Nilay Yalçınkaya Yörük

Nilay Yörük is an R&D and innovation leader specializing in R&D management, European Union funding mechanisms, innovation strategies, and technology-oriented collaborations. By combining her engineering background with strategic project management and international funding ecosystem experience, she supports organizations in strengthening their research and innovation capacities.

Having completed her undergraduate and graduate studies in mechanical engineering, Nilay Yörük has focused on R&D, technology management, and innovation ecosystems since the early stages of her career. Combining her technical expertise with a business development and project management perspective, she has taken active roles in technology-oriented transformation projects.

Through Intract, which she co-founded in 2018, she began providing strategic consulting to companies, universities, and research centers within the scope of European Union-supported R&D programs. Today, Intract has become one of the organizations contributing to the highest number of projects from Turkey in international programs such as Horizon Europe, H2020, EUREKA, Eurostars, and ERA-NET.

Having taken part in more than 100 project proposals to date, Yörük has assumed the roles of consultant, project partner, and strategic guide in these projects. She specializes particularly in the structuring of project ideas, the formation of international consortiums, funding strategies, and the commercialization of project outputs.

Thanks to her engineering background, by accurately analyzing deep tech, industrial transformation, and technically intensive projects, she supports the establishment of sustainable collaborations among technology companies, industrial organizations, and research institutions.

Today, she concentrates her work particularly on R&D strategies, international funding mechanisms, technology roadmaps, and innovation ecosystems.

Areas of Contribution

• Preparation for European Union R&D funds and project strategy

• Horizon Europe, EUREKA, Eurostars, and international funding programs

• Development and structuring of R&D project ideas

• EU project potential analysis for organizations

• International consortium formation and partner management

• Creating and interpreting technology roadmaps

• Intellectual property strategies and IP management

• Dissemination, communication, and exploitation plans

• Commercialization of project results

• Sustainability and impact-oriented project designs

• University-industry collaborations

• Management of deep-tech and engineering projects

Areas of Expertise 

R&D Management | Horizon Europe | European Union Funds | Innovation Management | Technology Roadmaps | International Consortium Management | Intellectual Property Rights Management | Project Commercialization | Deep Tech | Technology Collaborations | Funding Strategies | R&D Ecosystems