Meet Our Team

Dr. Rahime Süleymanoğlu Kürüm has extensive experience in leading EU-funded teaching and research initiatives on gender, diplomacy, and European governance, and plays a central role in advancing critical and interdisciplinary approaches to EU studies. Her research lies at the intersection of feminist epistemic justice, elite sociology, and EU politics, with a particular focus on knowledge hierarchies, power relations, and inclusion in policymaking processes. She is the author of Conditionality, the EU and Turkey: From Transformation to Retrenchment (Routledge, 2019) and co-editor of Feminist Framing of Europeanisation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). Her work has been published in leading international journals including Third World Quarterly, Review of International Studies, Journal of Common Market Studies, International Migration, Geopolitics, and Political Studies Review. As Coordinator and Centre Director of PLURIEX, Dr. Süleymanoğlu Kürüm provides overall intellectual and strategic leadership. She leads Work Package 1 (WP1), which focuses on epistemic mapping and curriculum groundwork through systematic analysis of EU-related course syllabi and the development of annotated bibliographies drawing on alternative and interdisciplinary knowledge traditions. She also leads Work Package 3 (WP3), overseeing project management, coordination, monitoring, evaluation, and financial governance across the project lifecycle. Through PLURIEX, her Jean Monnet Chair, and ongoing international collaborations, Dr. Süleymanoğlu Kürüm works to build plural, decolonial, and policy-relevant approaches to EU studies, while actively supporting early-career researchers and fostering sustained dialogue between academia, policy institutions, and practice communities.

Publications: research.bau.edu.tr

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Selin Türkeş-Kılıç is Luxembourg-based Co-Director of PLURIEX, where she plays a central role in strengthening the Centre’s links with EU institutions, policy communities, and governance networks. She co-leads Work Package 2 (Research) together with Yüksel Alper Ecevit, overseeing PLURIEX’s comparative and interdisciplinary research agenda on EU governance, policymaking, and expertise. Dr. Türkeş-Kılıç holds a PhD in Political Science from Sabancı University (2012) and was a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Deusto, Spain (2011–2012). Her research focuses on the discursive, argumentative, and institutional dynamics of EU–Turkey relations, European integration, and crisis governance, with particular attention to how expertise, legitimacy, and power are constructed in policy processes. She has extensive experience in EU-funded teaching and research, having served as Coordinator of the Jean Monnet Module EUDIOC (European Union: Deeper Integration by Overtaking Crisis, 2019–2022) and Co-Coordinator of EUTHPART (Empowering Youth Participation through EU Values, 2022–2025). She also co-led the TÜBİTAK 1001 project on elite sociology and policymaking in EU–Turkey relations (2022–2025), which examined the marginalisation of bureaucratic and technical expertise in decision-making. Through her leadership roles and professional presence in Luxembourg, Dr. Türkeş-Kılıç enhances PLURIEX’s capacity to engage directly with EU institutions, policy debates, and international research networks.

Publications: ResearchGate

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Dr. Damla Bayraktar Aksel holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from Koç University, an MA in Public Policy from Sciences Po Paris, and a BA in Sociology from Galatasaray University. Her research focuses on migration governance, diaspora policies, and EU–Turkey relations, with a strong comparative and policy-oriented perspective. She has participated in major international research projects funded under Horizon 2020 and FP7 (including CEASEVAL, CROSS-Migration, and LEFAMSOL) and coordinated the TÜBİTAK-funded EMIGPOL project (2022–2025), examining emigration and diaspora policies across 21 countries. She is an IPC Fellow (2025–2026). Within PLURIEX, she contributes primarily to WP6 (Impact & Knowledge Dissemination), strengthening policy engagement and outreach, and serves as Internal Evaluator, supporting monitoring and quality assurance across the project.

