About
Nihan Albayrak is an Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at Boğaziçi University and a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She completed her PhD in Social Psychology at the LSE, following a Master’s in Applied Social Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London, and a Master’s in Neuroscience at King’s College London.
Nihan's doctoral research focused on how physical and psychological distance influences individual humanitarian responses to global emergencies, with a particular emphasis on the case of Syrian refugees. Following her PhD, she undertook a postdoctoral role at the Open Psychology Research Centre at the Open University. There, she contributed significantly to the launch of a Collaboration Lab aimed at enhancing the research experience for students and researchers. Her postdoctoral research focused on meta-science, examining psychologists' sample recruitment practices and their reporting and discussion of sample characteristics.
Her research explores the socio-political and systemic dynamics of social justice, identity, and power relations. Adopting a critical and contextually grounded perspective, her work investigates how marginalisation, mobility, and hierarchies shape individuals' and communities' sense of worth, recognition, and collective agency. Specifically, she examines the psychological mechanisms of intergroup relations, helping behaviours, and identity construction across diverse contexts, including forced migration, higher education, and structural inequalities. Methodologically, her research employs both qualitative and quantitative approaches while she is actively working towards integrating decolonial frameworks, reflexive open science, and participatory methodologies into her ongoing work.
Beyond her empirical work, she actively leads mentoring initiatives and policy-oriented discussions to drive structural change in higher education.
Awards
LSE Student Event Funding Competition Winner Prize (2020)
LSE Class Teacher Award for Learning Development (2018)
LSE Beveridge 2.0 Festival Research Competition Popular Prize (2018)
Current appointment: December 2024 - November 2027