Marat Safiullin holds a PhD in Economics from Kazan State Financial Economic Institute. He served as head of the Management Department of the Kazan State Financial Economic Institute for nearly 10 years before bringing his skills to government service, most recently as Minister of the Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan. Currently he is the Vice-President for Strategic Planning and Economic Development at Kazan Federal University and Director of the Advanced Economic Research Center in the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan.