PhD student of the month
September 2026: Kristina Borodina
Kristina Borodina was admitted as a doctoral student in private law in 2022. Her dissertation project explores private-law perspectives on safety-enhancing and crime-prevention measures in residential environments. The fact that Kristina is now a doctoral student at the Faculty of Law in Uppsala, writing a dissertation in Swedish—her fifth language—is the result of an almost improbable journey that began in Moscow and took her through Milan, Oslo, San Diego, Milan again, Skåne, Västerås and Stockholm before finally bringing her to Uppsala.
-I applied to and was admitted to the law programme twice, but turned it down because at the time I listened a little too much to certain people around me who didn’t believe in me and didn’t think I could manage such a demanding programme. The third time, I made a deal with myself and decided that if I could run a marathon, I would say yes.
Kristina completed the marathon, became a lawyer, and was eventually admitted to doctoral studies. The road here has been an unusual one.
Kristina Borodina during a marathon in Reykjavik
-I was born an only child in Moscow. My parents divorced when I was four or five, and my mother and I literally had to start our lives over after the divorce because we had nothing and nowhere to live. We moved from one apartment to another, and I had to change schools five or six times. One year, things were so difficult for my mother that she sent me away to live in Minsk, Belarus, for a year, where I stayed with my aunt. I was very lonely as a child and I didn’t have any long-term extracurricular activities. What I spent most of my time doing was reading and studying. I read, read and read. Even today, I enjoy being by myself and reading; I don’t mind it at all. I think that’s a good quality to have as a doctoral student, you need to be comfortable with it.
Kristina, who can truly be described as an outgoing person, has overcome major challenges since her childhood in Moscow. She completed upper secondary school at an accelerated pace through a boarding school, graduating at just 16. She then studied linguistics, English and Italian at university in Moscow before moving to Milan at the age of 19, where she studied fashion and communications. She also worked for Gucci. Her memories of that time are sunny and happy; Kristina embraced life in the fashion capital. It was hectic, however, and she booked a trip to Norway with a friend to get a few days of peace and quiet.
-In Oslo, I met a Swedish guy who worked there, as so many Swedes do, and he later became my husband and the father of my eldest daughter. I moved to Oslo after finishing my studies in Milan and lived there for a year. Then we moved to Skåne, where my eldest daughter was born in 2010, and when she was six months old, we moved to San Diego.
Her then-husband was training to become a pilot, and San Diego has 285 sunny days a year. The new family settled not far from the ocean, and Kristina spent her parental leave there. Afterwards, they moved to Västerås, where her husband’s pilot training continued. Kristina began looking for work, felt that she did not belong in Sweden, and her frustration grew.
-I applied for probably 50 jobs, mostly in fashion, but I didn’t even get a response. I felt like I didn’t fit in. What was I supposed to do here? Eventually, I got a job as a waitress at a restaurant, which I had for a year.
The family heard about an apartment available for subletting in Stockholm and packed up their belongings, gave up their apartment and jobs in Västerås, and thought that the opportunities in the big city would be good for the family. The night before they were due to leave, however, the landlord in Stockholm broke the agreement and became unreachable. The family had nowhere to live, and complete chaos ensued. After many twists and turns (“the most stressful week of my entire life”) they managed to find accommodation in a small one-room apartment above a physiotherapy practice outside Västerås. Kristina immersed herself in Swedish contract law and, with the help of Google Translate, began investigating the matter and contacting both the police and the workplace of the fraudulent landlord. Kristina succeeded in recovering the money they had been defrauded of.
-I had a very strong Russian accent at the time. They must have wondered who I was when I called and referred to breach of contract, damages, fraud offences and Swedish legislation…”
That was where her interest in law was born. Kristina studied Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) and Swedish as a second language, and one of her language teachers encouraged her to pursue an education in Sweden.
-I will never forget my teacher Susanne. She asked me what my goal was and said that you always have to have a goal. That’s when I started dreaming about studying law.
With top grades from Moscow, she was admitted not once but three times to the law programme in Uppsala—which, as everyone knows, is one of Sweden’s most sought-after degree programmes. As mentioned, running a marathon was ultimately what made her accept the offer.
-We moved to Uppsala. And now I’m sitting here as a doctoral student.
It is an extraordinary story of resilience, courage and an ability to always see the positive side. We talk about setbacks and how important one’s mindset is in finding the strength to keep moving forward. Kristina is visibly grateful for the opportunities she has been given as a doctoral student and repeatedly expresses how passionate she is about the issues she researches. Her dissertation topic encompasses both private and public law.
-Crime-prevention measures and questions of safety are connected to criminology, sociology, anthropology and police research. I have read so much across all these fields and am trying to narrow it down, it has to become a legal study.
-Evaluating crime-prevention measures is easier when looking at place-based interventions compared with social and individual interventions. You can count the number of exclusion orders, agreements on collaborative place-based initiatives, designated search zones, and say: We are doing something; we can measure it. But the individual aspects, which I believe are really important, are more difficult to measure and demonstrate the effects of.
-I want to delimit the study in relation to tenancy law and condominium law. That’s where the social aspects come in. Private-law principles are challenged by the social considerations that need to be taken into account, and when crime prevention and safety-enhancing measures enter the picture, it becomes very interesting. How do you balance the interests of tenants, landlords or property owners with the interests of society as a whole?
Kristina describes maintaining neutrality as a researcher as a challenge, both in how the issues are approached and in the language used. She uses language as a tool for critical analysis: How have issues relating to safety and housing been described in preparatory legislative works and government inquiries? This says a great deal about how different things are valued. At the same time, Kristina does not want the dissertation to become a statement of opinion. The issues are too complex and politically charged. She wants to highlight shortcomings in legislation and raise awareness of its effects and the trade-offs involved.
-I don’t want to take what is written in a government bill for granted. It’s a narrative. There are others! Inquiries often refer to ‘the research’, but rarely provide precise references. There are so many different research perspectives and scientific studies that come into play.
Kristina describes her journey as one of becoming increasingly critical and questioning of the material she studies. Research outside her own field is highly significant, but it also requires considerable effort to understand and handle.
-It bothers me when I don’t understand something; I become so restless! I want to understand the context.
This is also something Kristina reflects on as a weakness: the research can branch out and become too broad. The challenge is to maintain focus and write one dissertation, rather than trying to write five…
-I think quickly, too quickly. I have to stop and pause; that’s so important if it’s going to be good. But it takes energy and discipline to stop and make sure you’re heading in the right direction.
Kristina describes how the ambition to write about one small detail can suddenly result in five pages of text. She is working on narrowing things down, focusing, and hopefully completing the dissertation around 2028.
-But I feel confident now that I’ve found a direction for my dissertation project. It will be good, but it requires a lot of focus. At the same time, all of this, the doctoral studies and everything, is a great bonus for me. What is my life, my motivation and my inspiration, is my children.
Kristina’s children, Shara, Theodór and Sóley, are between two and 16 years old, so life is certainly full for Kristina. She herself seems to be filled with unstoppable energy. I am taking a little of that energy with me into the start of the new academic year, I think. I wish you the very best of luck, Kristina, in completing your dissertation, and thank you for an inspiring interview!
Rebecca Söderström
Fågelsången, 21 August 2026