Publications: research.bau.edu.tr

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Dr. Atakan Yılmaz holds a PhD from Galatasaray University. His research lies at the intersection of diplomacy, cybersecurity, and foreign policy, combining international relations with computational and data-driven methodologies. His work focuses on cyber diplomacy, AI-assisted policy analysis, and the role of disinformation in contemporary security and governance. He has been actively involved in international research and teaching initiatives, including the Jean Monnet Chair on Feminist Epistemic Justice in the EU and Beyond (FEJUST, 2022–2025), and has participated in NATO-affiliated programmes on countering disinformation. His interdisciplinary profile reflects a strong commitment to innovative pedagogy and the integration of emerging technologies into EU and international studies. As Deputy Director for Teaching & Curriculum Development at PLURIEX, Dr. Yılmaz leads Work Package 4 (WP4), which coordinates the Centre’s teaching activities and embeds epistemic plurality into core undergraduate EU studies courses. He oversees curriculum development, evaluation milestones, and sustainable teaching outputs, including lecture materials and certificates of achievement. In addition, he coordinates the Early Career Researcher Workshop (ECRW) activities under WP5, supporting collaborative research and academic outputs.

Publications: Google Scholar

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Dr. Alper Yüksel Ecevit is an Associate Professor at Bahçeşehir University, specialising in European governance, political institutions, and elite decision-making processes. He holds a PhD in Political Science from Binghamton University, where his research focused on democratic institutions, suffrage expansion, and elite-driven policy transformation. His work sits at the intersection of comparative politics, EU studies, and public policy, with particular attention to institutional change, governance capacity, and state–society relations. Dr. Ecevit has held research positions at leading international institutions, including the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH), University of Edinburgh, where he worked on historical institutionalism and the evolution of democratic governance in Europe. His scholarship provides historically grounded and empirically informed insights into how political institutions adapt, persist, and transform under conditions of crisis and reform. Through this work, he has established himself as a key academic voice on European institutional resilience and elite-mediated policymaking. Within PLURIEX, Dr. Ecevit serves as Senior Fellow for EU Policy & Institutional Engagement, where he plays a central role in strengthening the Centre’s links with EU institutions, policymakers, and think tanks. He co-leads Work Package 2 (Research) together with Dr. Selin Türkeş-Kılıç and Rahime Süleymanoğlu-Kürüm, focusing on bureaucratic elites, governance frameworks, and institutional decision-making in the EU and EU–Turkey context. Through this role, he contributes to shaping PLURIEX’s interdisciplinary research agenda and supports the translation of academic research into policy-relevant knowledge, reinforcing the Centre’s position as a bridge between scholarship and European policymaking communities.

Publications: research.bau.edu.tr

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Dr. Zekeriya Tüzen is a scholar at Bahçeşehir University specialising in European governance, foreign policy, and international security. He holds a PhD in European Politics and International Relations from Marmara University. His research spans higher education policy, transnational governance, energy diplomacy, and policy coordination in EU–Turkey relations, with a strong emphasis on the institutional and regulatory dimensions of European integration. Dr. Tüzen has extensive experience in academic research, project coordination, and policy outreach, and has contributed to EU-funded research initiatives and institutional policy studies. His work is particularly focused on bridging academia and policymaking by translating research findings into policy-relevant insights and accessible knowledge outputs. This combination of analytical and organisational expertise positions him at the interface between research production and public engagement. Within PLURIEX, Dr. Tüzen serves as Research & Outreach Coordinator and leads Work Package 5 (WP5), which focuses on events and knowledge-exchange activities between 2025 and 2028. WP5 includes the organisation of annual and PLURIEX Academic Expert Panels (two panels per year, six in total) and expert panel notes. Through this role, Dr. Tüzen plays a central part in strengthening PLURIEX’s external partnerships, managing stakeholder engagement, and ensuring the Centre’s research achieves sustained academic and policy impact.

