Staff
Dr.
Pinar Büyükakpinar
Function and Responsibilities:
Principal Investigator of the DFG-funded CHASING project and Scientific Coordinator of the Eger Large-N International Seismic Experiment (ELISE). Coordination of international seismic experiments, research collaborations, student supervision, and earthquake-swarm studies.Research Interests:
- Earthquake Bursts and Swarm Seismicity
- Fluid-Induced Seismicity
- Active Lithospheric Transformation
- Lithosphere–Fluid Interactions
- Earthquake Source Processes
- Volcano Seismology
- Lithospheric Imaging
- Machine Learning in Seismology
- Large-N Seismic Arrays
- Deep Volatile Transport and Seismic Monitoring
Career:
2013 – 2019
Research Assistant, Boğaziçi University, Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute
2017
Participant, GFZ International Training Course: "Seismology, Seismic Data Analysis, Hazard Assessment and Risk Mitigation"
Organized by Section 2.1, GFZ
Funded by the Federal Foreign Office – UNESCO
2019 – 2021
Postdoctoral Researcher, Boğaziçi University, Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute KOERI. Project: The Deviation Angle From P-Wave Particle Motion of KOERI Network (see Büyükakpınar et al., 2021a, Seismological Research Letters)
2020
Visiting Researcher, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences
Project: Reservoir-Triggered Seismicity in Eastern Turkey(see Büyükakpınar et al., 2021b, Frontiers in Earth Science)
Funding: German Federal Foreign Office
2021 – 2022
Postdoctoral Researcher, National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Catania, Italy
Project: eTna eRUption assiSTant (TRUST) (see Büyükakpınar et al., 2022, JGR: Solid Earth)
Funding: Sicily Civil Protection Department
2022
Postdoctoral Researcher, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences
Project: EWRICA – Early Warning and Rapid Impact Assessment with Real-Time GNSS in the Mediterranean
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany (BMBF)
2022 – 2023
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Potsdam
Project: Insights into Rupture Directivity Patterns from Microseismicity to Weak Events: Implications for Induced Seismicity by Fluid Injection Processes (INDI) (see Büyükakpınar et al., 2024, JGR: Solid Earth)
2023 – Present
1. Principal Investigator, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences
Project: Characterizing Source Properties of NW Bohemia/Vogtland Earthquake Swarms Exploiting Novel Network and Waveform Processing Tools (CHASING)
Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG) – SPP 1006: International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), 3 years
Büyükakpınar et al., 2026, Commun Earth Environ
Project website Press release (GFZ)
2. Scientific Coordinator, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences
Project: Eger Large Seismic Experiment: ELISE Project website - Press release (GFZ)
Projects:
CHASING – Characterizing Source Properties of NW Bohemia/Vogtland Earthquake Swarms Exploiting Novel Network and Waveform Processing Tools
CHASING investigates earthquake-swarm processes in the NW Bohemia/Vogtland region using machine-learning-based microearthquake detection, waveform clustering, earthquake source analysis, and moment tensor inversion. The project aims to distinguish tectonic fault activation from seismicity driven by fluids or magma.
Role: Principal Investigator
Duration: 2023–Present
Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG), Priority Programme 1006 / ICDP
ELISE – Eger Large-N International Seismic Experiment
ELISE is an international, cross-border dense seismic experiment in the earthquake-swarm region of Germany and Czechia. The experiment uses approximately 300 seismic stations to investigate earthquake-swarm activity, crustal structure, and the transport of deep fluids and magmatic volatiles.
Role: Initiator and Scientific Coordinator
Duration: 2025–Present