclusion-audit framework to a real or sample program design, drawing on examples from social protection, health, education, or other relevant sectors.
5. Propose one specific design adjustment to improve a program's gender/inclusion outcomes, grounded in evidence discussed during the session.
Faculty
Hadia Majid
Associate Professor & Chairperson Department of Economics, LUMS
Dr. Hadia Majid is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at LUMS. Her research agenda considers the impact of monetary and public resource constraints on individuals in Pakistan with a special focus on women’s access to decent, empowering work. She has published in international journals and is currently editing a book titled Gender at Work in Pakistan. She has received grants from several agencies including ESRC-DFID, Oxfam, IDRC, IGC, IFPRI among others and has acted as a consultant for numerous government and non-governmental agencies on gendered labor market outcomes. A Fulbright scholar, she has a PhD from The Ohio State University and MSc from University of Warwick.
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Impact measurement starts here.
Build a strong foundation in monitoring, evaluation, and learning through the Fundamentals of Impact Evaluation training. Scheduled for 30th September 2026, this online, day-long course introduces participants to the distinct roles of monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEAL) within program design, along with practical frameworks for evaluation, indicator development, and impact measurement. Participants will leave equipped to construct theories of change, select and justify indicators, and critically assess evaluation plans to strengthen program design and efficiency across sectors.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Faculty
Shabeeh Haider Raza
Project Manager, Civil Service Project
Shabeeh Haider Raza is Project Manager on CERP's Civil Service Project, evaluating bureaucrats' preferences, motivation, and performance for researchers at LSE, UC Davis, and the University of Bristol. He holds a Master of Economics from the University of Melbourne, with interests in development, health, and behavioral economics.
Before CERP, he worked at the Punjab Board of Investment & Trade, analyzing
macroeconomic trends for provincial investment policy.
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As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into decision-making, understanding its ethical implications is more important than ever.
Join our course on Data, Ethics & AI, scheduled for October 21st, 2026. This online, day-long training goes beyond theory where participants will examine real AI use cases to identify where bias can enter a system, learn to distinguish privacy risk from ethical risk, and apply a practical ethical-review checklist to a real dataset or tool. Through a structured debate on the trade-off between speed and safeguards, participants will leave with one concrete step they can apply to a real risk in their own work.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Faculty
Shanze Fatima Rauf
PhD Candidate & Teaching Assistant (Department of Political Science)
Shanze Fatima Rauf is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, where she has served as a teaching assistant for courses including Global Development: Data, Politics and Practice and International Political Economy. Before joining Penn, she worked as a Research Associate on projects examining women's political participation and mobility in Pakistan, including Metaketa V and DFID's A4EA research programme. She holds a Master's degree in Politics from New York University, where she was a recipient of the Fulbright Master's Scholarship and the GSAS Tuition Scholarship.
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Develop the skills to design and conduct rigorous research through our training on Introduction to Research Methods. An online, day-long course held on November 25th, 2026, this immersive session equips participants with practical knowledge of research design and sampling strategy while also building the critical skills to choose the right method for a given research question and spot weaknesses in existing study designs. Participants will leave having drafted a mini research proposal outline and evaluated a real published study to identify its strongest limitation.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Faculty
Kamran Khan Niazi
Economist / PhD Candidate in Development Economics
Kamran Khan Niazi is an Economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and a PhD candidate in Development Economics at Wageningen University. At FAO, he has spent the past several years conducting impact evaluations of development programs. Prior to joining FAO, he was a Research Manager at Precision Development (PxD), where his work centered on quantifying program impact. He holds a Master's in Economics from the Toulouse School of Economics and a Master's in International Affairs from the Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID).
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AI tools can now write Python for you, but only if you can tell them what to build, read what they produce, and spot when it's wrong. This one-day, hands-on online course teaches you Python fundamentals and shows you how to work alongside AI assistants as a practical skill, not a shortcut. No prior programming experience is needed. You'll write real code, use AI to speed up your learning and problem-solving, and finish the day having automated a small task of your own.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the day, you will be able to:
1. Write and run Python programs using core building blocks: variables, data types, conditionals, loops, functions, and basic data structures (lists, dictionaries).
2. Read and understand code, including code you didn't write, so you can judge whether it does what you intended.
3. Prompt AI coding assistants effectively to generate, explain, and improve Python code.
4. Debug and verify AI-generated code, spotting common errors, hallucinated functions, and subtle logic bugs before they cause problems.
5. Work with files and data, such as reading CSVs and Excel files and cleaning and summarizing data.
6. Automate a real-world task from your own work or life using Python and AI assistance.
7. Continue learning independently with a clear roadmap, a working setup, and habits for using AI as a tutor rather than a crutch.
Faculty
Syed Basit Ali
Associate Director, CERP Labs
Syed Basit Ali is the Associate Director at CERP Labs with over 21 years of experience in software engineering, tech leadership, and academic instruction. He has founded tech ventures, led engineering teams of 40+ developers, and brought over 100 mobile apps and digital solutions to market. With more than a decade of university teaching experience—including at Information Technology University (ITU)—he has trained thousands of students and professionals in Python, machine learning, and core software development. He holds an MS in Computer Science from LUMS.
