Central European University, Budapest/New York (2010-2016)
Doctor of Juridical Science (Summa Cum Laude)

Central European University, Budapest/New York (2008-2009)
Master of Laws (LL.M.) (Summa Cum Laude. The Best Graduate Award)
2008 – 2009

American University of Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (2004-2008)
B.A. in Law
(Summa Cum Laude. The Best Graduate Award)

Dr. Begaiym Esenkulova is an Associate Professor of the Law Division at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. She teaches courses related to investment law and sustainable development, international investment arbitration, international environmental law, and others. Ms. Esenkulova holds LL.M. (Summa Cum Laude) and S.J.D (Summa Cum Laude) degrees from Central European University. She served as a visiting scholar at Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, a visiting doctoral research scholar at International Investment Law Center of the University of Cologne, Germany, a visiting doctoral research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg, Germany, and as a visiting postdoctoral scholar at Indiana University, Bloomington. She also served as a member of the Public Council of the State Agency on Environmental Protection and Forestry under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Begaiym Esenkulova’s research interests include international environmental law, international investment law and sustainable development, international investment arbitration and environmental protection. She has a number of publications related to her research interests in USA, Europe, and Central Asia. She has presented her research as part of public lectures and seminars in Harvard University, Columbia University, Bard College, Indiana University, George Washington University, University of Cologne, University of Siegen, London School of Economics and Political Science, and other universities as well as research centers.

Participant, The Global Scholars Academy, the Institute for Global Law and Policy at Harvard Law School in collaboration with the Graduate Institute, Geneva (August 2021/January 2022)
Participant, The Hague Academy of International Law Summer Courses on Public and Private International Law (2021)
Participant, Central European University Summer School on Mediation Theory and Skills (2021)
Participant, Central European University Summer School Course on "Designing a Collaborative Connected Liberal Arts Classroom" (in cooperation with the Institute for Writing and Thinking, Bard College) (2021)
Arbitrator, Moscow Pre-Moot of Willem Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Competition, Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration (2021)
Judge, 25th Annual International Environmental Moot Court Competition, Stetson University, USA (2021)
Participant, 10th Annual Columbia International Investment Conference on “Investment Treaty Reform: Reshaping Economic Governance in the Era of Sustainable Development,” Columbia University, New York, USA (2015)
Participant, Research project grant program on “Research Beyond the Ivory Tower,” Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (resulted in the publication of a scholarly article in The Hague Journal of Rule of Law and participation in research, publication, and policy brief trainings in Oslo and Almaty) (2015)
Presenter, Academic Seminar on “The Legal Framework of Foreign Direct Investment in Kyrgyzstan’s Gold Mining Sector: Towards Balancing Human Rights and Investor Protection,” Laboratory for Advanced Research on the Global Economy, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK (2014)
Presenter, Symposium on Business and Human Rights on “Human Rights and Investment Policy Making: Relevance and Integration,” World Investment Forum, UNCTAD, OHCHR, Geneva, Switzerland (2013)

Winner, Open Society University Network (OSUN) Competition on Innovative Assignment Design for the Connected Learning Environment (2020)

• International investment law
• Sustainable development and law
• Investment law and human rights
• Investment law and environmental protection
• Investment law and climate change
• International investment dispute settlement
• International environmental law

Select Publications:

• “International Investment Agreements and Sustainable Environmental Development:
  The Case of the Kyrgyz Republic's Mining Sector,” in Global Values and International Trade Law (Routledge, 2021).
• “Investment Protection and Sustainable Development in International Investment Agreements: Building Bridges instead of Walls”, in World Trade and Local Public Interest, 205- 243 (Springer, 2020).
• “Balancing Investor Protection and Sustainable Development in Investment Arbitration – Trying to Square the Circle?” in Investment Arbitration and National Interest, 13-37 (in co-authorship) (Council on International Law and Politics, USA, 2019).
• “Why Can’t We Be Friends? Protecting Investors while also Protecting Legitimate Public Interests and the Sustainable Development of Host Countries in Investor-State Arbitration” (in co-authorship), 48-FALL Texas Journal of Business Law (2019).
• “The Law and Politics of Keeping a Constitutional Order: Balance of Powers and Constitutional Courts through Kyrgyzstan’s Cautionary Story”// Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, volume 7, issue 2, 263-282, 2015 (in co-authorship).
• “On Select Issues of Correlation between International and National Law”// The Collection of Scholarly Articles as part of an International conference on “Humanities and Modernization of Legal System: Russian and International Practices,” Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk and branch of St. Petersburg Institute of External Economic Affairs, Economics and Law in Novosibirsk, 296-304, 2012.
• “Select Problems of Applicability of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction in International Law,” University of Lviv Herald, Ukraine, 208-219, 2011.

The full list of publications may be provided upon request.

Member of Institutional Review Board, American University of Central Asia