Stephen Mulraney gained an MPhil in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies at the University of Oxford, where he developed research interests in both the Old Tibetan period and the non-Buddhist traditions of Tibet. His dissertation on violence and its representation in the life and writing of the Bonpo luminary Shardza Tashi Gyeltsen (1858–1934) focused on the latter, translating two forceful ritual texts of Shardza's and contextualizing his authorship of these violent rituals against the background of his famously moral lifestyle and the political and social upheavals of nineteenth-century Khams. At Oxford, Stephen also began exploring the connections between institutional forms of Bon and local "Pagan" religious practices which seem to share features with the ancient pre-Buddhist beliefs of the Tibetan people.

In the PaganTibet project, Stephen's goal is to attempt to elucidate the connections between the language of Pagan texts and that of the archaic non-Buddhist religious and mythological texts that have come down to us from Dunhuang and other sources.

Stephen previously gained degrees in Physics from Trinity College Dublin (his hometown) and in Mathematics from the University of Warwick, topics in which he still maintains a lively interest. He formerly worked as a translator of Polish and greatly enjoys visiting Poland, as well as other parts of Central and Eastern Europe. At home, his interests include reading about languages and linguistics, making fermented foods, and brewing historical beer recipes.