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Prof. Dr. Selcen Öner specialises in European identity, EU–Turkey relations, migration and refugee policy, and populist radical right parties in European politics. She holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations and has held visiting academic positions at leading European institutions, including LUISS University (Rome), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Aalborg University, Freie Universität Berlin, and Pompeu Fabra University (IBEI). Her research combines EU studies, political sociology, and cultural analysis, with a particular focus on identity formation and narratives of Europeanisation. Prof. Dr. Öner has extensive experience in Jean Monnet activities, having previously coordinated the Jean Monnet Module “Turkey–EU Cooperation against New Security Threats” (2012–2015). She is the author of Turkey and the European Union: The Question of European Identity (Lexington, 2011), and her work has appeared in journals such as European Politics and Society, The Journal of North African Studies, International Journal of Euro-Mediterranean Studies, and Tripodos. Her most recent book, Ne Seninle Ne Sensiz: Osmanlı’dan Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’ne Avrupa ile İlişkilerin Hikâyesi (İmge Kitabevi, 2024), offers an interdisciplinary analysis of Turkey–Europe relations through cultural diplomacy, arts, and identity, drawing on interviews with academics, artists, and experts conducted during the pandemic. Within PLURIEX, Prof. Dr. Öner serves as Communications & Knowledge Dissemination Lead and is responsible for Work Package 6 (WP6), which coordinates the Centre’s impact and dissemination activities between 2025 and 2028. WP6 oversees conference participation by PLURIEX team members, invited public and academic talks, and structured dissemination milestones, including annual evaluation events and the project’s closing ceremony. Key outputs include the PLURIEX website and social media platforms, online collaboration spaces, lecture notes, posters, certificates, op-eds, and policy briefs. Through this role, Prof. Dr. Öner ensures the visibility, accessibility, and societal relevance of PLURIEX’s research, strengthening its reach across academic, policy, and public audiences.

Publications: research.bau.edu.tr

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Dr. Özge Zihnioğlu is a Lecturer in Politics at the University of Liverpool (UK). Her research focuses on Turkish civil society, EU civil society support mechanisms, and EU–Turkey relations, with particular attention to depoliticisation, participation, and governance. She has published extensively on these themes and her work has been supported by funding from TÜBİTAK, the British Academy, the British Council, and the Mercator Foundation. Dr. Zihnioğlu is the author of European Union Civil Society Policy and Turkey: A Bridge Too Far? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and EU–Turkey Relations: Civil Society and Depoliticization (Routledge, 2020). Her articles have appeared in leading international journals including Journal of Common Market Studies, Third World Quarterly, Social Movement Studies, Turkish Studies, and Voluntas. She is a recipient of the Young Scientist Award from the Science Academy of Turkey (2015) and the International Relations Council of Turkey (2018). As Academic Consultant to PLURIEX, Dr. Zihnioğlu contributes her expertise on civil society, participation, and EU governance, strengthening the Centre’s engagement with non-state actors and public-facing research. Her extensive civil society networks and policy experience support PLURIEX’s commitment to epistemic plurality, societal outreach, and meaningful engagement beyond academia.

Publications: liverpool.ac.uk

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Yiğit Balcı is a senior undergraduate student majoring in Political Science and International Relations, with a minor in Sociology, at Bahçeşehir University. His academic interests include EU politics, global political economy, energy policy and transition, geoeconomics, international diplomacy, and sociological approaches to social change.

He currently serves as a student research assistant in the PLURIEX project, contributing to academic coordination, research support, documentation, reporting, and policy-oriented outputs, as well as the organisation of academic events and writing retreats.

Email: [email protected]

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Doğa Hanoğlu is a senior undergraduate student in Political Science and International Relations. She previously worked in the School of Government and Leadership Unit (HLO), where she contributed to the organisation and coordination of panels, public forums, and local governance-focused academic programmes and events. In addition, she served as Vice President of the CIFAL Istanbul Youth Platform, contributing to youth-led initiatives focused on leadership, sustainability, and civic engagement.

She is currently part of the PLURIEX student assistant team, where she supports ongoing academic work through background research, text preparation and editing, structured documentation, and coordination support for collaborative meetings and research activities, contributing to the project’s research process and collaborative work.

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Necip Bulut is a Research Assistant in the Department of Economics and Finance at Bahçeşehir University. He is also a PhD candidate at Yıldız Technical University, where he is conducting his doctoral research in monetary policy in a three-essay dissertation format. His academic interests lie in political macroeconomics, with a particular focus on the interaction between monetary policy, distributional dynamics, and institutional structures.

Within his research, Necip Bulut works on income distribution, inflation dynamics, and policy regimes, combining theoretical and empirical approaches. He contributes to ongoing academic activities through research support, data work, and the development of analytical outputs, while continuing to advance his doctoral studies. Within PLURIEX, he supports the Centre’s research environment by contributing macroeconomic and political economy perspectives to its interdisciplinary agenda.

Publications: Google Scholar

Email: [email protected]

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