Dr. Maria Sultana

Dr. Maria Sultana is an Assistant Professor of Finance and Program Manager (MS) in the Department of Management Sciences at Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University (STMU). She brings over ten years of university teaching, research, and academic management experience. Her primary research expertise covers climate and sustainable finance, energy transition economics, ESG and corporate governance, asset pricing, and digital financial systems, supported by advanced applied econometrics (System GMM, Driscoll-Kraay, panel data, ARDL, PCA/composite index construction). As an HEC-approved PhD supervisor, she actively guides doctoral and master’s research theses, oversees program quality assurance (QEC Focal Person, SAR, PREE, RAC), and maintains a consistent record of Scopus/Web of Science-indexed publications.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

ACADEMIC & TEACHING EXPERIENCE

ADMINISTRATIVE & MANAGEMENT ROLES

CORE COMPETENCIES & TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Research Domains: Climate & Sustainable Finance, Energy Transition Economics, ESG Regulation, Corporate Governance, Financial Stability, FinTech & AI in Financial Systems.
• Econometric & Analytical Tools: System GMM, Driscoll-Kraay Estimation, Panel Models, ARDL, Cross-Sectional Dependence Testing, PCA & Composite Index Construction.
• Software & Software Suites: Stata, Python, EViews, Excel, VOSviewer, Gephi, CiteSpace, SPSS.
• Quality Assurance & Accreditation: SAR Preparation, PREE Assessment, Relevance Assessment Committee (RAC), Curriculum Design.

RESEARCH SUPERVISION

• PhD Supervision: HEC-Approved PhD Supervisor. Currently primary supervisor for 3 PhD scholars and co-supervisor for 1 PhD scholar at STMU.
• MS Thesis Supervision: Supervised 13 Master of Science research theses to successful completion.
• Examiner & Committees: Served as Internal/External Examiner for MS viva voce defenses; Member of PhD Supervisory Research Committee.

HONORS & AWARDS

• HEC Approved PhD Supervisor: Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan (2021).
• HEC Indigenous Scholarship: Awarded for doctoral studies (2014).
• Dean’s Roll of Honour: MS Management Sciences, CUST Islamabad (2012).

SELECTED RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

1. Aman, R., Hussain, A., Kijkasiwat, P., Yang, L., Sultana, M., & Adjapong, S. O. (2026). Global pathways to sustainability: ESG practices driving SDG achievement. Discover Sustainability (Springer Nature). [Scopus Q1 / WoS ESCI]
2. Zhang, T., Sultana, M., & Bibi, R. (2026). Understanding L2 willingness to communicate: The interplay of growth mindset, foreign language enjoyment and anxiety. BMC Psychology. [SSCI / Scopus Q1]
3. Naheed, R., Farooq, A., Sultana, M., & Javaid, M. Q. (2025). Renewable energy and fiscal resilience: Unlocking the path to sustainable economic stability. The Critical Review of Social Sciences Studies, 3(1), 1561-1574.
4. Mirza, H. H., Rasheed, M. H., Sultana, M., Saghir, A., Khalid, J., & Nordin, N. M. (2025). Influence of reporting tone on organisational performance: An exploration of agency and behavioural theory across Chinese firms. Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Journal, 20(2), 1-20.
5. Siddique, A. B., Ahmad, S., Sultana, M., et al. (2025). Evaluating the impact of capital budgeting parameters on economic prosperity in Pakistan: A time-series analysis using the ARDL model. Administrative and Management Sciences Journal, 3(2), 176-190.