About

Howdy!

My name is Cem Birol. Currently, I am the Research Data Management Coordinator at Koç University, Istanbul. Previously, I worked as a lecturer at Yeditepe University, research associate at the Middle East Center of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

I received my PhD from the Political Science Department of Rice University. I worked with Cliff Morgan as his research assistant for the Threat and Imposition of Economic Sanctions (TIES) Dataset. Cliff was also the chair of my dissertation committee.

My academic work focuses on missile programs, nuclear proliferation, economic sanctions, and relatedly international crisis management. I employ statistical models as well as formal theories to analyze international relations phenomena. Both my academic research, and policy-oriented papers can be found in the “Research” tab.

I also am the builder and the curator of the Missile Tests Dataset. This dataset contains daily records of live missile test-fires of all countries in the world between 1941 and 2015. The current version of the dataset can be found on the “Research” tab.