Dr Gulzat Botoeva, University of Roehampton, UK 
Gulzat.botoeva@roehampton.ac.uk 

Personal website

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Gulzat Botoeva is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Roehampton.  Her recent research project focuses on illegal gold mining in Kyrgyzstan, criminalisation and de-legitimation of mining protests. Her previous research project was focused on small-scale hashish harvesting in Kyrgyzstan. In general, Gulzat is interested in studying illegal and informal economies (drug production, illegal gold mining and illegal monies) in a post-Soviet context; mainly using qualitative research methods and ethnographies of crime. She has published with Theoretical Criminology, The International Journal of Drug Policy, and Central Asian Survey journals. She contributed a paper on local protests around gold mining in Kyrgyzstan to a forthcoming publication Central Asian World.

Sofya du Boulay

omsofi@gmail.com

Sofya du Boulay is a Marie Curie Fellow and PhD candidate in Political Science at Oxford Brookes University. Her main research interests are related to the study of authoritarian regimes, including their political stability and legitimation in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Her research has been published in Problems of Post-Communism and Theorizing Central Asian Politics: The State, Ideology and Power (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).

Dr Dagi Dagiev

ddagiev@iis.ac.uk

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Dagikhudo Dagiev is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Academic Research and Publications at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. He obtained his PhD in the Department of Political Science at University College London (UCL) and an MPhil in Eurasian Studies from Oxford University. His research interests include regime transitions in post-Communist Central Asian countries, the process of democratisation, and the re-emergence of nationalism and Islam. His recent publications edited volume with Carole Faucher, Identity, History and Trans-Nationality in Central Asia: The Mountain Communities of Pamir (London, 2019); Monography, Regime Transition in Central Asia: Stateness, Nationalism and Political Change in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (London, 2014). Forthcoming publications; The Ismailis of Central Asia: A Bibliographical Survey (2021).

Dr Katherine Hughes

transfixediana@gmail.com

Personal website

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Katherine Hughes is a museum professional and independent researcher focusing on the ontology of objects, critical heritage of museums and how monuments shape space around them. Her doctoral research focused on the feedback loop between Samanid material culture and how it was used to negotiate their identity, together with how the Samanids are referenced by Tajikistan’s identity programme today. She has written for Central Asian Survey and Cambridge Central Asia Reviews. She contributed a paper on Early Islamic carved wood in the National Museum of Tajikistan to a forthcoming publication, Tajiks: History, Religion, Culture and People. 

Dr Gai Jorayev, UCL, UK
g.jorayev@ucl.ac.uk
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Gai Jorayev works at UCL Institute of Archaeology where he is a Degree Co-ordinator for MA in Managing Archaeological Sites and conducts research in two main areas: modern-day heritage management and digital heritage. His doctoral research focused on Nation-building and Heritage in Central Asia and he has previously worked on development initiatives with the EU and UN in the region. He recently carried out projects in post-Soviet space, Africa and European Union, and he currently collaborates closely with organisations such as UNESCO and UNWTO on Silk Roads related research and development projects.

Dr Oybek Madiyev, University of Kent, UK
o.madiyev-204@kent.ac.uk
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Oybek Madiyev is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent. His interdisciplinary research combines areas such as comparative political economy, political history, international relations, and international political economy. His recently published book titled Uzbekistan’s International Relations (Routledge, 2020) evaluates the country’s foreign policy and concentration of power since the end of the Soviet Union. 

Dr Gül Berna Özcan, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
g.ozcan@rhul.ac.uk
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Gül Berna Özcan is a Reader in International Business and Entrepreneurship at Royal Holloway. Gül Berna investigates the spatial, moral and political character of the enterprise and business actors through an interdisciplinary approach in diverse settings. Her work on Central Asian entrepreneurship explores business growth patterns and how social stratification, ideological transformations and class relocation shape the development of post-Soviet businesses. In addition to numerous journal articles, her books include: Diverging Paths of Development in Central Asia (Ed. Routledge, 2017); Building States and Markets: Enterprise Development in Central Asia (Palgrave, 2010).

Rosa Vercoe, UCL, UK
r.vercoe@ucl.ac.uk
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Rosa Vercoe works at UCL Institute for Global Health in an administrative role. She is an independent researcher of Central Asian dance and culture. Her articles were published by BBC Uzbek, Voices on Central Asia (a platform for scholars, authors, and journalists interested in Central Asia), Jahon News (Uzbekistan), CAAN (Central Asia Analytical Network). Rosa is also a co-Director of British-Uzbek Society based in London. She is responsible for organising cultural events and communications with members.

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