Zunera Rana was born in Lahore, Pakistan. Having done her bachelor's degree in economics and finance from Lahore School of Economics in Pakistan, she moved to Germany to do her masters in economics and finance. Before joining Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences in March 2015, she had worked with WWF-Pakistan in program monitoring and development department. 

Since March 2015, Zunera has been working at HSRW as research assistant for Macroeconomics and Public Finance. She is also pursuing a PhD in the field of Development Economics with a focus on aid effectiveness and fungibility from Radboud University, Netherlands. Her PhD thesis uses mixed method approach (statistical analysis as well as expert interviews) to analyze the relationship between the recipients and donors of development aid in light of the SDGs. 

Information on Zunera's publications and research can be found here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=K19SkXEAAAAJ&hl=en