Raikhana V. Kunakova is a prominent scientist in the field of synthetic organic chemistry, catalysis by metal complexes and heterocyclic chemistry. She is Doctor of Chemical Sciences (1989), Professor (1991), Full Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Bashkortostan (2012), Vice-President of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Bashkortostan (2011), Head of the Department of Special Chemical Technology of the Ufa State University of Economics and Service (since 2011), HonouredWorker of Science and Technology of the Republic of Bashkortostan (1997), and Honoгred Worker of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation (2006).

R.V. Kunakova graduated from the Ural Polytechnic Institute in Ekaterinburg in 1969. In 1970, she entered the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Ufa Scientific Centre as a graduate student and went on to get her PhD and then DSc degrees in chemistry and to become full professor in 1991.

She has developed a promising new area of scientific research, i.e. catalysis in the chemistry of organic sulfur compounds. With her collaborators, she made a great contribution to studying the catalytic activation of small molecules and atoms in reactions with conjugated acetylenes and dienes. She coordinated internationally recognized research projects related to the synthesis of a broad class of heterocycles of higher sulphides,sulphones,etc., using the catalytic activation of elemental sulphur, sulphurdioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon disulphide, and water.

R.V. Kunakova has published over 360 scientific papers, including 11 monographs.

She has supervised 20 PhD dissertations and 2 DSc dissertations.

Since 1991, she has been working at the Ufa Technological Institute of Service (now Ufa State University of Economics and Service) as Head of the Department of Special Chemical Technology (since 2011 – part-time). Between 1994 and 1997, she was Dean of the Faculty for Chemical Technology and in 1997 was appointed Vice-Rector for Scientific Affairs.

In 2006-2011, she served as Chief Scientific Secretary of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Bashkortostan. In May 2011, she was elected Vice-President of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Bashkortostan. In 2012, she was elected as Full Member (Academician) of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

R.V. Kunakova is a board member at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Republic of Bashkortostan and an editorial board member of The Ural Ecological Bulletin.

She was Editor-in-Chief of the Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences of Bashkortostan in 2005 to 2006 and returned to this position in 2016.