I am a computational political scientist. I currently hold the position of Research Officer (postdoc) at the European Institute (LSE), where I am involved in the ERC-funded project JUSTINT.
In my research, I employ Text-as-Data and other Data Science-based approaches within the social sciences. My current academic focus primarily encompasses Comparative Political Science, International Relations, and Media Studies, although I also maintain a keen interest in Economics and Finance due to my background. 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 in 2024 under the supervision of Tomila Lankina. My examiners were Ken Benoit (LSE) and Katerina Tertychnaya (Oxford).
At the European Institute (JUSTINT), my work focuses on data science-based approaches to Transitional Justice in the Balkans. Specifically, my responsibilities encompass both research design and practical tasks involving Text as Data methods, web scraping, statistical analysis, and various other data science techniques.
Previously, I freelanced as a Research Assistant, typically working on Data Science or Text-as-Data projects. In 2021/2022, I worked as a part-time RA for 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 researcher at Waseda University (早稲田大学) in Japan. My work at Waseda revolved around improving an LSA-based package.
In 2022-2024, 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 as an exchange student at Central University in Beijing (中央财经大学). My BSc is in Mathematical Economics.
Prior to returning to academia for my MSc, I accumulated over four years of experience working with people and data at one of the Big Four international financial consultancies. My work primarily revolved around individuals and businesses 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 as these are my native languages.
If you are interested in hiring me in the UK, you would not need to sponsor a work permit, as I have been recognised as a Global Talent by the British Academy.
I have prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness. If we know each other professionally, and I seem not to recognise you in real life, it's probably because I don’t remember your face. Please don’t take it personally. That said, I likely remember a great deal about you, as I also have superior autobiographical memory, especially when it comes to audioverbal information.
Information about my background (in a more formal way):
TEACHING (course design)
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)
TEACHING (seminars)
2020–2021
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
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
I am currently working toward a diploma in mathematics and statistics for data science at the University of London.
Also, previously:
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
and programming:
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 (University of Michigan) (APIs, web scraping, SQLite, basic NLP and ML)
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2022. The British Academy, UK Global Talent Endorsement and visa sponsorship
2021. SICSS, 800 GBP
2019. The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, 1000 GBP
2019. Waseda University, Japan, 1500 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
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
2025. ISA
Digital Divides or Global Bridges? Mapping Online Discourse on #Srebrenica
2024. APSA (panel 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:
Social Network Analysis and Mining, Contemporary Political Theory, Fulbright Senior Award, Nationalities Papers, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Problems of Post-Communism, Social Sciences & Humanities Open, Journal of Refugee Studies, Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (Springer Nature)