Ilke Toygur

Biography

Dr. Ilke Toygür is the Director of the IE Global Policy Center and Professor of Geopolitics of Europe at the School of Politics, Economics, and Global Affairs at IE University. In addition, she is a senior associate at the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program and serves as an elected board member of the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) in Brussels. Furthermore, she has been selected as a Mercator Fellow for 2024.

Her main areas of expertise include European integration, EU institutions, elections and democracy in Western Europe, the geopolitics of Europe, transatlantic relations, and Turkey’s relations with the West. She holds a BA degree and an MA degree in Economics, an MA degree in Democracy and Government, and a PhD in Political Science.

Dr. Toygür began her career back in 2008, working at the Economic Development Foundation (IKV), a research institute focusing on the European Union. In 2016, she completed her PhD degree in Political Science at the Autonomous University of Madrid. Her doctoral research focused on the impact of European integration on the vote and party  system change in Western Europe in times of crises. In 2015, she was granted a Mercator-IPC Fellowship at the Istanbul Policy Center. Following her PhD, she worked for the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid and for the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Brussels. She has also been a lecturer at the University Carlos III of Madrid and a visiting researcher at the European University Institute (EUI), University of Mannheim, and Brookings Institution.

Her research and articles have so far appeared in Carnegie Europe, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Brookings Institution, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Der Spiegel, and El País, among others. She frequently comments on European affairs in the international media. She is native in Turkish, speaks fluent English and Spanish. 

Education

  • Ph.D. 2011 - 2016

    PhD in Political Science

    Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

  • M.A. 2010 - 2011

    MA in Democracy and Government

    Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

  • M.A. 2006 - 2008

    MA in Economics

    Sabancı University, Istanbul, Turkey

  • M.A. Sep. 2007 - Feb. 2008

    Erasmus Student Exchange

    Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Vienna, Austria

  • B.S. 2002 - 2006

    BS in Economics

    Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

Other Affiliations

  • Jan. 2019 Present

    Board Member

    Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA), Brussels, Belgium

  • Jan. 2018 Present

    Fellow of Transatlantic Relations Initiative

    IE University, Madrid, Spain

  • March 2014 Dec. 2014

    Visiting Scholar

    Universität Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

  • Feb. 2013 July 2013

    Visiting Scholar

    European University Institute, Florence, Italy

Professional Experience

  • 09.2023 Present

    IE Global Policy Center - Madrid, Spain

    Director

  • 11.2023 Present

    Stiftung Mercator - Essen, Germany

    Mercator Fellow

  • 10.2020 10.2022

    German Institute of International and Security Affairs (SWP) - Berlin, Germany

    CATS Fellow

  • 01.2017 01.2022

    Real Instituto Elcano - Madrid, Spain

    Analyst for European Affairs

  • 01.2017 Present

    Universidad Carlos III de Madrid - Madrid, Spain

    Adjunct Profesor

  • 11.2015 11.2016

    Istanbul Policy Center, Sabancı University - Istanbul, Turkey

    Mercator - IPC Fellow

  • 10.2011 10.2015

    Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Department of Political Science and International Relations - Madrid, Spain

    Researcher

  • 09.2008 09.2010

    Economic Development Foundation (İKV) - Istanbul, Turkey

    Researcher

  • 09.2009 12.2009

    Economic Development Foundation (İKV) - Brussels, Belgium

    EU Expert