On July 1st, the Faculty of Social Sciences welcomed Billur Gorgulu, who will join the Department of Economics as an assistant professor.
We caught up with Billur to talk about her academic and professional journey, her main research interests, what excites her about this position and what she does outside of work.
Tell us about your academic and professional journey so far.
I grew up in Istanbul, Turkey, and completed my undergraduate studies there at Boğaziçi University with a dual degree in mathematics and economics. I was drawn to economics by an interest in how rigorous and elegant mathematical models could be used to study decision-making, but my introduction to experimental research came from the other side of the one-way mirror. In the introductory psychology course I took, students earned course credit for participating in experiments, so I took part in many — starting my career, in a sense, as an experimental subject. I loved trying to guess what each study was really measuring, and that curiosity stayed with me.
I went on to complete my master’s and PhD in economics at the University of Toronto. Along the way, my research interests converged on behavioral economics, where my training in theoretical economics and my fascination with how people actually make decisions came together, this time from the researcher’s side of the glass. I also served as the lab manager of the Toronto Experimental Economics Laboratory, which taught me the practical side of running experiments and gave me the chance to see how a range of excellent researchers design and run their own experiments.
What excites you most about joining our department of Economics?
I feel fortunate to be joining such an excellent department. McMaster’s Department of Economics is home to remarkable researchers, and I’m thrilled to become part of it. The department also has a strong history in experimental economics, anchored by the Mestelman & Muller McMaster Decision Science Laboratory. As an experimental researcher, I’m very excited to join a place with such deep roots in the field, supported by the laboratory’s excellent resources. The lab is a lively research environment, with ongoing experimental work and many students involved. I look forward to contributing to the experimental economics tradition at McMaster and helping it continue to grow.
What are your main research interests?
My research sits at the intersection of behavioral economics, microeconomic theory, and experimental economics. Broadly, I study how people make decisions, particularly in settings shaped by cognitive and informational frictions. This includes how individuals learn and recall information when memory is imperfect, how they make choices and how their impatience changes under uncertainty and over time, how they establish and respond to trust, and how they behave in matching markets. My approach integrates theoretical modeling with experimental methods.
Outside of academia, what do you like to do?
Outside of work, I play the piano and love music. I took up running a couple of years ago, and I’m quite possibly the slowest runner in the city, but I enjoy it anyway, along with hiking. I also do embroidery, and I love cooking, as well as learning about different cuisines and the ideas behind food.
Departmental News