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PROJECT NAME
CIRCULAR ECONOMY MAP: IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF ECONOMIC AND CRIMINAL LAW RISKS IN VALUE CHAINS
About project
Project Tasks
Research Methods
Expected Results
Principal Researcher
Postdoc
The goal
The goal of the project is to develop an analytical mapping toolkit for the assessment of economic and criminological‑legal critical points and risks in circular value chains, in order to formulate recommendations for a seamless transition to a circular economy.
Equipment and infrastructure
The Faculty of Economics, as the basic structural unit for the implementation of the project, is characterised by a well-established resource base that ensures the conduct of high-quality research. The material and technical support enables all types of research activities to be carried out. The Faculty of Economics has a sufficient lecture-hall stock equipped with multimedia facilities, 4 computer classrooms with modern professional software, access to the Southern Federal University electronic library, full-text electronic databases and electronic libraries of leading publishers, patent databases, as well as other resources, including periodicals, legal documents, educational and scholarly literature in both Russian and English.
Project Tasks
  • Mapping of circular value chains in sectors with high potential for the development of a circular economy.
  • Theoretical and methodological development of an interdisciplinary approach to identifying critical points and analysing risks in circular value chains, integrating both economic and legal dimensions.
  • Systematisation of the conceptual and categorical framework of the circular economy with respect to secondary resource circulation, and the elaboration of a unified glossary that ensures consistent interpretation of economic and criminal legal risks for all participants in circular value chains.
  • Identification of critical points within circular value chains that are most vulnerable to offences, with explicit reference to specific operations and actors.
  • Investigation of risks associated with information asymmetry, microeconomic mechanisms, and cooperative games among economic agents operating within circular systems.
  • Systematisation of criminal legal risks for circular value chains in the selected sectors, anchored in the provisions of applicable legislation.
  • Analysis of gaps and conflicts in the current legislation from the standpoint of ensuring regulatory completeness and legal certainty for circular value chain participants.
  • Classification of economic and legal (criminal legal) risks, differentiated according to various criteria (e.g., subject composition, sectoral affiliation, etc.).
Research Methods
Mapping of circular value chains through modelling in BPMN 2.0 notation
Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning methodsМетоды NLP и машинного обучения
Statistical and documentary analysis
Parsing of open sources (news aggregators, open media outlets)
Multi‑agent reinforcement learning
Formal legal and comparative legal methods
Expected Results
  • Preparation of research publications;
  • Production of intellectual property / registered research outputs;
  • Supervision of students;
  • Training of research personnel;
  • Participation in scientific conferences.
Principal Researcher
  • Anastasia Yu. Nikitaeva
    Doctor of Sciences (Economics), Professor, Head of the Department of Information Economics, Faculty of Economics, Southern Federal University.

    Research and teaching experience: 27 years.

    Research interests: circular economy, sustainable industry development, digital transformation of industry, Industry 4.0, public–private partnerships.
    Research areas: industrial economics, regional economics, innovation management.

    Professional affiliations and recognition: Accredited expert of the Federal Register of Experts in the Scientific and Technical Sphere of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. Member of the editorial boards of several international and Russian journals indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. Served as a Visiting Professor at universities in Austria, Portugal, and Poland.

    Supervisory experience: Supervisor of 11 completed dissertations, including 10 Candidate of Sciences (Economics) dissertations and 1 Doctor of Sciences (Economics) dissertation. Currently supervising 2 PhD students.

    Taught courses: Project Management; Digital Economy; Project Management under Risk and Uncertainty; Digital Transformation of the Global Economy (in English); Advanced Project Management (in English); Clusters, Networks and Partnerships in the Digital Economy (in English).


    Scopus Author ID: 57090750400
    ResearcherID Web of Science: B-5056-2016
    ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0406-7440
    SPIN-код: 9468-3663, AuthorID: 395413

    Personal page
Since 2026, she has been the leader of the research project “Circular Economy Map: Identification and Assessment of Economic and Criminal Legal Risks in Value Chains”; she is also a participant in the project “Scientific and Technological Center for Circular Biomaterials” implemented at Southern Federal University with the support of the Priority 2030 Strategic Academic Leadership Program.
She served as the project leader for the Russian Foundation for Humanities (RFH) grant No. 15‑32‑01013 а1, “Partnership Technologies for Activating Innovative Development of Industry in the South of Russia” (2015–2016). In 2017–2019, she was a member of the research team for a fundamental research initiative project under an internal grant of Southern Federal University entitled “Methodology and Mechanisms for Managing Resource Provision for the Strategic Development of the South of Russia.” In 2022–2023, she participated as a researcher in the project “The Russian Black Sea Region in the Geo‑Economic and Geopolitical Dynamics of Modern Eurasia: Modeling and Programming Spatial Socio‑Economic Development in the Interests of Federal and Regional Management” and in the project “Digital Atlas of Political and Socio‑Economic Threats and Risks for the Development of the Southern Russian Borderlands: National and Regional Context (Digital South of Russia)” within the framework of the Strategic Academic Leadership Program of Southern Federal University. From 2024 to 2026, she has been involved as a participant in the initiative research project “Artificial Intelligence in the Socio‑Humanitarian Sphere.”
 

