Furkan received his B.S. in physics from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey where he worked on the theory of ultracold dipolar BECs using the Hartree-Fock Bogoliubov method. He then joined Harvard Physics as a Ph.D. student to work on the construction of an Erbium quantum gas microscope and built an ultra-low noise optical lattice. There he acquired an experimental background in microscopy, lasers, interferometry, and optics design.

After receiving his M.A. in experimental AMO physics, he switched his research interest to the origins of life. In the Sasselov group, Furkan is currently investigating the origins of homochirality and the effects of UV light on the chemistry of the prebiotic world.