One thing worth knowing about me: I have face blindness (prosopagnosia), so I may not recognise you by sight, even if we have worked together. A simple reminder of your name and how we know each other is always appreciated. I seem to compensate for this with an unusually good memory for conversations. I can often recall what people have told me almost verbatim, even years later.
My current research focuses primarily on how war is represented before, during, and after violence.
My substantive interests include representations of war in LLMs, political communication around war, post-conflict justice, authoritarian politics, and gender. My methodological expertise includes statistical methods, causal inference, and text-as-data methods. My empirical expertise focuses on Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. My teaching experience includes courses in international relations and foreign policy, as well as research design, causal inference, regression, and data science.
I am currently a Fellow in Advanced Quantitative Methods the Department of Methodology and a Faculty Affiliate at the Data Science Institute at LSE. Previously, I was a Guest Lecturer in the Department of International Relations, where I convened a course on Eastern European politics at LSE, and a Research Officer at the European Institute (LSE), where I was involved in the ERC-funded project Justice Interactions and Peacebuilding (JUSTINT). At JUSTINT (European Institute, LSE), my work focused on data science-based approaches to Transitional Justice in the Balkans. My PhD dissertation addresses the question: 'What do news media in Putin’s Russia reveal about the regime’s survival strategy?' I completed my PhD at LSE (Department of International Relations) in 2024 under the supervision of Tomila Lankina. My examiners were Ken Benoit (Director of Data Science Institute, LSE) and Katerina Tertychnaya (DPIR, Oxford).
During my PhD, I freelanced as a Research Assistant, typically working on Data Science or Text-as-Data projects. I worked as a part-time RA for Denisa Kostovicova (LSE), Katerina Tertychnaya (Oxford | UCL), and Tomila Lankina (LSE). Prior to that, I held similar roles for various projects at Warwick, SOAS, Waseda, LSE, and Princeton. I have also contributed to the development of Marimo in R and Quanteda software tutorials. In addition, I spent the spring of 2019 as a visiting scholar at Waseda University (早稲田大学) in Japan, improving an LSA-based package.
Occasionally, I contribute to the projects that are not focused on Data Science. For instance, in 2022–2024 and in 2026, I assisted Dominique Lieven (Cambridge | LSE) with one of the Frederik Paulsen Programmes, a charity which offers support to early-career scholars.
I hold an MSc in Political Science and Political Economy from the LSE (dissertation under the supervision of Thomas J. Leeper) and an MSc in Economics from Warwick University (dissertation under the supervision of Thiemo Fetzer). During my BSc studies, I spent a year at Central University in Beijing (中央财经大学). My BSc is in Mathematical Economics. I also hold a graduate degree in Mathematics and Statistics for Data Science from Birkbeck, University of London.
Prior to returning to academia for my MSc, I accumulated over four years of experience working with structured and unstructured data at one of the big consultancies. My work primarily revolved around businesses and individuals in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.
I speak fluent English, Russian, and not-that-fluent Mandarin (HSK 4). I also understand/read in Ukrainian and Tatar.
My background in a more formal way is below:
TEACHING
2026–2027
Seminars
MY557 / MY457 Causal Inference for Observational and Experimental Studies
PB414 / MY452A Applied Regression
MY452 Data for Data Scientists
Supervision
MSc dissertation and Capstone Projects (Methodology Department, LSE)
Mentoring
Methodology Department, LSE
Other
Quantitative methodology surgeries
2025–2026
Course convenor
IR379 / IR479 Eastern Europe: Domestic Regimes and Foreign Policies
Lectures and seminars/classes
Lecturer (one lecture per course, team-taught)
IR501 Methods in International Relations Research: Analysing Big Data
IR411 Russia’s Foreign Policy
EU410 Interdisciplinary Research Methods and Design
Seminars
MY557 / MY457 Causal Inference for Observational and Experimental Studies
PB414 / MY452A Applied Regression
Supervision
MSc dissertation and Capstone Projects (Methodology Department, LSE)
Mentoring
Methodology Department, LSE
Other
Quantitative methodology surgeries
2024–2025
Course design as part of a team (postgraduate modules, LSE)
EU4A9 European Politics, Conflict and Culture: LSE-Columbia European Seminar, European Institute
EU410 Interdisciplinary Research Methods and Design, European Institute
2024–2025 and 2023–2024
Workshop: Analysing Big Data
Part of postgraduate module on the methods in International Relations Research, LSE (IR501)
2020–2021
Seminars
International Relations: Theories, Concepts, and Debates
Undergraduate module, LSE
Computer Programming
Postgraduate module, LSE
International Relations Dissertation Surgeries
Part of postgraduate module, LSE
2019–2020
Seminars
International Relations: Theories, Concepts, and Debates
Undergraduate module, LSE
Introduction to Quantitative Methods for Media and Communications
Undergraduate module, LSE
Quantitative methodology surgeries
Part of postgraduate module, LSE
International Relations Dissertation Surgeries
Part of postgraduate module, LSE
Quantitative Text Analysis.
Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis, University of Essex
SELECTED METHODOLOGY TRAINING
Graduate Diploma:
Mathematics and Statistics for Data Science (Modules: 'Statistics: Theory and Practice' and 'Advanced Mathematical Methods'), from Birkbeck, University of London
MY470 Computer Programming (Python and R), LSE
MY459 Quantitative Text Analysis, LSE
MY457 Causal Inference for Observational and Experimental Studies, LSE
MY452 Applied Regression Analysis, LSE
IR509 Research Design, LSE
Quantitative Text Analysis, Essex Summer School, UK
Advanced Machine Learning for Social Scientists, Essex Summer School
Quantitative Text Analysis for Political Science, Waseda University, Japan
TensorFlow: Qwik Start | Qwiklabs
Coursera: NLP Specialisation (NLTK, Vector spaces)
Udemy: Hands On Natural Language Processing (NLP) using Python
Udemy: Python Beyond the Basics - Object-Oriented Programming
Coursera: Applied Data Science with Python (APIs, web scraping, SQLite, basic NLP and ML)
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2026. Fully funded visiting research stay (acommodation, travel, stipend). Uppsala IRES
2026. Fully funded visiting research stay (acommodation, travel, stipend). Mannheim MZES
2022. UKRI Global Talent Endorsement
2021. SICSS, 800 GBP
2019. The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, 1,000 GBP
2019. Waseda University, Japan, 1,500 GBP
2018. LSE, full PhD Studentship and Scholarship for 2018–2022
2011. Central University of Finance and Economics, China. Full Studentship and Scholarship for a 9-month exchange program
INVITED TALKS, WORKSHOPS, and SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS
2026. Contemporary Turkish Studies Research Group, LSE, European Institute.
The Empire Strikes Back? Neo-Ottomanism in Turkish Reactions to Srebrenica on Twitter
2025. LSE Methodology Seminar Speaker Series
Authoritarian Communication at Scale: What Text-as-Data Reveals about Russia
2025. LSEE Western Balkans Workshop
Islamic Solidarity or Strategic Nostalgia? Neo-Ottomanism in Turkish Reactions to Srebrenica on Twitter
2025. European Centre for Minority Issues. ECMI Research seminar
"I say, You Say": Normative Distortion of Transitional Justice in the Serbian Parliament
2024. European Institute, LSE. Workshop: Gendering Discourse and Discoursing Gender in Transitional Justice
Discussant
2024. Aspen Institute Germany. Reconciliation in the Western Balkans, Sarajevo conference
Legislative Debates and Transitional Justice in the Western Balkans
2023. Harriman Institute, Columbia University, NY, USA
Authoritarian Propaganda and Media Control: New Conceptual Approaches and Empirical Evidence
Vladimir Putin on Channel One, 1998–2022
2023. King’s College London, London, UK
Social Science Research in the Context of Conflict, War, and Authoritarianism: Methodological Challenges and New Approaches to Data Collection and Analysis
Using Text as Data Methods to Study Mass Media in Russia
2023. Media and Communications Department, LSE, London, UK
LSE’s Media and Communications Research Dialogue
What do News Media in Putin’s Russia Reveal about the Regime’s Survival Strategy?
2023. University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
Communications and Digital Media Department
What do News Media in Putin’s Russia Reveal about the Regime’s Survival Strategy?
2022. LSE, London, UK
European Institute Seminar
Are Domestic War Crimes Trials Biased? Evidence from Serbia
2022. LSE, Windsor, UK
Cumberland Lodge
What do news media in Putin's Russia reveal about the regime's survival strategy?
2021. University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Connected Politics Lab Seminar Series
What do News Media in Putin’s Russia Reveal about the Regime’s Survival Strategy?
