Irmak Yavuz Özgür

Irmak Yavuz Özgür, born in Ankara in 1992, graduated from the Middle East Technical University (METU) in 2015, the Department of City and Regional Planning, ranking 3rd. The same year, she started her masters degree in Urban Design at METU. She started her academic career as a research assistant at Izmir Institute of Technology and joined TED University shortly after in 2016. Since 2023, she has been serving as an instructor at TED University.

To date, Irmak has participated in various seminars, symposia, workshops and exhibitions both as contributor and organizer at METU, TED University and, also, at Hafencity University Hamburg, where she was as a visiting student between 2013 and 2014. 

She received her master degree with the thesis that focus on the macroform development of Ankara in the geomorphological context titled "Calyx: A Geomorphological Approach to Formation of Urban Space in the Context of Ankara". She conducted researches on the future formation of urban spaces during her master studies.

She recently completed her PhD in the City and Regional Planning program at METU with the dissertation titled "Urban Design Education: Institutional Models, Curricular Formations and Studio Pedagogies". Her doctoral research examined the evolution of urban design education, focusing on institutional and curricular frameworks as well as pedagogical practices. The study offered both a broad international mapping of urban design graduate programs and an in-depth analysis of first-generation programs in Türkiye, bringing forward their diverse institutional identities, disciplinary domains, and studio pedagogies. By situating the Turkish experience within an international context, her research conceptualized the varied structures and approaches shaping contemporary urban design education.