Leyla Sayfutdinova

Dr. Leyla Sayfutdinova is a Senior Lecturer in Critical Area Studies (Political & International Studies) at the University of Glasgow since October 2023. Previously, she held a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of St Andrews (2020–2023) and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Karelian Institute of the University of Eastern Finland. She earned her PhD in Sociology and Eurasian Studies from Middle East Technical University (2016), focusing on postsocialist transition impacts on engineering professions in Azerbaijan.

Her research integrates societal impacts of industrial change and identity/territoriality, with a focus on Azerbaijan. Her current project, 'Turning oil into stone,' examines oil’s role in shaping Baku’s urban culture. Future work explores energy extraction’s role in Eurasian regional construction.

Dr. Sayfutdinova teaches modules on Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies, including 'Cultural Politics and Social Diversity in Contemporary Russia and Post-Socialist Europe.' She supervises research on post/de-colonial approaches to Central Asia/Caucasus, energy transition, and industrial change, including Elliot Napier’s work on queer migration in Kazakhstan (collaborating with Dr. Francesca Stella).

Her grants include an MSCA Individual Fellowship (grant no. 897155). She contributes to the Central & East European Studies research group at the University of Glasgow.