2021. Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy
Women in Power and Decision-making
2021. Data Science Institute, LSE, London, UK
Data Science Institute Research Showcase
What do News Media in Putin’s Russia Reveal about the Regime’s Survival Strategy?
2020. Virtual Workshop on Authoritarian Regimes
Warfare Agenda-setting on Russian Television, 2009–2019
2019. ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
Zurich Text as Data Workshop
Warfare Agenda-setting on Russian Television, 2009–2019
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
2026. MPSA
Speaking up online when it's costly
2025. ASEEES
Sustaining Dissent: Emotional Shifts and the Persistence of #НетВойне Activism
2025. APSA
Normative Distortion of Transitional Justice in the Serbian Parliament
Srebrenica Genocide in Tweets: Triggers, Emotions, and Voices
2025. ISA
Digital Divides or Global Bridges? Mapping Online Discourse on #Srebrenica
2024. APSA (panels' organiser)
Conflict, Coercion, and Radicalisation through the Lens of Text as Data
Propaganda, Censorship, and Self-censorship in Putin's Russia
2024. ECPR
Enemy of Justice? Secrecy in Domestic War Crimes Trials in Serbia
I Say, You Say: Transitional Justice as a Conversational Practice
2024. ECPG
Who's Asking Whom? Gendering in Parliamentary Interactions
2024. EPSA
Ingroup and Intergroup Effects of Djokovic's Exclusion from 2022 Australia Open
2024. CEEISA-ISA
Enemy of Justice? Secrecy in Domestic War Crimes Trials in Serbia
Digital Transitional Justice Mobilization in Serbia For and Against Ukraine
I Say, You Say: Transitional Justice as a Conversational Practice
2024. BISA
Enemy of Justice? Secrecy in Domestic War Crimes Trials in Serbia
I Say, You Say: Transitional Justice as a Conversational Practice
2024. ECPR Accountability & Human Rights Conference at UCL
Enemy of Justice? Secrecy in Domestic War Crimes Trials in Serbia
2024. MPSA
Ingroup and Intergroup Effects of Djokovic's Exclusion from 2022 Australia Open
Vladimir Putin on Channel One, 2000-2022
Enemy of Justice? Secrecy in Domestic War Crimes Trials in Serbia
2023. APSA
Ingroup and Intergroup Effects of Djokovic's Exclusion from 2022 Australia Open
2023. BISA and Council for European Studies
Are Domestic War Crimes Trials Biased? Evidence from Serbia
2023. EPSA
It Depends on Who Is Asking and Who Is Being Asked: Gendering Speaking Behavior in Parliamentary Interactions
2023. Pre-EPSA Authoritarian Politics Conference
Vladimir Putin on Channel One, 1998–2022
2023. ISA, BISA, ASN, and COMPTEXT
Grandstanding Instead of Deliberative Policy-making: Parliamentary Questions, Publicness, and Transitional Justice in the Croatian Parliament
2022. LSE European Institute Conference
State-controlled Media Manipulations in Putin’s Russia
2022. COMPTEXT
Dictator’s Dilemma in News Management: How a Russian State-Controlled News Aggregator Censored Fewer Stories about Anti-Government Opposition and Protests, but Promoted Stronger Bias in the Coverage of Ukraine
It Depends on Who Is Asking and Who Is Being Asked: Gendering Speaking Behavior in Parliamentary Interactions
2022. ECPR, NIOD, and Conflict Research Society Annual Conference
Are Domestic War Crimes Trials Biased?
2021. APSA, ISA, and EPSA
War News on Russian Television
2021. ASN and NESEEES
State-controlled Agenda-setting on Russian Domestic Television and Online, 2018–2020
2020. IC2S2 at MIT
Giddy Minds and Foreign Quarrels. The Strategic Coverage of International Conflicts by Russian Media, 2008–2019
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND SERVICE
Reviewer:
Fulbright Senior Award, Post-Soviet Affairs, Nationalities Papers, Social Network Analysis and Mining, Contemporary Political Theory, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Problems of Post-Communism, Social Sciences & Humanities Open, Journal of Refugee Studies, Television & New Media, Digital War (Springer Nature), Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (Springer Nature), Quality & Quantity International Journal of Methodology (Springer Nature), Journal of Computational Social Science (Springer Nature)