Prof. Dr. Birgül Demirtaş is a Professor of International Relations at the Turkish-German University in Istanbul. She completed her BA at Boğaziçi University and her MA at Bilkent University. She earned her PhD from the Free University of Berlin. Her research focuses on Turkish foreign policy, German foreign policy, city partnerships in Turkey, and gender studies. She has served as Deputy Editor of the academic journal Uluslararası İlişkiler (International Relations, cited by SSCI) from 2004-2018 and Editor-in-Chief from 2019-2021. Her articles have been published in Turkish Studies, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, Middle East Policy, Iran und Kaukasus, Internationale Politik, Femina Politica, WeltTrends, and Perceptions. Recently, she co-edited a special issue on "The Sustainable Patriarchy in Turkey" for Turkish Studies.

During her stay, Prof. Dr. Demirtaş will be conducting research on "Die Entwicklung der Türkei als "sui generis Mittelmacht" in einem sich wandelnden globalen System und die Türkisch-Deutschen Beziehungen im 21. Jahrhundert."