Dr. Gülşah Kurt

Dr. Gülşah Kurt is a Clinical Psychologist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow. She received a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Psychology and a minor in International Relations from Middle East Technical University, Türkiye (cum laude), a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology from Utrecht University, the Netherlands (cum laude), and a PhD in Clinical Psychological Science from Koç University, Türkiye (cum laude).

Gülşah’s research focuses on understanding the social determinants of refugee mental health and social integration, as well as the implementation of scalable psychological interventions to improve refugee mental health. Her second research area focuses on strengthening the mental and occupational health of humanitarian workers in complex settings. She has worked in various humanitarian settings, primarily in low- and middle-income countries such as Türkiye, Northwest Syria, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. As a global mental health researcher, her work is grounded in community-based participatory research practices and a strengths-based approach to refugee mental health. Her research employs both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including large-scale survey studies, randomized controlled trials, experimental studies, qualitative interviews, and focus group discussions.

Gülşah’s work has been published in leading journals such as World Psychiatry, The Lancet Psychiatry, Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, and BJPsych Open. In addition to research, she is committed to the training and education of mental health practitioners who support forcibly displaced communities, as well as the next generation of global mental health trainees. Over the past five years, in collaboration with several organizations, including the Turkish Ministry of Health, WHO European Region, Save the Children MENA Region, Olympic Refuge Foundation, and UNHCR, she has delivered courses, trainings, and talks.

Gülşah has received several national and international scholarships and awards recognizing her contributions, including the Holland Excellence Scholarship, Leiden Excellence Scholarship, PhD Scholarship from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye, Koc University Academic Excellence Award for PhD studies, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Frank W. Putnam Trauma Research Award, the Springer Nature Inclusive Health Research Grant, the UNSW Science ECAN Travel Grant, and the UNSW Impact Driven Partnerships Award. She is currently one of the chief investigators of the Elrha-funded research project, The Research Uptake Grant for Caring for Carers (C4C) and UNSW STEMM Champions 2025.

Gülşah currently supervises two PhD students: one working on the integration of physical activity in mental health and psychosocial support for refugees in Australia, and the other focusing on understanding resilience among East African refugees in Australia.

EMAIL: g.kurt@unsw.edu.au

CURRENT PROJECTS: Pathways to Refugee Wellbeing: Intervention Project