Prof. Dr. Özgür Ünal Eriş graduated from American Robert College in 1992 and earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from Boğaziçi University in 1996. She completed a postgraduate degree in European Studies at the University of Exeter, UK, in 1998, and received her PhD in Government from the University of Essex, UK, in 2005.
She taught at Bahçeşehir University’s Department of EU Studies from 2001 to 2015 and has been a full-time faculty member in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at İstanbul 29 Mayıs University since 2015, while also teaching part-time at other universities.
Her research focuses on soft security threats, irregular migration, Turkey-EU relations, the EU’s impact on Turkey’s democratization, and German politics. She has published books including Revisiting Secularism in Theory and Practice (Springer) and Political Economy of Muslim Countries (Cambridge Scholars Publishing), as well as articles on migration securitization and populist radical-right parties.
Prof. Eriş has led Jean Monnet projects and modules, including Freedom, Security and Justice (2012–2015) and Raising EU Awareness (2020–2023), and currently holds a Jean Monnet Chair on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. She frequently appears on TV as an expert on EU affairs and international relations.