Prof. Dr. Tuğkan Tuğlular, one of the founders of the Research Ecosystems, leads research and innovation activities. He obtained his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in Computer Engineering from Ege University. During his doctoral studies, he worked as a researcher at Purdue University in the United States. In the year 2000, he became an Assistant Professor at Izmir Institute of Technology. From 2003 to 2007, Tuğlular served as the Information Processing Manager at the same university. Between 2010 and 2014, he held the position of Information Technologies Advisor to the Rector.

In 2012, he took on the responsibility of the "Izmir Information Society-Based Development Strategy" project defined by the Izmir Development Agency. From 2013 to 2018, he worked intensively to strengthen the Izmir technology entrepreneurship ecosystem. In 2018, Tuğkan Tuğlular earned the title of Associate Professor. His Research/Work Areas include information security, software quality assurance, software testing, and technology entrepreneurship