Dr Diana Toimbek

Overview

Dr. Diana Toimbek holds an MSc in Educational Leadership from Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan, and a Ph.D. in Non-Traditional Security (School of Public Affairs) from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. Before joining Ulster University, Dr. Toimbek held administrative and academic positions in China and Kazakhstan, which shaped her research focus on developing countries, with an emphasis on Central Asia in the areas of public policy, political economy, and energy transition.

Dr. Toimbek's research background includes internationally funded grants and articles in peer-reviewed journals with both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

Previously, she was a research fellow in the Asian Hub of the GCRF-funded PEER Network programme, a three-year initiative led by four universities (Ulster, Cape Town, Nazarbayev and Sussex), where she studied how early Soviet policies shaped the educational landscape in Kazakhstan, leaving a lasting influence that legitimised the Communist Party’s authority and nurtured a generation loyal to the new regime.

Currently, she is a Co-Principal Investigator on a GIZ-funded project, collaborating with Kazakhstani researchers to address Climate-Resilient Economic Development, which focuses on identifying policy scenarios for climate change impacts and supporting sustainable development in emerging democracies, like Kazakhstan, in the face of global warming challenges.

Throughout her professional and academic career, Dr. Diana Toimbek has led and participated in various social initiatives. These include organizing a fundraising campaign among expatriates in China for patients on the critical list in a local children’s hospital; contributing to a COVID-19 healthcare awareness campaign led by the Kazakhstani Association of Family Physicians; and co-hosting the popular Kazakhstani podcast "Find Your B," which focuses on social issues; and others.