Starting from October 2011 until September 2012 she will also be a post-doctoral fellow with the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne. She has recently finished her doctorate studies in Anthropology at Cornell University and defended her dissertation “Post-socialist Dreamworlds: Construction Boom and Urban Development in Kazakhstan.” She has a Bachelor’s degree in Kazakh Language and Literature from the Karaganda State University and a Master’s degree in Middle East Studies from the American University in Cairo. In addition to her academic work, she regularly contributes to the national online newspaper zonakz.net (in Russian) and also contributes to Registan.net and to the Central Asia and Caucasus Analyst.