Irina Mirkina got her M.Sc. degree in Economics at the All-Russian State Distance Institute of Finance and Economics, Moscow, Russia, in 2002 and in the same year became a lecturer at the branch of her alma mater in Barnaul, Russia. During next years, she participated in several research projects on state investment, economic and social reforms in Russia. She was also affiliated with Novosibirsk State University of Economics and Management (in 2003-2008) and Altai Institute of Financial Administration (in 2007-2010).
In 2010, Irina became a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the IMT - Institute for Advanced Studies, Lucca, Italy. Her main research area is the institutional development in the age of globalization. Currently she is a visiting research fellow at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals and works on several research projects together with some scholars from Sweden and USA.