Curriculum Vitae

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Education

DPhil Migration Studies
University of Oxford

Thesis: The Invisible Border Wall: The Use of AI in Canada's Immigration and Border Control

• Examined accountability, transparency, and fairness of AI in public sector decision-making
• Conducted 35 semi-structured interviews and fieldwork at border-technology expos
• Research cited in the U.K. Government's Ethics Framework for Automated Decision-Making (2024)
• Supervised by Dr Ruben Andersson (ODID) and Dr Helen Margetts (OII)
MSc in Migration Studies
University of Oxford

Desk research on use of AI in Canadian immigration and border control. Supervised by Dr Lena Rose.

MA in Political Studies
University of Manitoba

Thesis: Examined the role of recent newcomers to Canada in Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

BA (Honors) in Political Science
University of Winnipeg

Experience

AI Safety Policy Fellow
AI Safety Initiative at Georgia Tech (U.S. – remote)
September 2025 – November 2025
Founder and Chair
Oxford AI Gala (U.K.)
June 2024 – June 2025
• Founded inaugural AI governance conference with 200+ senior stakeholders including government officials and C-suite executives
• Built and managed relations with Anthropic as title sponsor and speakers from Anthropic, Sony AI, RAND Europe, Tony Blair Institute, and University of Oxford academic partners
• Set thematic agenda on AI governance and moderated the AI governance panel
• Generated £50,000 revenue, £10,000 profit.
President
Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society (U.K.)
April 2022 – May 2023
• Led Europe's largest AI student society, managing 7 cross-functional teams and recognised as 2023 'U.K. Society of the Year'
• Facilitated $60,000 Amazon compute grant for AI bias research by building corporate partnerships
• Developed and managed a mentorship programme connecting 87 students with 66 professionals from Microsoft, Google, Apple, and QuantumBlack
Research Assistant
Oxford Department of International Development (U.K.)
August 2020 – August 2021
• Co-authored 2 policy briefs on content moderation, platform regulation, and misinformation
• Co-facilitated a multi-stakeholder workshop with 20+ participants from U.K. government agencies, technology companies (including Facebook), and civil society organisations

Scholarships and Awards

Doctoral Awards

The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholarship
$180,000 | 2021

Top 2.5%. Funding to support the advancement of outstanding, cutting-edge PhDs

Doctoral Fellowship
$93,000 | Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) | 2021

Funding for high-calibre students engaged in doctoral programs in the social sciences.

Sloane Robinson Graduate Scholarship
£23,000 | Keble College, University of Oxford | 2020

Support for graduate studies at Keble College.

Ethnography Travel Awards
£2,000 | Oxford School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography | 2022 and 2023

Two £1,000 awards to support fieldwork at border security expos and visits to 2 border sites.

Master's Degree Awards

Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship
$17,000 | SSHRC | 2018

Master's degree funding for research on the role of Canadian newcomers in Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

Top-up Award
$5,000 | University of Manitoba Graduate Studies | 2018

Master's degree funding for research on the role of Canadian newcomers in Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

Undergraduate Awards

The W. J. Condo Essay Award
Institute of Public Administration of Canada | July 2017

Paper "That Wasn't Uber Nice: The Uberisation of Local and Global Political Economy"

Deans' Honour List - Student of Highest Distinction
University of Winnipeg | 2015, 2016, 2017
Academic Proficiency Scholarships
University of Winnipeg | 2015, 2016, 2017

GPA of 4.0+/4.5

Golden Key Chapter Scholarship
University of Winnipeg | May 2015

Academics, leadership, commitment to community

Finalist - Fraser Institute Essay Contest
2015
The David Franklin, Ad. E. Scholarship
Canada Iceland Foundation | 2015

Academic achievement, strong leadership, and community involvement

Explore Program Bursary
2014

Study French for 5 weeks at University of Laval

D. J. Jessiman Scholarship in Politics
University of Winnipeg | 2014

Highest standing in 1st year Political Science

Golden Key International Honour Society Membership
2014

Offered to top 15%

Deans' Honour List - Student of Distinction
University of Winnipeg | 2014
University of Winnipeg Special Entrance Scholarship
2013

High academic standing in high school (94%)

International Baccalaureate Program
2010-2013
River East Transcona School Division Humanitarian Award
June 2013
Award for Outstanding Contribution to Miles Macdonell Collegiate
June 2013
World Languages Diploma
June 2013

English, French, Spanish, Russian

Publications

Akhmetova, R. (2025), "Challenging Mandated AI in the Public Sector" in The State of AI Ethics Report (Volume 7), Montreal AI Ethics Institute.

