Our Team

People

"Bir ben vardır bende, benden içeru" — Yunus Emre

Principal Investigator
Terry Eskenazi

Terry Eskenazi

Assistant Professor of Psychology · Principal Investigator

Terry Eskenazi is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Koç University. She received her MSc in Social Psychology at the London School of Economics, and completed her PhD at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour in the Netherlands. She then continued research at École Normale Supérieure's LNC (Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives) before joining Koç University. Her research interests lie within social cognition and neuroscience, focusing on social decision making and metacognition.

teskenazi@ku.edu.tr
Graduate Students
Hande Özlem Atar

Hande Özlem Atar

PhD Student

Hande earned her B.A. in Psychology from MEF University and holds an M.A. in Social Cognition from Koç University, where she is currently pursuing her PhD. Her research investigates the truth effect and its relationship with social groups, exploring how group dynamics influence the way we process repeated information. Alongside her doctoral studies and teaching, she enjoys junk journaling and water coloring.

hatar@ku.edu.tr
Saliha Hümeyra Şahinoğlu

Saliha Hümeyra Şahinoğlu

M.A. Student

Hümeyra received her B.A. in Psychology from Istanbul Medipol University and is currently pursuing her M.A. in Psychology at Koç University. She is broadly interested in social cognition, with a particular focus on social memory, metacognition, and intergroup relations. In her spare time, she enjoys discovering new music and playing video games.

ssahinoglu25@ku.edu.tr
Münire İrem Gücük

Münire İrem Gücük

Graduate Student

İrem is a research intern at SomiLab as she is particularly interested in empathy and metacognition. After completing her Bachelor’s in Psychology at Maltepe University, İrem has started her Master’s in Cognitive Neuroscience and Clinical Neuropsychology at University of Padova in Italy. Her thesis topic is on cognitive biases of forensic neuropsychologists which affect their decision making.

iremgckk@gmail.com
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New Graduate Member

To be added

We are actively recruiting graduate students (M.A./Ph.D.) — new lab members will appear here soon.

Apply to join →
Undergraduate Students
Yunus Doğan

Yunus Doğan

Undergraduate Student

Yunus is a senior undergraduate student in Philosophy, also minoring in Psychology. He is the mastermind behind this website. In addition to all this, his main area of expertise is gastronomy.

yunusdogan19@ku.edu.tr
Zülal Berra Dakın

Zülal Berra Dakın

Undergraduate Student

Zülal is a senior undergraduate in psychology and economics, with a minor major in international relations.

zdakin21@ku.edu.tr
Pelin Savacı

Pelin Savacı

Undergraduate Student

Pelin is a senior undergraduate psychology student. She is interested in social cognition , social cognitive biases as well as clinical psychology. She is currently working on an independent study related to joint illusory truth effect in the lab. In her spare time she likes to hang out with her cats!

psavaci21@ku.edu.tr
Duygu Hatipoğlu

Duygu Hatipoğlu

Undergraduate Student

Duygu is a second-year undergraduate student in psychology.

dhatipoglu22@ku.edu.tr
Çağan Kızğın

Çağan Kızğın

Undergraduate Student

Çağan is an undergraduate student at Koç University interested in neuroscience, cognition, and human behavior.

ckizgin24@ku.edu.tr
Derin Kızıltaş

Derin Kızıltaş

Undergraduate Student

Derin is a junior psychology student.

dkiziltas23@ku.edu.tr
Cem Karbuz

Cem Karbuz

Undergraduate Student

Cem is a senior undergraduate student in psychology and sociology, also minoring in international relations. They are broadly interested in social cognition, specifically neural underpinnings related to it. Besides academia, they like playing video games and petting cats!

ckarbuz19@ku.edu.tr
İdil Dal

İdil Dal

Undergraduate Student

İdil is a senior undergraduate in psychology and media and visual arts with a double major.

idal20@ku.edu.tr
Yaren Sinem Temizkan

Yaren Sinem Temizkan

Undergraduate Student

Yaren is a junior undergraduate student of Psychology and Sociology. Her main interest areas are gender, social-cognitive development, and perception. In her spare time, she loves writing, video-making and photography.

ytemizkan21@ku.edu.tr
Doruk Aktepe

Doruk Aktepe

Undergraduate Student

Doruk graduated from Koç University with a BA in Psychology and Comparative Literature. He is interested in social cognitive mechanisms as well as organisational behavior.

daktepe20@ku.edu.tr
Berkay Bayram

Berkay Bayram

Undergraduate Student

Berkay is a junior undergraduate in Psychology and Sociology with a double major. They are highly interested in cognitive processes revolving around gender detection, recognition, and perception. In their spare time, they like watching shows, chit chatting with friends, having coffee, and writing poetry.

bbayram21@ku.edu.tr
Nihan Cengiz

Nihan Cengiz

Undergraduate Student

Nihan is a senior undergraduate in Psychology with a Sociology minor. Her interests are social cognition, gender and clinical psychology. In her spare time, she likes to read, dance and practice photography.

ncengiz21@ku.edu.tr
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New Member

To be added

We are actively recruiting — new lab members will appear here soon.

Apply to join →
Collaborators & Alumni
Dicle Çapan

Dicle Çapan

PhD · Collaborator & Alumna

Dicle received her B.A. in Psychology from Bahçeşehir University and completed her M.A. in Cognitive Science. She is mainly interested in social influences on metacognitive evaluations and memory processes, with plans to study social learning in relation to metacognition from a developmental perspective. Outside the lab, she enjoys chocolate, city escapes, concerts, movies, and books.

dcapan17@ku.edu.tr
Dilan Çabuk-Çolak

Dilan Çabuk-Çolak

PhD · Collaborator & Alumna · Asst. Prof. at Acıbadem University

Dr. Dilan Çabuk-Çolak is an alumna of SOMI and currently serves as an Assistant Professor at Acıbadem University. Her research focuses on social memory, and she often integrates emerging technologies such as virtual reality into her experimental work. Beyond academia, she enjoys reading and exploring new places.

dilan.colak@acibadem.edu.tr