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Yana Zabanova
Research Associate
Phone
Yana Zabanova joined RIFS in August 2021 as a research associate in the project "Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation - Implications of an International Hydrogen Economy" (GET Hydrogen), where she is focusing on hydrogen frontrunner countries. She holds more than 10 years of experience in policy research in her previous roles as an analyst at the European Stability Initiative think tank, a researcher and subsequently visiting fellow at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) in Berlin, as well as an independent consultant on energy transitions in Eurasia. Her recent clients have included the German Energy Agency (dena), the German Association for East European Studies (DGO), the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and the Sustainability Partnerships across Central Europe and Eurasia Hub (SPCE Hub). Yana Zabanova holds an MA in International Relations and European Studies from Central European University in Budapest and a Master's degree in Public Policy from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. As an undergraduate, she studied public administration, international relations and European intellectual history in Russia, the US, and Germany. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen and is working on a dissertation on advocacy coalitions for renewable energy development in Eurasian oil and gas-producing countries such as Russia and Kazakhstan.
Groups
- 2018 - 2021: Visiting Fellow at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), Global Issues Research Group and Eastern Europe and Eurasia Research Group
- 2017 - 2021: Independent consultant with a focus on energy transitions in Eurasia
- 2018 - present: PhD candidate at the University of Groningen; dissertation title: "Advocacy Coalitions in Renewable Energy Development in Russia and Kazakhstan"
- 2014 - 2016: Research associate at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik in an EU FP7 project, ISSICEU (Intra-and Inter-Societal Sources of Instability in the Caucasus and EU Opportunities to Respond)
- 2009 - 2014: Analyst on post-Soviet Eurasia at the European Stability Initiative (Berlin)
- 2007 - 2009: Master in Public Policy, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin
- 2008: Intern, German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)
- 2006 - 2007: MA in International Relations and European Studies (with distinction), Central European University, Budapest
- 2005 - 2006: Academy Year in European intellectual history, European College of Liberal Arts (today: Bard College Berlin)
- 2005: Research Assistant in a EU TACIS project "Credit Cooperatives - Russian Federation", Ulan-Ude, Russia
- 2002 - 2003: Exchange student, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, USA
- 1999 - 2005: "Diploma" in Economics and Public Administration (with distinction), Buryat State University, Ulan-Ude, Russia
- Geopolitics and geoeconomics of decarbonization
- Hydrogen development in frontrunner countries
- Policy process research
- Energy transition in Russia and Central Asia
- Industrial policy and state capitalism
- Transformation of global value chains in the age of the global energy transition
Publications at the RIFS
Publications prior to joining the RIFS
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Yana Zabanova and Kirsten Westphal, "Russia in the Global Hydrogen Race: Advancing German-Russian Hydrogen Cooperation in a Strained Political Climate", SWP Comment 2021/C 34, 19.05.2021, doi:10.18449/2021C34
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Yana Zabanova, "Zentralasien und die globale Energiewende", Religion und Gesellschaft in Ost und West (RGOW), Nr. 1, 2021.
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Schiek, Sebastian, Yana Zabanova, Bettina Rudloff. "EU und Zentralasien: Gemeinsam für mehr Nachhaltigkeit. Konkrete Projekte zu Energie, Landwirtschaft, Stadtentwicklung und Start-ups", SWP-Aktuell 2020/A 04, 27.01.2020, doi:10.18449/2020A04.
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Yana Zabanova, "Armenia: Pursuing Export-Led Industrial Growth", Caucasus Analytical Digest, no. 110, 17 May 2019, DOI: 10.3929/ethz-b-000346798
*Andrea Weiss and Yana Zabanova, "The South Caucasus and Iran in the Post-Sanctions Era: Pursuing Greater Interconnectedness amidst Continuing Constraints and Scaled-down Expectations", SWP Comment 2017/C 24, 10.07.2017.
- Volkswagen Foundation PhD Fellowship (2018-2021)
- Hertie Foundation Full MPP Fellowship (2007-2009)
- CEU Outstanding Academic Achievement Award (2007)
- Central European University MA Scholarship (2006-2007)
- US Government Programs Alumni Merit Scholarship (2003)
- Freedom Support Act Global Undergraduate Program Fellowship, USA (2002-2003)
- Freedom Support Act Future Leaders Exchange Program Scholarship, USA (1998-1999)