Omer Faruk Tekdogan is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Islamic Studies, Social Sciences University of Ankara. He received his BA degree in business administration from İstanbul University and his master’s degree in economics from North Carolina State University. He completed his Ph.D. in Islamic Economics and Finance, at İstanbul University. Previously, he worked as Head of Department at Directorate General of Economic Programs and Research in the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, and as Policy Analyst in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. His research interests include Islamic economics and finance, monetary economics, banking, financial economics, and agent-based modeling.

Dr. Ozat Shamshiyev is an Assistant Professor at the Social Sciences University of Ankara (Department of Islamic Economics and Finance) and the Deputy Director of the ASBU International Center for Islamic Economics and Finance (ULIFAM). He also serves as the Co-Editor of the Journal of Islamic Economics, with its Editor-in-Chief being the renowned scholar and pioneer of Islamic economics, Prof. Dr. Mabid Ali Al-Jarhi.

He graduated from the Faculty of Theology at Necmettin Erbakan University in 2013 and earned an associate degree in International Trade from Anadolu University in 2014. He completed his master’s degree in Islamic Sciences at Erciyes University in 2017 and obtained his PhD in Islamic Contract Law from Necmettin Erbakan University in 2022.

He has authored and edited several books and published numerous research papers on Islamic law, Islamic economics, and finance. He speaks English, Arabic, Turkish, Russian, and his native Kazakh. Dr. Shamshiyev is married and a father of three children.

Burak Çıkıryel is a Asst. Prof. Dr. at the Social Sciences University of Ankara in the Department of Islamic Economics and Finance. He graduated from Uludağ University, Department of Economics, in 2013. He completed his Master in Islamic Finance from International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He completed his PhD at Sakarya Univesity, Department of Islamic Economics and Finance. He is the Co-Editor of the “Journal of Islamic Economics.” He has conducted numerous academic projects, publications, and conferences in the areas of his research interests, including macroeconomic policy, banking, and finance aspects under the domain of Islamic economics. He is actively taking on various roles in non-governmental organizations, managing projects, and striving to engage in activities that benefit the community.

Mehmet Asutay is a Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Political Economy & Finance at the Durham University Business School, and the Director of the Durham Centre in Islamic Economics and Finance.
Mehmet’s teaching, research, publication, and supervision of research is all in Islamic moral economy/Islamic economics, Islamic political economy, Islamic finance and banking, Islamic governance and management and the Middle Eastern political economies.
His articles on his research interest have appeared in various international academic journals and professional magazines. He has also published manuscripts and edited books on aspects of Islamic moral economy and Islamic finance, the latest of which are: A Model for Islamic Development: An Approach in Islamic Moral Economy (with S. Jan, 2019), Mapping the Risks and Risk Management Practices in Islamic Banking (with W. Eid, 2019).
Mehmet's recent research includes the construction of Islamic moral economy and Islamic political economy; and their articulation in economic and sustainable development. In addition, his research focused on locating Islamic banking and finance within the expressed ideals of Islamic moral economy by essentialising sharing and collaborative economy nature of Islamic finance. Mehmet is also involved in empirical research in various aspects and dynamics of Islamic banking and finance as well as examining the political economy determinants and consequences of various Islamic finance industry development models.
Mehmet has acted as consultant to COMCEC (part of OIC), CIBAFI and UNDP-IICPSD on various projects, who was also a member of Board of Directors of Albaraka Turk Islamic Bank from 2018-2020.
Mehmet is the Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Islam and Society, the International Journal of Islamic Economics and Finance Studies, and the Review of Islamic Economics. Mehmet is also a Board Member of the International Association for Islamic Economics.
His profile: https://www.durham.ac.uk/business/our-people/mehmet-asutay/

Academic Background:

Ph.D. Yarmouk University (Jordan), Irbid City, Economy and Islamic Banking, 2007.
M.D. Yarmouk University (Jordan), Irbid City, Islamic Economy, 1999.
B.A. Jordan University (Jordan) Amman, Islamic Studies—Sharia, 1987.