Key publications
  1. Nikitaeva, A.Y., Dolgova, O.I. (2026). The Price and Attitude to Recycling: Manufacturers’ and Consumers’ Points of View. In: Jarboui, B., Toumi, S., Siarry, P. (eds) Data-Driven Waste Revolution. Computational Intelligence Methods and Applications. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-5890-9_7
  2. Chernova, O. A., Nikitaeva, A. Y., & Dolgova, O. I. (2025). Developing a Research Ontology of the Digital Servitization of Industry Within the Sustainable Economic Development Context. Sustainability, 17(22), 10207. https://doi.org/10.3390/su172210207.
  3. Dolgova, O. I., & Nikitaeva, A. Y. (2025). Evaluation of the Potential for the Development of the Circular Industry in the Region: A New Approach. Recycling, 10(2), 38. https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling10020038.
  4. Kosolapova, N.A., Laskova, D.S., Nikitaeva, A.Y., Laskova, T.S. (2025). Business and Artificial Intelligence: To Trust or Not to Trust. In: Tao, F., Gadekallu, T.R., Kumar, V., Akberdina, V., Kuzmin, E. (eds) Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 78. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-00118-4_3.
  5. Borovskaya M.A., Afanasyev A.A., Makarenya T.A., Fedosova T.V., Nikitaeva A.Yu. Transformation of Engineering Education for Strengthening Scientific and Technological Sovereignty of Russia. University Management: Practice and Analysis. 2024;28(4):11-29. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.15826/umpa.2024.04.032
  6. Nikitaeva, A. Yu., Bondarev, M. G., Masych, M. A., Dolgova, O. I. (2024). The circular economy skills: regional dimension. R-Economy, 10(1), 21–40. doi: 10.15826/ recon.2024.10.1.002.
  7. Nikitaeva, A.Y., Yan, Z. (2024). Theoretical Research on Sustainable Business Model Innovation Driven by Digital Technology. In: Appolloni, A., Kumar, V., Kuzmin, E., Akberdina, V. (eds) The Future of Industry. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 70. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66801-2_6
  8. Nikitaeva, A.Y., Deynichenko, A.S., Dolgova, O.I. (2024). Integration of the Sustainability Aspects into the Evaluation of the Export Potential of High-Tech Companies. In: Appolloni, A., Kumar, V., Kuzmin, E., Akberdina, V. (eds) The Future of Industry. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 70. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66801-2_35
  9. Kosolapova N., Matveeva L., Nikitaeva A., Chernova O. (2023). The drivers of the circular economy: Theory vs practice. Terra Economicus 21(2), 68–83 (in Russian). DOI: 10.18522/2073- 6606-2023-21-2-68-83
  10. Nikitaeva, A., Dolgova, O. (2023). Digital Technologies and Circular Value Chains for Sustainable Development. In: Kumar, V., Kyriakopoulos, G.L., Akberdina, V., Kuzmin, E. (eds) Digital Transformation in Industry . DTI 2022. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 61. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30351-7_14

Inventions and patents:
Kovalev Dmitry Viktorovich, Kosolapova Natalya Alekseevna, Nikitaeva Anastasia Yuryevna.
Database of the circular economy
No. 2025624628 dated 22.10.2025.
Postdoc
  • Role of the Postdoctoral Fellow
    The postdoctoral fellow is expected to collaborate within a multidisciplinary team of specialists in economics, law, information technology, and machine learning. The fellow will participate in research activities, including the preparation of publications in cooperation with members of the research group, supervise and co‑supervise students and PhD candidates in the implementation of the project, and address research tasks related to the diagnosis and modelling of risks arising during the transition to a circular economy.
  • Candidate Requirements
    • Age under 39 years;
    • PhD degree in Economics;
    • Proficiency in English (at least Upper‑Intermediate – B2 level);
    • At least three publications in Scopus‑ and Web of Science‑indexed journals related to the project's thematic area;
    • Proven experience in economic analysis, data analysis, and machine learning, with a focus on applications in the social sciences;
    • General programming skills relevant to machine learning;
    • Experience in writing research articles and conducting literature reviews.
  • Terms and Conditions
    The salary starts from 130,000 RUB per month and may be higher depending on qualifications and assigned tasks. Additional support:
    Assistance with visa arrangements
    Reimbursement of medical insurance costs
    Travel expenses to the place of employment
    Provision of service accommodation / assistance with rental housing
    Support with family members’ employment and education
    Academic mobility opportunities
    Russian language courses
The expected duration of the position is up to 2-3 years
Working Languages
Russian
English