Akhmetova, R. and Harris, E. (2021), "Politics of Technology: The Use of Artificial Intelligence by US and Canadian Immigration Agencies and their Impacts on Human Rights" in Digital Identity, Virtual Borders and Social Media, E. Korkmaz (Ed.).

Korkmaz, E. et al. (2021), "Digital Citizenship in Turkey". Working Paper. TMCD Working Paper Series No 83.

Akhmetova, R. (2020), "On How Governments Use Artificial Intelligence in Immigration". Oxford COMPAS Working Paper Series.

Akhmetova, R. (2020), "How AI Is Being Used in Canada's Immigration Decision-Making". Blog. University of Oxford's Centre on Migration, Policy, and Society.

Al-ubeady, H. and Akhmetova, R*. (2019), "Building Indigenous-Newcomer Relationships: Visit to Brokenhead Ojibway Nation". Report. University of Winnipeg CERI Network.

Key Research Skills & Interests

Research Methods

Qualitative interviewing; interview design; institutional and policy ethnography; document and policy analysis; qualitative coding; thematic analysis.

Research Interests

AI governance; sociotechnical systems; algorithmic accountability; public sector automation; organisational ethnography; AI law and policy; AI transparency; human-AI interaction.

Policy & Governance Analysis

Algorithmic impact evaluation; AI risk assessment; evaluation of public-sector automation; analysis of regulatory processes; technology governance; comparative policy analysis.

Technical Skills

STATA; NVivo; R; Git/GitHub; Web development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript); Zotero/Mendeley.

Conference Proceedings

25th Annual Family Law Conference (South Africa)
April 2023

"Use of Artificial Intelligence in Legal Practice: Benefits and Drawbacks"

International Bar Association Annual Conference (U.S.)
November 2022

"Artificial Intelligence as the Decision Maker in Immigration Proceedings"

Rising Up: A Graduate Student Conference on Indigenous Knowledge and Research (Canada)
March 2019

"Refugee/Newcomer and Indigenous Relations"

Teaching Experience & Public Outreach

Inclusive AI Workshop
Institute for Ethics in Technology (Germany – remote)
2024
POLS-7300: Comparative Indigenous Politics Seminar
University of Manitoba (Canada)
2018

Led graduate-level seminar discussions for 7 students over 1 semester.

Professional Development Programs

Future Leaders Innovation Programme
Careers Service and EnSpire Oxford, University of Oxford
December 2023 – June 2024

A skills development programme from the Careers Service, in partnership with EnSpire Oxford, open to students who want to gain skills, knowledge, and positive behaviours to innovate and drive change in the future. At the end of the programme, participants get recognition with a formal qualification: ILM Level 3 Award in Leadership and Management.

Insights into Start-up
Careers Service and EnSpire Oxford, University of Oxford
October 2023 – June 2024

The Insight into Start-ups programme aims to inspire and equip Oxford University students with the skills, knowledge and positive behaviours to start, work in and lead a new venture.

Oxford Programme in Sustainability Leadership
University of Oxford's School of Geography and the Environment

This course brings environmental sustainability to a wide network of students across the University, whatever their degree course or year.

Through talks, workshops and practical work delivered by over 45 sustainability professionals from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, the 3-day programme allows participants to improve their sustainability literacy and equip them with the skills required for global leadership roles.
Impact Lab
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
January – June 2022

Co-curricular Impact Leadership programme for students who want an impact-driven career.

Entrepreneurial Fellowship Initiative
Oxford Foundry
July – August 2021

One of 29 Fellows on the Oxford Foundry's Entrepreneurial Fellowship Initiative. The Fellowship involved an 8-week, funded placement at a startup (Oxwash) in the Oxford Foundry's Elevate accelerator portfolio, mentorship and coaching from world-leading entrepreneurs and experts (Biz Stone, Jeff Wong, among others), and personal and professional goal setting and leadership support (Yo Percale, among others).

United Nations Study Program
Seton Hall University School of Diplomacy
June 3-7, 2019

Immerses participants in the political dynamics of the United Nations by bringing them together with distinguished practitioners working in the field of multilateral diplomacy.

Explore - Canadian French Immersion Program
2014, 2022, 2023

5-week government-funded French immersion program at Université Laval and 1-week program at Western University (Trois Pistoles, Quebec), and York University.