UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Ilayda Onder, a Penn State doctoral candidate pursuing a degree in political science, was named a 2023-24 U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) Scholar Dissertation Fellow. The fellowship, which supports full-time dissertation research, was awarded to 21 recipients who demonstrated the greatest potential to advance the peacebuilding field and the strongest likelihood to inform policy and practice, according to the USIP.
Onder’s dissertation project investigates relations among militant groups in multiparty conflict systems throughout the world. As a part of her work, she collected data on cooperative and adversarial relations between 53 Northeast Indian militant groups between 1981-2021. Across three chapters, she studies how competition over recruits influences inter-group cooperation and infighting, how groups design their cooperative arrangements, and how allies learn from each other.
Onder said she has had an interest in this area long before she attended Penn State.
“My interest in political violence in general started when I was pursuing my undergraduate degree back in Turkey,” said Onder, who grew up in Turkey. “I took this course on terrorism and insurgency in world politics, and it fascinated me that social scientists study these controversial topics using scientific methods.”
According to Onder, she planned to do work on conflict, armed violence and political violence since beginning her doctorate program.
“Usually when scholars study violence, they study rebel groups in isolation from each other, and I was curious about uncovering what happens when there are multiple groups, when they’re interacting among each other as well as conducting attacks against the government forces," Onder said.
While Onder’s research is focused on groups that look to disrupt peace, she said understanding more about their strategies and inner workings can be helpful to those hoping to disrupt those groups and instead looking to support a peaceful world without global conflict.
The USIP is, according to its website, a “national, nonpartisan, independent institute, founded by Congress and dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical and essential for U.S. and global security.”
For Onder, this research and work is able to help achieve those goals.
“Understanding the underlying causes of civil conflicts and delving into the decision-making processes of the groups engaged in these conflicts, with a focus on their priority considerations, serves as a cornerstone in resolving these conflicts and addressing the root problems perpetuating them,” Onder said.
Being recognized for this fellowship is meaningful to Onder, she said, as she continues her research.
“I’m super excited," Onder said. "It’s a very prestigious fellowship and established program. The program has supported dissertation work of hundreds of young scholars in the past, many becoming very established researchers in their field. It is a great step to launch my individual career as a researcher.”
While she has a research-oriented goal, more research opportunities are not the only thing she will take away from this fellowship. A major goal of the USIP fellowship program is to bring together academic-oriented researchers with policy makers, which will provide an opportunity for Onder to interact and discuss her work with people outside academia. In addition to receiving support for her research, she will have the opportunity to attend the Peace Scholar Workshop at USIP headquarters in Washington, D.C., in September, write updates for the seasonal USIP Peace Scholar newsletter and participate in two virtual Peace Scholar roundtable discussions.
“These workshops are going to give us an opportunity to really get to know each other, really get to know our research areas, give each other feedback and, hopefully, establish connections that can lead to collaboration between different schools and different researchers,” Onder said. “The United States Institute of Peace does real, amazing work in the areas of conflict management and peace building, and these are issue areas that I personally deeply care about. I believe what they do is valuable on a larger scale.”