Welcome! I am a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. I study political violence and insurgency, with a particular interest in how armed groups act strategically toward the multiple audiences they face at once: the states they fight, the rivals they compete with, and the populations they hope to recruit. That interest runs through my work on terrorism and coercive violence, on insurgent propaganda and communication, and on the dynamics of recruitment and competition among armed organizations. My research draws on formal game-theoretic modeling, quantitative methods and computational social science.

My dissertation develops formal and computational approaches to insurgent strategy, examining how groups use violence to signal, propaganda to persuade, and ideological positioning to compete for recruits. My research has been supported by an APSA Centennial Research Grant and has received the Best Graduate Student Paper Award at the Formal Models of Conflict Conference. My published work appears in Conflict Management and Peace Science.

I expect to complete my Ph.D. in Spring 2027. I hold an M.A. in International Relations and Political Methodology from the University of Pittsburgh. Previously, I earned an M.A. in International Relations and a B.A. in Political Science and Public Administration from Bilkent University.

Contact: isil.idrisoglu@pitt.edu