Bio: Dr Adnan Abdalla Mohammad Oweida is Assistant Professor, he used to work as an academic, education supervisor and researcher, where he worked as an educational supervisor for the humanities, social sciences, Islamic sciences, and the Arabic language, where he worked in the United Nations Education Program on UNRWA from 1995 to 2017. He also worked as a trainer and academic instructor at Wadi ALseer College, Zarqa University, Zayed University Abu Dhabi, and now he works at Ankara University of Social Sciences. He has received many technical courses in preparing teachers, teaching methods and methods of educational supervision, as well as many courses and fellowships in preparing educational and procedural research. Dr Awaida has dual interests in economics, educational economics and Islamic finance. He has prepared many books and research papers and participated in many conferences.

Dr. Güney graduated from the Faculty of Theology at Selçuk University in 2003. He began his academic career as a research assistant in Islamic Law at the same faculty in 2005. In 2006, he completed his Master's thesis in Islamic Law, and in 2013, he finished his doctoral dissertation on Islamic law of obligations. While pursuing his PhD, he also graduated from Anadolu University with a degree in Economics through the Open Education program.

Dr. Güney has served as a visiting researcher at Columbia University in New York for one year in 2009 and at the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRT) in Jeddah for two months in 2018. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020. He currently serves as a faculty member in the Department of Islamic Law at Necmettin Erbakan University and also teaches as a visiting faculty member in the Department of Islamic Economics and Finance at KTO Karatay University.

İsa Yılmaz holds a bachelor's degree in Economics and Management from Istanbul Bilgi University and participated in the University of London double degree program, receiving academic guidance from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He pursued his master's degree in Islamic Finance at the University of Durham (UK) and completed his Ph.D. in Islamic Finance from the same institution. Currently, he serves as an associate professor in the Economics Department at Istanbul Medeniyet University. He has published several academic papers on economic development, financialization and aspects of political economy in Islamic economics. In a broader context, he explores alternative economic and financial systems that strive to envision authentic models with positive developmental and welfare outcomes for emerging economies. To explore these areas, he engages with the literature on the moral economy, political economy, philosophy of economics, and alternative banking and financial models.

Erhan Akkas is currently an assistant professor at Sakarya University in Turkey. He graduated from Durham University with a Ph.D. in Islamic economics and finance in 2019, after obtaining his master’s in political economy from the University of Sussex. Akkas was a visiting research fellow at Durham University Business School as well as a lecturer at Agri Ibrahim Cecen University in Turkey between 2020 and 2022. An associate professorship was granted to him in February 2023 by the Turkish Interuniversity Board (ÜAK). Akkas has written many academic papers, policy briefs, and edited books. Akkas' most recent research focuses on political economy, Islamic economics, Islamic finance, economic develpment, and GCC countries.

Mervan Selçuk graduated from the Business Department of Istanbul University in 2014. He received his MA and Ph.D. degrees from Islamic Economics and Finance Department at Sakarya University in 2016 and 2021, respectively. His doctoral dissertation is about the feasibility of a monetary union in Islamic countries. He was a visiting researcher at Kuwait University between November 2018 - May 2019. Since 2015, Assoc. Prof. Selçuk has been a research assistant at the Research Centre of Islamic Economics and Finance, Sakarya University. His research areas include Islamic economics, monetary unions, and cryptocurrencies.

Amal Essayem is currently an assistant professor at Marmara University in Turkey. She graduated from Tunis University, specifically the Higher Institute of Management of Tunis (ISG Tunis), with a degree in Finance. She then obtained her Master of Science in Finance from the same institute (ISG Tunis). Subsequently, Amal completed her Ph.D. in Islamic Economics and Finance from Sakarya University in Turkey. Her research focuses on financial technologies, financial markets, Islamic finance, and the GCC region. Her broader interests include Economic Anthropology, Economic Sociology, and Political Economy.