Dr. Zeynep Balcioglu specialises in forced migration, social policy, and welfare provision, focusing on the Middle East and the Balkans. She has authored multiple policy reports for the Boston Consortium on Arab Region Studies (BCARS) and the Feinstein International Center of Tufts University by engaging in various qualitative research projects with Syrian refugees.

She has actively been involved in several research projects, such as a project on social and political determinants of municipal services provided for Syrian refugees in Turkey, a project with UNHCR Lebanon that focuses on re-estimating Proxy Means Test Scores for cash transfers targeting Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

She holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at Northeastern University and an MA from King’s College London.