Welcome to my site. Here you can find detailed information about my academic and professional journey as well as personal notes.
Yunus Emre Tapan
PhD Student in Political Science
Northeastern University | Boston, MA
tapan.y@northeastern.edu • LinkedIn • GitHub • BluSky • CV
About Me
I am a PhD student in Political Science at Northeastern University with a minor in Computational Social Science. I earned my B.A. in Economics from Bogazici University and my M.Sc. in Middle East Studies from METU. My research sits at the intersection of data science and social sciences, specializing in social network analysis and computational text analysis to study online polarization, online extremism, and non-state actors. I am also actively involved in community initiatives, such as serving as the Community Lead for the Istanbul-Boston Twitter Developers Community and co-organizing the Summer Institute in Computational Social Science in Istanbul.
Education
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Northeastern University (Boston, MA)
PhD Student in Political Science, minor in Computational Social Science
September 2021 – Present -
Kadir Has University (Istanbul, Turkey)
Completed PhD Coursework in International Relations
September 2019 – July 2021 -
Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey)
Master of Science in Middle East Studies
September 2016 – September 2019 -
Bogazici University (Istanbul, Turkey)
Bachelor of Arts in Economics
June 2016
Teaching Experience
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Northeastern University (Boston, MA)
Teaching Assistant
September 2021 – Present- Comparative Politics (POLS 1155) – Spring 2023 (Prof. Emily Clough)
- Globalization (INTL 1101) – Fall 2022 (Prof. Risa Katagawa)
- Government and Politics in the Middle East (POLS 3465) – Spring 2022 (Dr. Alice Verticelli)
- Globalization (INTL 1101) – Spring 2022 (Dr. Alice Verticelli)
- U.S. National Security Policy (POLS 3420) – Fall 2021 (Prof. Max Abrahms)
- International Relations (POLS 1160) – Fall 2021 (Prof. Max Abrahams)
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Kadir Has University (Istanbul, Turkey)
Visiting Lecturer
September 2020 – September 2021- Computational Thinking (lab instructor)
- Understanding Mathematics (lab instructor)
- Civic Responsibility Project (sole instructor)
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Summer Institute in Computational Social Science (Istanbul)
Co-Organizer / Teaching Assistant
December 2018 – Present- Coordinated logistics, curriculum design, and mentoring projects
Research Experience
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Data Consultant
Boston Area Research Initiative (Northeastern and Harvard Universities, Boston, MA)
May 2023 – Current -
NULab/DITI Research Fellow
Northeastern University (Boston, MA)
June 2022 – August 2022- Developed educational modules and assignments
- Collaborated with faculty and updated digital teaching resources
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WWP Research Fellow
Northeastern University (Boston, MA)
June 2022 – August 2022- Enhanced the Women Writers Vector Toolkit (WWVT) for analyzing TEI-encoded XML
- Provided troubleshooting for R and Python code and developed user guides
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Researcher
Turkish Foreign Policy Barometer on Twitter (Funded by German Marshall Fund, Turkey)
May 2020 – May 2021- Designed research, conducted data retrieval and computational text/statistical analysis
- Co-prepared reports detailing key findings
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Research Assistant
Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (Think Tank, Ankara, Turkey)
September 2016 – June 2018- Performed qualitative coding and descriptive statistical analysis
- Prepared regular project reports and workshop summaries
Skills & Tools
- Programming Languages: Python, R, SQL, Bash, HTML, XML, CSS
- Tools & Platforms: WordPress, GitHub
- Methodologies:
- Machine Learning Algorithms
- Network Analysis
- Computational Text Analysis
- Data Retrieval & Processing
Research & Professional Interests
I am particularly interested in online extremism, digital radicalization, and the application of data science in political research. My work involves leveraging machine learning, network analysis, and computational methods to explore digital trace data and understand complex social phenomena.
Honors, Awards & Fellowships
- APSA-PolCom Travel Grant – September 2024, American Political Science Association (Philadelphia, PA)
- APSA-PolMeth Travel Grant – July 2024, American Political Science Association (Riverside, CA)
- Northeastern University Political Science Department Travel Grant – June 2024
- NULab Travel Grant – June 2022, Northeastern University (Boston, MA)
- Stipended Graduate Assistantship (SGA) – September 2021 – Present, Northeastern University
- Turkish Academy of Sciences-GEBIP PhD Fellowship – September 2019 – September 2020 (Full-year stipend, Istanbul, Turkey)
- COVID-19 DATATHON by TRIA AI – April 2020, 4th Place Winner (Online)
- Scholarship for Political Science Research – ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods (July-August 2020, Ann Arbor, MI)
- Summer Institute in Computational Social Science – June 2018, Russell Sage Foundation, University of Helsinki & Aalto University (Helsinki, Finland)
Workshops, Conferences & Talks
- PolMeth Conference – July 19, 2024, Poster Presenter (Riverside, CA)
- PolNet Conference – June 9, 2024, Poster Presenter (Tallahassee, FL)
- Using the Twitter API for Academic Research – August 26, 2022, Invited Speaker (Twitter, Boston)
- 8th International Conference on Computational Social Science – July 19-22, 2022, Poster Presenter (University of Chicago, Chicago)
- 5th Politics and Computational Social Science (PaCSS) Conference – June 16-18, 2022, Paper Presenter (Harvard University, Cambridge)
- 6th International Conference on Computational Social Science – July 17-20, 2020, Poster Presenter (MIT, Online)
- 3rd Politics and Computational Social Science (PaCSS) Conference – August 10, 2020, Poster Presenter (Northeastern University, Online)
Leadership
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Twitter Developers Community
Community Lead
September 2021 – Present- Leading the Istanbul-Boston Twitter Developers Community
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Summer Institute in Computational Social Science
Co-Organizer
December 2018 – Present- Organizing and managing academic events and curriculum development
Training Programs
- Oxford Spring School in Advanced Research Methods – April 2021
- Machine Learning Online
- Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research (ICPSR) – July-August 2020
- Advanced Network Analysis and Text Analysis Online
- Summer Institute in Computational Social Science (SICSS) – June 2018 (Project Based Learning Program, Helsinki, Finland)
Publications
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Turkish Salafism on Twitter: Social Network Analysis
Master Thesis (unpublished), September 2019 – Approved by METU (Ankara, Turkey) -
Anti-communist Propaganda: The Example of Buyuk Dogu Journal
Book Chapter (with O. Colak and E. Aksu), February 2016 – Nobel Academic Publishing
References
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Nick Beauchamp
Assoc. Prof, Political Science and the Network Science Institute, Northeastern University
n.beauchamp@northeastern.edu -
Dan O’Brien
Professor of Public Policy, Urban Affairs, Criminology, and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University
d.obrien@northeastern.edu -
Tuba Unlu Bilgic
Professor of International Affairs, University of St. Thomas
tuba.bilgic@stthom.edu