Natalia Polakova is a Research Associate at IPA Uganda. She is currently working on two randomized controlled trials, specifically on multifaceted graduation programs: the Uganda Graduation Study (UGS) and SMILES. Prior to joining IPA, she worked as a Research Assistant in Development Economics at ETH Zurich and the Center for Evaluation and Development. During her studies, she did a traineeship at the European Central Bank. Natalia holds an MSc in Economics from the University of Mannheim and an MRes in Economics from the European University Institute.