Burcu Balçık
Prof. Dr. (IE)
Education
- PhD 2008, Industrial Engineering, University of Washington
- MS 2003, Industrial Engineering, Middle East Technical University
- BS 2001, Industrial Engineering, Middle East Technical University
Research Interests
- Operations research and data-driven decision-making
- Humanitarian and disaster operations management
- Resilient food and healthcare systems
- Sustainable supply chains and logistics
- Climate adaptation and sustainability
AI Research
- Developing predictive and prescriptive techniques to enhance disaster preparedness and response, and producing evidence-based decision support tools and policy insights.
- Applications: early warning systems, anticipatory action planning, parametric insurance, post-disaster assessment, and prepositioning of critical resources
- Investigating AI’s potential to enhance societal resilience and economic, environmental, and social sustainability
- Applications: climate-resilient agriculture, smart waste and circular systems, food security strategies
- Advancing transdisciplinary research and multi-stakeholder collaboration to align AI capabilities with societal needs and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Key engagements:- Participating in international policy dialogues and task forces on the responsible and impactful use of analytics and AI in crisis management and sustainable development.
- Contributing to the development of ÖzÜ.AI4Impact – AI for Societal Impact, a new university-wide initiative that aims to explore how AI can address pressing societal challenges through collaborative, transdisciplinary research. The initiative brings together civil society, municipalities, and private sector partners to co-design scalable, data-driven, and ethically informed AI solutions with both local and global impact.
