Experts Database

Ayselin YILDIZ has extensive publications, research, projects and consultancy activities in the field of migration studies. She received her Phd in international relations and MSc in European Studies from Middle East Technical University (Turkey). She is the founding director of EU Center for 10 years (2005-2015) and founding head of UNESCO Chair on International Migration (2016-2023) for a distinguished span of seven years at Yasar University. She has also initiated the launch of international relations department at Yasar University in 2010 and was the head of department for 2 years. She held research fellowships at Wageningen University, University of California Berkeley (PhD fellow), University of Pittsburgh (post-doc) and at SciencesPo (visiting fellow). In addition to her academic pursuits, she also serves as the committee member at UNESCO Turkey Management of Social Transformations (MOST) and Migration Group. She is the author of the book The European Union’s Immigration Policy: Managing Migration in Turkey and Morocco, a seminal work published by the Palgrave Macmillan, a testament to her scholarly prowess. She currently resides in both Istanbul and Paris, where she conducts her academic pursuits and provides consultancy services.
Current research:

• Migration as an issue of EU-Turkey relations
• Externalization of migration policies and the implications in the Mediterranean region
• Migrant smuggling
• Irregular migration and readmission: policies and practices in Turkey
• Access and integration of refugees in higher education, skills recognition
• Intercultural communication for integration policies
• Housing and wellbeing for refugees

Aylin (Ph.D. in law, LL.M.) is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Lisbon, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Her project investigates the impacts of sea-level rise on human mobility and international protection. She focuses on the Portuguese-speaking African States (PALOP), especially Sao Tome and Principe. During her Ph.D., she focused on climate change - human mobility - human rights in the Pacific Island States, and undertook field research in Fiji and Samoa.

Fatih Yilmaz is a research fellow and project manager at Beyond the Horizon ISSG in Belgium. His research interest is mainly on integration of migrants, more specifically highly educated migrants/refugees/asylum seekers, orientation, integration policies. He has been managing and taking roles in different national/EU projects, such as All-in-one 4HER, Super-mentor, ORIENT8, Immune2infodemic, etc.

Lior Yohanani is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at Rutgers University. He holds an MA in Sociology from Tel Aviv University and from Rutgers. His work focuses on questions of migration, nationalism, identity, and collective action. In his dissertation project, Lior focuses on diaspora soldiers in the Israeli military. He examines what makes those soldiers come to Israel and join the military, the service period's impact on their views and migration intentions, and the role of state initiatives and diaspora organizations in advancing recruitment. Lior’s work has been published in Nations and Nationalism and in Sociological Forum.

Zeynep Yokmaç is a Researcher in the International Research Training Group: “Diversity: Mediating Difference in Transcultural Spaces” and a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Trier. Her research projects include migration and urban studies, uncertain mobilities, and urban transformation. She did her MA in Transcultural Studies at Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, and her BA in Sociology and double major in History at Boğaziçi University.