Nilay is a post-doctoral researcher at Migration Research Center at Koç University (MiReKoç) and an adjunct lecturer in the Sociology Department of Koç University. She holds a dual doctorate degree from Doctorate in Cultural and Global Criminology Program at University of Kent (UK) and Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary). Prior to her current position, she has worked as post-doctoral researcher at Willem Pompe Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology at Utrecht University, Netherlands. Her research interests lie in sociology of law, sociology of human rights, migration and criminology. Currently, she is involved in two research projects; one on migration-development nexus (MIGNEX), another on advancing alternative migration governance (ADMIGOV). Besides, she conducts research on “NGO’s in Turkey in the midst of the State, the UN, the EU, and Donors” with the seed-fund granted by Koç University. She is the Engaged Research Officer at UNIC for Engaged Research (UNIC4ER) as part of the UNIC European University Consortium.