Dr. Volodymyr Vakhitov is the Director of the Institute for Behavioral Studies at the American University Kyiv. He earned his PhD in Economics from the University of Kentucky in 2008 and has completed additional courses at Harvard University and Central European University. He previously worked at the Kyiv School of Economics, where he founded the Center for Behavioral Analysis and Communications (BeSmart) in 2020. The Center was transferred to the American University Kyiv in 2022. After the full-scale invasion, Vakhitov led multiple research initiatives on wartime displacement, including studies on evacuation behaviour, the return intentions of Ukrainian refugees in Poland, the experiences of Ukrainian women during the war, and mental health in Ukraine.

Dr. Vakhitov has been a fellow in the Ukraine Research Network@ZOiS since September 2025. His current research explores the effect of social cohesion on the integration efforts and employment aspirations of Ukrainian refugees in Germany. He investigates the extent to which stronger social ties among the refugees themselves help or hinder their broader social integration.