Marat Kumar graduated from the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in 2011. He obtained his master's degree from the University of Southern California, USA, in 2021. Currently, he is engaged in doctoral research at the Laboratory for Viral Ecology within the Research and Production Center for Microbiology and Virology. With over 10 years of work experience, Marat has held positions as a researcher focused on microalgae, cyanobacteria, and non-oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria. He has also demonstrated proficiency in bioinformatics tools and techniques. Presently, his primary research interest lies in applying a metagenomic approach to conduct a comprehensive survey of viral and microbial diversity in the Caspian seal habitat.