İdil Gemici
Ph.D. Researcher
After completing my bachelor's degree in Translation and Interpreting Studies at Yeditepe University, I have obtained my master's degree in Cognitive Science and Language at the University of Barcelona, where I have developed my research interests in neuro- and biolinguistics. Upon graduating, I have started my doctoral education in Neuroscience at Yeditepe University Graduate School of Health Sciences with a particular aim to conduct interdisciplinary research between the fields of neurophysiology, cognitive science and linguistics. As a PhD candidate, I am currently working on my doctoral thesis which aims to understand the neurobiological underpinnings of language control in sign and spoken languages under the supervision of Drs. Rabia Ergin and Funda Yildirim, and I am working as a full-time lab member at Ergin Language Lab at Boğaziçi University. In addition to my academic interests, I am a trained classical ballet dancer, an art enthusiast and a translator with a focus on book translations in evolutionary biology, language and cognition, and neurosciences.
Valeria Ticau
MA Researcher
I graduated from İstanbul Bilgi University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology. Currently, I am a graduate student of the Cognitive Science MA Program at İstanbul Yeditepe University. My primary research interest is in understanding the emergence and development of language. Along with my enthusiasm for language evolution, I also have a special interest in bilingualism and in the cognitive effects of being a foreign language speaker. Other than my time in research, I am actively volunteering at KAÇUV and performing art therapy activities that include music, painting, and meditation.
Alper Demircan
MA Researcher
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I graduated from Aydin University with the Bachelor’s Degree in Translation-Studies and I am currently a graduate student at Yeditepe University Cognitive Science MA Programme. Along with my ongoing interest into Philosophy of Mind, my undergraduate degree has always been the driving force for me to be a devotee of higher-level concepts, their interaction with language and the way they are represented. Within this vast garden-path, I have got the chance to investigate even deeper into their origins as a proud member of Ergin Language Lab. In the near future, I hope to make a contribution to understanding the origins and possible evolutionary stages of language and representations by taking up one of the biggest challenges in understanding the greatest problem in science.
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Burcu Alakuş
MA researcher
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I graduated from Atılım University with a double major degree in Software Engineering and Mathematics. My main undergraduate studies include sentiment analysis with natural language processing and machine learning, and computer vision with deep learning, I am currently a M.Sc. student in Cognitive Science Department at Middle East Technical University (METU). I am passionate about the intersection of computer science, mathematics and cognitive science; mostly computational/statistical modelling, data science and language studies. During my graduate studies at METU, I aim to simulate language emergence and evolution using computational modeling techniques under the supervision of Dr. Rabia Ergin and Prof. Cem Bozşahin (METU).
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Murat Cudal
Research Assistant
I studied Graphic Design in high school and college. Later on, I started working as a Turkish Sign Language (TID) instructor at METU Without Barriers and İşaret Adam Akademi. I am currently a TID instructor at Ankara University TÖMER Sign Language Coordinatorship. As a Deaf research assistant at Ergin Language Lab, I am responsible for transcribing data from the experiments with native Deaf TID signers, as well as giving TID lessons to my fellow teammates. My hobbies are graphic design, painting, photography, exercising and art. I also enjoy teaching and learning more about TID.
Sinan Bilgiç
Research Assistant
I obtained my bachelor's degree in Physical Education and Sport Teaching from Ondokuz Mayıs University. I am currently an MA student in Turkish Sign Language Translation Program at Ankara University. I also work as a Deaf research assistant at Ergin Language Lab. I am responsible for translating the experiment designs into Turkish Sign Language for our native Deaf participants. I also transcribe the experimental data obtained from these participants. Additionally, I give TID lessons to my fellow teammates. My hobbies are exercising, traveling and dancing.
Mustafa Benli
Undergraduate Research Assistant
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As a CODA who was born into a family of native CTSL speaking Deaf parents, I have grown up living with the CTSL community. Being a hearing member allowed me to be the bridge between the participants and experimenters throughout this research project. As a part of the team, I am responsible for explaining experimental procedures to participants, helping with the setups during the fieldworks, monitoring and translating the CTSL data for the coding processes, and interpreting during the fieldworks when necessary. Currently, I am an undergraduate student in the Department of Special Education at Anadolu University. In addition to being a bimodal bilingual in CTSL and Turkish, I am also fluent in TID and English.
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Tuğçe Açıkalın
Undergraduate Research Assistant
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I am in my senior year pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology at Boğaziçi University. I am also currently enrolled in FU Berlin as an Erasmus+ student. I have a growing academic interest in the interaction of cognitive biases and cultural transmission in the course of language evolution. Additionally, I have an enthusiasm for understanding the mechanisms behind the comprehension and production of humor, as well as those of non-literal language in general.
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Duygu Bayram
Undergraduate Research Assistant
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I am currently a senior year undergraduate student at the Foreign Language Education Department of Boğaziçi University. I am interested in language as a system as well as how it relates to and interacts with cognition. I believe studying language emergence is an intriguing and important step to this end. As an undergraduate research assistant at the Ergin Language Lab, I am responsible for collecting and transcribing data under the supervision of Dr. Rabia Ergin. In my free time I like to pretend to be an urban sketcher and enjoy writing.
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Funda Yıldırım
Consultant
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Funda Yıldırım is currently the P.I. of the Computational Neuroscience and Visual Perception Laboratory (CNVP) at Yeditepe University which focuses on studying sensory processing with cognitive neuroscience and machine learning techniques. She obtained her PhD degree from University of Groningen in Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences and worked as a post-doctoral researcher in Boston University Biomedical Engineering Department in collaboration with Martinos Imaging Center at MIT. She received her B.S. degree from the Department of Computer Engineering at Bilkent University, and her M.S. degree from the Department of Cognitive Science at the Informatics Institute, Middle East Technical University.
She supervises graduate and undergraduate projects in collaboration with Dr. Rabia Ergin |
Present and Past Collaborators
Prof. Simon Kirby (University of Edinburgh, UK)
Dr. Limor Raviv (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, The Netherlands)
Prof. Ann Senghas (Barnard College, USA)
Prof. Ray Jackendoff (Tufts/MIT, USA)
Prof. Matthew Hall (Temple University, USA)
Prof. Funda Yıldırım (Yeditepe University, Turkey)
Prof. Alexis Hervais-Adelman (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Prof. Judith Degen (Stanford University, USA)
Prof. Rose Stamp (Bar-Ilan University, Israel)
Prof. Andrew Nevins (UCL, UK)
Prof. Carol Padden (UCSD, USA)
Prof. İrit Meir (University of Haifa, Israel)
Prof. Wendy Sandler (University of Haifa, Israel)
Prof. Diane Brentari (UChicago, USA)
Prof. Lila Gleitman (UPenn, USA)
Prof. Marie Coppola (UConn, USA)
Dr. Deniz İlkbaşaran (UCSD, USA)
Prof. Emily Morgan (UC Davis, USA)
Prof. Timothy O'Donnell (McGill University, Canada)
