Merve Uzunalioğlu

Dr. Merve Uzunalioğlu is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, contributing to the rEUsilience project which examines family resilience in European socio-economic crises through social policy analysis. Her work centers on family policy systems with emphasis on leave and care policies, exploring their interplay with family resilience and social sustainability frameworks.

She earned her PhD in Social Sciences from University College London, funded by the Luxembourg National Research Fund with an affiliate position at LISER. Her academic trajectory demonstrates deep engagement with European family policy architecture, particularly through longitudinal analysis of parental leave systems and cross-national policy comparisons.

Dr. Uzunalioğlu's research program investigates how families navigate socio-economic risks through policy-mediated coping mechanisms, with methodological expertise in mixed-methods policy evaluation. She examines conceptual linkages between family policy design and social sustainability, focusing on how policy frameworks can mitigate inequalities during crises while promoting long-term family well-being.

Her publication portfolio from 2015-2023 reveals consistent specialization in family policy analysis, featuring 10 major works including journal articles in Social Inclusion, country reports for the International Network on Leave Policies, and policy studies for EIGE and the World Bank. Key thematic threads include eligibility criteria for parental leave, cross-national implementation challenges, gender equality impacts, and the intersection of childcare services with women's labor force participation.

No specific scientific awards are documented in the source material, though her leadership roles reflect professional recognition including authorship of Turkey's annual Country Note for international leave policy reviews since 2022 and coordination of the COST Action working group on theoretical frameworks for parental leave policies.

Her doctoral research was supported by competitive funding from the Luxembourg National Research Fund. Current involvement in the multi-institutional rEUsilience project indicates active grant funding, while her position as Communication Coordinator for the International Network on Leave Policies suggests mentorship responsibilities within international research networks despite no explicitly listed advisees.

Dr. Uzunalioğlu maintains active roles in two major collaborative frameworks: the rEUsilience project's eight-work-package consortium analyzing European family resilience, and the COST Action working group developing theoretical models connecting paid parental leave to social sustainability objectives. Her dual affiliation with Oxford's DSPI and international policy networks positions her at the nexus of academic research and policy implementation.