about / CV
Download CV (PDF)Sofia Gavrilova is a human geographer of the post-Soviet countries, working with qualitative and quantitative methods. She is Senior Researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography in Leipzig, and incoming Fung Global Fellow at Princeton (2026–27).
Her work sits at the intersections of critical cartography, memory studies, museums, migration, and the decolonisation of knowledge across the former Soviet space.
gavrilova.sofia [at] gmail.com · ORCID 0000-0001-5546-3369
Education
- 2014–2019
DPhil in Human Geography
University of Oxford, School of Geography and the Environment. Thesis: The present taxidermied: Soviet 'common unsaids' in Russian krayevedcheskiy museums
- 2009–2012
MS in Contemporary Arts
Rodchenko School of Photography and Multimedia, Moscow
Employment
- 2022–present
Senior Researcher
Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Leipzig
- 2023–2024
Part-time consultant, UN Georgia
- 2020–2022
Postdoctoral Researcher
CRC 1199 "Processes of Spatialization under the Global Condition", Leibniz IfL
- 2019–2020
Postdoctoral Researcher
"Landscapes of Soviet Repressions" (gulagmaps.org), University of Oxford
Teaching & Mentoring
- 2022–2025
Seminar Instructor, Deconstructing Eurasia (MSc), University of Leipzig
- 2023–2025
Lecturer, Peace and Conflict Mapping (PhD seminar), University of Leipzig
- 2022–present
Lecturer, Methods in Human Geography (MSc), University of Leipzig
- 2021–2022
Seminar Instructor, Spatial Identity and Memory Wars (MSc), University of Leipzig
- 2021–2022
Seminar Instructor, Research Methods (MPhil), School of Geography, University of Oxford
- 2019–2021
Tutor, History of Soviet Science, University of Oxford
- 2022–present
Mentor, University of New Europe
- 2022–2024
PhD Group Leader and Mentor, KonKoop Project, IfL Leipzig
- 2023, 2025
Co-convenor, Summer School South Caucasus: The Land of Exile, Ilya State University, Tbilisi
Fellowships, Grants & Awards
- 2026–2027
Fung Global Fellow, Princeton Institute for Regional Studies (upcoming)
- 2025
Leibniz Lab grant (PI, awarded): Occupied and Erased: Stories of Ukraine's Lost Homes — €25K
- 2025
DFG Grant (PI, awarded): Unlearning the Soviet — €350K
- 2025
Gerda Henkel Foundation (Co-I, under review): Staying in Touch — €350K
- 2024
Max Weber Foundation Fellowship, Tbilisi Office
- 2021
Leibniz Future Female Leaders in Science
- 2019
Oxford Russian Fund Fellowship (£11,000)
- 2018
Christ Church Support Grant (£5,000)
- 2015–2016
Fieldwork Grants, Santander and Christ Church
- 2014–2017
Hills Foundation Scholarship, University of Oxford
Professional Service
Since 2022 — Editor, Eurasian Geography and Economics
Peer Reviewer: Urban Theory and Practice; Problems of Post-Communism; Journal of Baltic Studies; International Journal of Education
Consultant: BBC, UN Georgia, UN Tajikistan
2025 — Stream Leader, Geography Stream, ICCEES 2025, London
Member: BASEES (Board), Saxony Ethics Committee, ASIAC
Fieldwork
- 2025
Georgia, Tajikistan
- 2024
Georgia
- 2023
Tajikistan; Uzbekistan–Kyrgyzstan (Zheleska Summer School)
- 2022
Georgia, Tajikistan
- 2017
Antarctica (Scientific Leader, Antarctic Biennale)
- 2016
Denmark (Student Expedition, University of Oxford)
- 2015
Russia (Yakutia, Chukotka, Tatarstan, Perm, Tomsk)
- 2014
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan (Student Group Leader)
- 2009
Peru (International Geological Expedition)