Yunis Gurbanov was born and attained his undergraduate education in Azerbaijan, acquiring a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 2006. Later in 2011, he acquired his M.A. degree with distinction in International Relations. Currently, he is enrolled as a PhD student and tutor in the Chair for International Relations and Foreign Policy of the Research Institute for Political Science and European Questions at the University of Cologne. He conducted some scientific research at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University in the New York City, in Baku State University, etc. He is currently conducting his research at Davis Center of Harvard University. Some of his research interests and expertise areas are the geopolitics of Central Asia and South Caucasus; Energy Policy in the Caspian Region; Russian Foreign Policy towards Central Asian and South Caucasian States.