Serves as a faculty member in the Department of Sociology at Galatasaray University and Director of the Center for Social Research (TAM). Also the founding president of the Migration Research Association (GAR). After studying sociology and political science at Boğaziçi University, completed a master’s degree at METU and a PhD at EHESS in Paris. Longstanding research interests include international migration, urban studies, and population dynamics. Has contributed extensively both academically and in the public sphere, on migrant and refugee integration in Turkey, Syrian refugees, urban transformation, and demographic change. In addition to scholarly articles published in Turkish, English, and French, has edited four Turkish-language books on migration. Most recently edited the 2024 volume “Between Leaving and Returning: New Generation Brain Drain in Turkey.” In both teaching and research, places strong emphasis on centering not only data but also human stories, with a commitment to producing socially impactful scholarship.

Graduate of Üsküdar American Academy (1988) and the College of Wooster, Ohio (Economics, 1992), followed by studies in Russian at Beloit College. Began a professional career in 1992 as a Research Specialist at SİAR International Social and Economic Research Inc., a sister company of PİAR Gallup. Continued at SİAR as Research Manager and later General Manager, conducting comparative market research and feasibility studies across Turkey and the Turkic republics of Central Asia. Subsequently worked as a consultant at TMI International. Has been active in organizational development and management consulting since 1996. Currently serves as co-founder of Şensezgin Kurmuş Consulting and the new initiative GenWise, working as a facilitator and consultant. A strong advocate of collective intelligence, tolerance, and gender equality, remains actively engaged in civil society, developing impact-oriented projects and supporting NGOs. Founding member of PWN Istanbul (Professional Women’s Network). After serving for six years as a volunteer and Chair of the Board at KODA (Rural Schools Change Network), continues as a board member. Produces content on FluTV via the series “Difficult Conversations.” A former basketball player and lifelong enthusiast of the sport.

Born in Karşıyaka (İzmir) in 1958. Graduated from Saint-Joseph High School in 1977 and from Istanbul University Faculty of Economics in 1981. Received an MA in Economics from Boğaziçi University (1984) and a PhD from Université Paris X Nanterre (1989). Became Associate Professor in 1990 and Professor in 1996 at Istanbul University’s Department of Economic Development and International Economics. Joined Istanbul Bilgi University’s Department of Economics as a full-time faculty member in 1999 and retired in 2015. Has published interdisciplinary research in leading journals including European Journal of Political Research, Party Politics, Political Behavior, Socio-Economic Review, British Journal of Psychology, Social Indicators Research, International Journal of Social Welfare, Cross-Cultural Research, European Journal of International Management, and Journal of Happiness Studies. Co-author (with Prof. Murat Güvenç) of “Electoral Atlas of Turkey: 1950–2009” (Istanbul Bilgi University Press, 2009) and author of “Polarization and Voter Behavior: The Case of Turkey (January 2012–March 2020)” (Beta, 2020).

Holds a degree from Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences. Began a journalism career in 2009 as a reporter and mobile journalist, later continuing as a fact-checker after receiving training from institutions including the BBC, M100 Sanssouci Colloquium, and Poynter. Awarded the Media Transparency Special Encouragement Award by the Transparency Association in 2015. Founded Teyit in 2016. Selected as an Ashoka Fellow in 2017 and recognized as one of Turkey’s ten outstanding young persons by JCI in 2020. Became a member of the Advisory Board of Impact Hub Ankara in 2021. Continues to work on social entrepreneurship, social impact, and digital society.

Born in 1953. Graduated from Saint Joseph High School and the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at METU. Served as a faculty member at METU for 28 years. Research areas include urban ecology, industrial geography, Istanbul and urban sociology, data analysis, and visualization. Co-author of “Industry in Ankara: Emlak Bank 1926–1998; Institutional History” and “Electoral Atlas of Turkey 1950–2009.” Curated the “Istanbul 1910–2010” exhibition. Served as Chair of the Board of the History Foundation (2007–2010) and as a board member at TESEV (2014–2017). Directed the Istanbul Studies Center at Kadir Has University between 2014 and 2024. Co-hosts the geography program “Yer Yüzlerinde: Kentin Köpüğü” on Apaçık Radio with Aysim Türkmen. Has been living in Datça and/or Istanbul since 2024.

Holds a BA from Ankara University in Political Science and Public Administration, and MA and PhD degrees from Boğaziçi University. Conducted research, teaching, and lectures as a Council of Europe fellow at the University of Oslo (1987), a Fulbright scholar at Duke University (2001), and at Roanoke College (2005). Served as a country evaluator for the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) between 2009 and 2016. Member of the OSCE/ODIHR Core Group of Experts on Political Parties (since 2011), working in parallel with the Venice Commission. Contributed as a researcher and evaluator to projects of international organizations including the Council of Europe, European Commission, UNDP, Global Integrity, Bertelsmann Stiftung (SGI), and International IDEA. Member of the Turkish Political Science Association and the IPSA Research Committee on Legislative Specialists. Currently serves as a full-time Professor at Istanbul Medipol University. Has extensive publications on political parties, elections, political finance, anti-corruption, constitution-making, and democratization.

Completed undergraduate and graduate studies at Istanbul Technical University and earned a PhD in Natural Language Processing from Trakya University. Conducted postdoctoral research in NLP at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. With over 20 years of experience developing artificial intelligence projects across both industry and academia, Savaş Yıldırım is also co-author of “Mastering Transformers: The Journey to Large Language Models.” Has made significant contributions to Turkish NLP, producing numerous open-source tools and resources. Currently serves as a faculty member at Istanbul Bilgi University and as a visiting scholar at Toronto Metropolitan University. Recent research focuses on multilingual large language models (LLM), deep learning applications, and Agentic AI.