Dr. Aigerim Shilibekova is the First Vice-Rector of the Atyrau State University in Kazakhstan. Prior to this position she was the Founding Director of the Center for International and Regional Studies at Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Astana, as well as an Associate Professor at ENU for 11 years. Her research interests include international organizations, regional security and foreign policy analysis. Dr. Shilibekova was a Visiting Scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University in 2013 and 2014. Dr. Shilibekova is also an author of numerous policy papers and two books: Iran, the co-authored monograph on Iranian domestic and foreign policy (2013), and Research Design and Methods in Political Science (2014). Dr. Shilibekova holds a PhD in Political Science from Eurasian National University (2009), an MA in International Relations from Istanbul University (2004) and a BA in Economics from Taraz State University, Kazakhstan (1999). She is an alumna of the Executive Education Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at Harvard Kennedy School (2013).