Rebel economist, born-again behaviorist. Flight instructor to baby crows.
Gerçek Çiçek is a PhD student in Economics at Istanbul Technical University, and studying for her second master’s degree on Neuroscience at Medipol University.
Gerçek, conducts multidisciplinary research in neuroeconomics where she specializes on decision making. For better policy-making, she challenges economic decision making models with an attempt to capture the complexity of actual human behavior in social context.
To study behavior and social interaction, Gerçek looks into neural mechanisms underlying cognitive decision making via economic experiments. She researches hippocampal-prefrontal interactions using tasks/games under risk, uncertainty and strategic uncertainty while monitoring the brain activity via fMRI/fNIRS/EEG.
Gerçek’s goal is to utilize Cognitive Neuroscience to redefine Microeconomic decision making models so that they reflect real people/real life; incorporate these newly found Microeconomic models and brain’s plasticity to design and expand effective decision making techniques to increase individual happiness and social welfare.
Gerçek teaches Microeconomics (to human undergrads) and Flying 101 (to crow chicks), claims the latter is the utmost(!) accomplishment in teaching.
Gerçek is very enthusiastic about the prospective interdisciplinary collaborations in the Behavior and Society Working Group. And she would like to take this opportunity to invite fellow young scholars interested in applied behavioral research to join up (using a fun Neuroscience pun):
Let’s wire together, fire together!