Born in
Krapkowice, Poland, Bota grew up in
Upper Silesia. Her family emigrated to Germany in 1988 and settled first in
Hamburg. She received her
Abitur in 1999 from the
gymnasium in
Pinneberg. She studied German literature, political science and sociology at the
University of Kiel, and won a scholarship in 2001 to further study
International Relations at the
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. She continued her studies in
Berlin and
Potsdam, and wrote her thesis partly in
Warsaw. From 2005 Bota studied at the
Deutsche Journalistenschule in Munich. An internship at weekly newspaper
Die Zeit during that time led to her employment as a political correspondent in 2007. Her main emphasis was on Eastern Europe. She also worked as a correspondent reporting for
Tagesschau in Ukraine. Since 2015, she has been working as Moscow correspondent for Die Zeit. Bota has been a regular guest on the political talkshow
Presseclub to discuss issues related to the political developments in Ukraine. In May 2015, Bota took part in a
Streitraum panel discussion about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine at the
Schaubühne in Berlin, moderated by
Carolin Emcke. In 2012, together with
Khuê Pham and , Bota published the book
Wir neuen Deutschen (We new Germans), which coined the term "Neue Deutsche". == Awards ==