Dr Muhammad Aizat bin Zainal Alam is currently the Deputy Director of Research at the Social Wellbeing Research Centre (SWRC). He is also a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya, and serves as an Associate Editor of the Institutions and Economies journal.
He holds a PhD in Economics from Universiti Malaya, where his doctoral research focused on retirement preparedness, financial literacy, savings behaviour, and the application of machine learning in economic analysis. Prior to joining Universiti Malaya, he worked at the Securities Commission Malaysia, where he was involved in research and development relating to capital market regulations.
Dr Aizat obtained his Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and Master of Economics from Universiti Malaya. His current work centres on social protection, with particular interest in addressing coverage and implementation gaps, enhancing inclusivity for underserved populations, and strengthening institutional and policy frameworks.
Nik Noor Ainoon Nik Osman is currently the Deputy Director of Programme Development and Capacity Building at the Social Wellbeing Research Centre (SWRC). Prior to joining SWRC, she served in the banking industry for more than 20 years, holding managerial positions in consumer finance and international banking.
Her professional experience includes a four-year appointment in the credit department of Maybank London. Her current research focuses on financial literacy and old-age financial wellbeing. She is the principal researcher for the Reference Budget for Malaysians, known as Belanjawanku, an ongoing collaborative research project between Universiti Malaya and the Employees Provident Fund Malaysia (EPF).
She is also involved in developing and coordinating the centre’s Pension and Retirement Professional Programme (PRPP), a capacity-building programme for practitioners in the social protection, finance and insurance industries.
She obtained her Bachelor of Economics in Analytical Economics and Master of Business Administration with distinction, with dual concentrations in Islamic Finance and International Business Management, from Universiti Malaya. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the same university.
Last Update: 09/07/2026