Plamen Nikolov is an Affiliated Professor at the State University of New York and an Affiliated Professor at The Harvard University Institute for Quantitative Social Studies. He specializes in designing and conducting randomized control trials (RCTs) and cohort studies, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). He researches topics related to international relations, foreign policy, development, human capital, gender, finance, and entrepreneurship, focusing on three key themes: human capital dynamics, the economics of longevity, and productivity within LMICs.

He has collaborated with several global institutions, including the World Bank and BRAC, leading research teams and managing field interventions across Southern and East Africa and Central and South Asia. He has partnered with NGOs in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan), the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya), South Asia (Nepal, Bangladesh), and Asia (China) to implement large RCTs in the field (aka field experiments)."