Işık Gürleyen received her B.Sc. degree in International Relations from Middle East Technical University (1996). She has two MA degrees: the Bilkent University, Department of Political Science (1998) and the University of Siena (Italy) in the MA Program on “Politics in Europe” (2001). She received her PhD at the University of Siena, in “Comparative and European Politics” (2005).
She joined the Department of International Relations and the EU, İzmir University of Economics in 2006, when she became assistant professor. Her research interest includes Turkey-EU relations, foreign policy analysis and international dimension of democratization. She has various publications on such issues and she edited the textbook for international relations course at high schools. In parallel to her academic works, Dr. Gurleyen has been working as Rector's academic assistant at Izmir University of Economics.