Sibel Öztürk-Baştanoğlu studied politics and society as well as law at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich. Her bachelor's thesis focused on the transformation of the transatlantic partnership and its implications for the defense policy of the European Union. Her main areas of interest are the foreign and security policy of the European Union, transatlantic relations, the U.S. political system, and security issues in space. Currently, she is also studying for a Master's degree in Political Science at the University of Bonn. She completed an internship at CASSIS and subsequently worked there as a research assistant in the dialogue series "Security Policy Consequences of Climate Change in Africa". Currently, Ms. Öztürk-Baştanoğlu is employed as a research assistant at the chair of Prof. Dr. Wolfram Hilz. 

She is also engaged as chairwoman and founding member of the university group BSH Bonn, an initiative of the Academic Association for Security Studies (Bundesverband Sicherheitspolitik an Hochschulen, BSH).