Aygen has a PhD in Innovation Studies (a multidisciplinary field of sociology, politics and STS) which she studied as a Jean Monnet scholar, partially funded by the European Commission. She has a background in Political Science and Public Administration (BSc) and Science and Technology Policy Studies (MSc).

Before joining LSE, she worked part-time as a research support officer, and as research fellow in an EU FP7 project researching on ethical/social implications and governance of technological development process.

Her research interests on the EU’s research and innovation policy, innovation governance, the formation of the European Research Area, and how socio-political integration can be enhanced via innovation activity at sectoral and national levels, led her to engage more with research funding in a wider context of policy landscape.