Psychologist, art historian, expert in the field of museum education. Since 2020, Daria is the chief specialist of special projects department, Ural branch of The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. In 2017–2019, Malikova worked as chief specialist of the research and educational department of the Ural branch of the State Museum and Exhibition Center ROSIZO.

Since 2015, she is curator of the mediation program of the Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, nominated for the State Prize Innovation 2017. She organizes lectures, workshops, tours, and various educational events, as well as oversees children's and teenage educational projects. She is a member of the research group and co-author of the monograph Something New and Unusual: A Study of the Audience of Contemporary Art in Major Cities of Russia (2017–18).