Şebnem Udum earned a BSc. in international relations with a minor in international economics at Middle East Technical University, an MA in international policy studies and a Certificate in nonproliferation studies at MIIS, and an MA and PhD in international relations at Bilkent University. She was a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (2002-2003) and former chair and member of International Nuclear Security Education Network (INSEN) at the IAEA. She is an associate professor in the Department of International Relations, Hacettepe University, Turkey and Director at the Center for Strategic Research at Hacettepe University.