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Introducing our online Public Policy Advocacy Foundations course on February 3rd, 2027. This day long training equips participants to map stakeholders and power dynamics, identify the right entry point within the policy cycle for a given issue, and build a coalition strategy for a sample campaign. Through the critique of a real world advocacy campaign, participants will examine what drives success or failure in practice, before drafting their own one page advocacy pitch using the session's framing techniques.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Faculty
Anum Malkani
Public Affairs & Strategic Policy Advisor (former Regional Lead at Visa & Amazon Web Services)
Anum brings over a decade of experience in public affairs, policy development, and strategic advisory across Middle East and Asia Pacific.
She has held regional leadership roles at Visa (Middle East) and Amazon Web Services (Asia Pacific), where she led government engagement strategies across diverse markets, designed and executed high impact policy programs, and helped shape evolving policy and regulatory ecosystems. Earlier in her career, she worked at Microsoft and Deloitte Consulting, strengthening her foundation at the intersection of technology, policy, and business.
Anum’s thought leadership has been widely published, and she has spoken at conferences and webinars across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and AsiaPacific. Known for her ability to navigate geopolitical complexity and forge strategic alliances, she brings a distinctive combination of technical expertise, commercial insight, and diplomatic skill.
Anum holds a BA in Economics from Claremont McKenna College (USA) and an MBA from INSEAD (France). She is also certified in Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence.
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Discover how generative AI is reshaping the way data is analysed and interpreted. Introducing the Generative AI in Data Analysis course on March 17th, 2027. This online, day long training helps participants judge which analytical tasks are genuinely suited to GenAI assistance, apply prompt engineering to get precise, usable output, and run a full mini analysis from data exploration through to summary. Participants will also learn to catch inaccurate or hallucinated output and build a simple QA process to validate GenAI assisted work before relying on it.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Faculty
Sharyar Irfan
Senior FP&A Analyst (Europe Region)
Sharyar Irfan is a Senior FP&A Analyst based in the United Kingdom, with over a decade of experience in financial planning, analysis, and business partnering across global industries including enterprise software, manufacturing, retail FMCG, and professional services. He currently works in FP&A for the Europe region at IFS, a multinational enterprise software company, where he specialises in forecasting, financial modelling, KPI design, and strategic insight for senior leadership.
He holds a First‑Class BSc (Econ) from the University of Buckingham, an MBA with Distinction from Bangor University, and is a qualified ACMA, CGMA and Chartered Banker. His professional background includes group level analytical roles at PTT GC - Matrix Polymers and Countrywide/Connells Group, where he delivered reporting automation, budgeting & forecasting frameworks, and performance management systems.
Sharyar is passionate about mentoring and advancing evidence based decision making, with a growing focus on GenAI enabled analytical workflows and capacity building for emerging professionals.
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From planning and resource allocation to execution and delivery, successful projects rely on sound management practices. The Introduction to Project Management course scheduled for April 13th, 2027, is an online, day long training that equips participants to sequence a project lifecycle and map out its dependencies, and apply planning tools such as Gantt charts and RACI matrices to a real project scenario. Participants will also learn to identify the risk factors most likely to derail a project timeline, build a basic mitigation plan, and critique a real project plan to propose a concrete improvement.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Faculty
Mehr Tiwana
Director, Learning Hub
Mehr Tiwana is a strategic communications leader and PMP-certified project management professional with over 12 years of experience crafting impactful narratives for global non-profits, educational institutions, and social impact organisations. After earning a Master's in Communication from Western Sydney University, she began her career in Pakistan, holding progressive communications roles at leading educational and research organisations, including LUMS and CERP, where she also designed and led professional development and skills building initiatives for diverse stakeholder groups. She later moved to Canada, where she applied her expertise in multichannel campaign strategy, project management, and stakeholder engagement at World Education Services. Her work fosters inclusive messaging, strengthens organisational brand, and enhances internal and external collaboration, while building the capabilities of teams and communities through structured learning and development programming.
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Negotiation is a core leadership capability. Whether securing stakeholder support, aligning competing priorities, building partnerships, managing clients, allocating resources or resolving disagreements, professionals negotiate every day. Effective negotiators do more than advocate for their position. They understand interests, prepare alternatives, build trust, manage relationships and create conditions for better decisions.
This workshop introduces practical negotiation frameworks while developing the broader capabilities that drive successful outcomes: stakeholder analysis, influence, trust-building, communication and strategic preparation. The course combines concise evidence-based inputs, practical exercises, peer-to-peer simulations, reflection activities and facilitated debriefs.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
1. Diagnose the interests, incentives and constraints that influence negotiation outcomes.
2. Prepare a structured negotiation strategy using BATNA analysis, stakeholder mapping and objective criteria.
3. Apply active listening, framing and relationship-building techniques during a live negotiation exercise.
4. Recognize how trust, influence and communication shape organizational decision-making.
5. Analyze negotiation outcomes and identify the behaviours that influenced the result.
6. Develop a practical action plan to strengthen negotiation and stakeholder-management effectiveness.
Faculty
Huzaifa Akhtar
Partner (Economic Advisory practice, EY-Parthenon)
Huzaifa Akhtar is a Partner in EY Canada’s Economic Advisory practice (EY-Parthenon), based in Toronto. She advises public and private sector leaders on high-stakes strategic, investment, and policy decisions grounded in rigorous economic analysis and stakeholder alignment. Her portfolio covers market opportunity assessment, sector and workforce strategy, economic forecasting, and risk resilience across healthcare, consumer sectors, and education. She specializes in applying evidence-based economic frameworks to navigate complex multi-stakeholder negotiations and drive lasting value.
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