Yipeng Zhou graduated from the REECA program in 2022 and received a bachelor's degree in Russian Language and Literature from Zhejiang University. His scholarly interests focus on the historical and contemporary relations between Central Asia and Xinjiang. More broadly, he is interested in Eurasian borderland history, particularly how geopolitical rivalries, state-building, nation-making, and personal stories intertwined in these lands. He is also a promoter and practitioner of digital scholarship and is dedicated to building open access information spaces.