Alexandra Elbakyan

Alexandra Elbakyan

Alexandra Elbakyan

Elbakyan in 2010
Born 1988[1]
Kazakhstan[1]
Known for Creating Sci-hub

Alexandra Elbakyan is a Kazakhstani graduate student,[2] computer programmer and the creator of the site Sci-Hub.[3] The New York Times has compared her to Edward Snowden for leaking information and because she avoids American law by residing in Russia.[4] Ars Technica has compared her to Aaron Swartz.[5]

Biography

Born in Kazakhstan in 1988, Elbakyan undertook university studies in Astana, where she developed skills in computer hacking. A year working in computer security in Moscow gave her the money to proceed to Freiburg in 2010 to work on a brain-computer interface project, and she developed an interest in transhumanism, which led her to a summer internship at Georgia Institute of Technology in the USA. She began Sci-Hub on her return to Kazakhstan in 2011, characterised by Science as 'an awe-inspiring act of altruism or a massive criminal enterprise, depending on whom you ask'.[1] Following a lawsuit brought in the USA by the publisher Elsevier, Elbakyan is presently in hiding due to the risk of extradition.[6] According to a 2016 interview, her neuroscience research is on hold, but she has enrolled in a history of science master’s program at a “small private university” in an undisclosed location. Appropriately enough, her thesis focuses on scientific communication.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bohannon, John (29 April 2016). "The frustrated science student behind Sci-Hub". Science 352 (6285). doi:10.1126/science.aaf5675.
  2. ↑ Rosenwald, Michael S. (30 March 2016). "This student put 50 million stolen research articles online. And they’re free.". Washington Post.
  3. ↑ Dylla, H. Frederick (2016-03-21). "No need for researchers to break the law to access scientific publications". Physics Today. doi:10.1063/PT.5.2031. ISSN 0031-9228.
  4. ↑ Murphy, Kate (2016-03-12). "Should All Research Papers Be Free?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  5. ↑ Kravets, David (3 April 2016). "A spiritual successor to Aaron Swartz is angering publishers all over again". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  6. ↑ Bohannon, John (29 April 2016). "Who's downloading pirated papers? Everyone". Science 352 (6285): 508–512. doi:10.1126/science.aaf5664.

External links

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