Patricija Romina Smolnikar

Patricija Romina Smolnikar is a DPhil student in Area Studies (Russia and East Europe) at St Antony's College. Her research focuses on political institutions, authoritarian governance, and elite politics in post-Soviet Central Asia, with a particular focus on Kazakhstan. She has a growing interest in critical minerals and resource governance in the region. Her previous research examined the relationship between formal and informal institutions in post-Soviet Russia, with a focus on how legal systems function under authoritarian governance. She holds an MSc in Emerging Economies and International Development from King's College London, where she graduated with Distinction, and has additional experience in migration, policy analysis, and qualitative methods.