Taufiq Tanasaldy is currently ennrolled as a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political and Social Change, the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, the Australian National University.

Taufiq Tanasaldy is currently ennrolled as a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political and Social Change, the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, the Australian National University. Born in Mempawah, West Kalimantan, Taufiq completed his undergraduate studies in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia, and received a masters degree in International Studies from the Korea University, Seoul.

The topic of Taufiq's Ph.D. research is the political resurgence of the Dayaks of West Kalimantan. The research will focus not on the area's recent ethnic conflicts, but rather oil the politics of the Dayak ethnic group as a whole and will cover several issues. First, it will examine the historical background to Dayak politics during the period of the Malay Sultanates and Dutch colonialism. Second, it will look at the rise of Dayak politics from 1945 until its "demise" after 1966, covering important aspects of Dayak ethnic politics that have not been touched on before. Third, it will look at some issues of Dayak "politics" during the New Order, and, finally, it will trace the development of the Dayak political revival that occurred after reformasi, looking, among other things, at bupati elections, district divisions, political appointments, and affiliation during elections.