Dr. Derya Yüksek received her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at the Middle East Technical University in Turkey, and her master’s degree in Political Science, in the field of European Union Policies and Cooperation at the University of Trieste in Italy. Since 2007, she has been involved as a project manager and consultant in various international cooperation projects carried out in the Euro-Mediterranean in the field of culture and arts, communication, and media, with the partnership of culture and arts institutions, research centers and universities. Yüksek completed her PhD in Media and Communication Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium. Her PhD thesis titled “Community Media as a Participatory Contact Zone for Youth in the Divided Cyprus” examined the contributions of participatory media practices to conflict transformation in Cyprus.

Her research interests include media, democracy, and participation, participatory communication, alternative media, social movements, and conflict transformation. She is a member of International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), and Desire Research Center for Democracy, Signification and Resistance.