Merve Yorulmaz

Dr. Merve Yorulmaz has been working in the Department of Politics and Society in the Business Unit "Societal Change and Innovation" at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI in Karlsruhe since 2019. Her research interests include the evaluation and impact assessment of research and innovation policies, Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), diversity and gender equality in research and innovation systems, as well as creativity and resilience research.​

From 2021 to 2025, she pursued her PhD in Economics at the University of Strasbourg on the topic of municipal crisis resilience and creativity and completed her doctorate with distinction in November 2025. In her dissertation, she used a qualitative case study design to examine which institutional arrangements and mindsets enable municipalities in times of disruption and high uncertainty to maintain steering capacity while at the same time opening up spaces for creativity, pragmatism, and learning.

Before that, she studied at the University of Mannheim, where she obtained her master’s degree in Culture and Economy in 2018 and worked as a tutor at the chairs of Business Administration and English Studies. Between 2014 and 2018, she also gained diverse practical experience in companies, including in the fields of foreign trade and business consulting, leadership development, and diversity management.