Developmental Psychology graduate student F. Kübra Aytaç-DiCarlo was one of 35 Presidential Fellows named by the Ohio State University Graduate School during the 2024-2025 academic year. With support from the award—the school’s most prestigious—she is now completing her dissertation on coparenting relationship dynamics, which she is set to defend in early 2026.

“Receiving the Presidential Fellowship is an exceptional honor that recognizes the significance of my research,” she said. “It provides the time and resources to pursue my work with greater depth while reaffirming my commitment to producing research that supports family well-being.”

Awarded annually by the Graduate School, Presidential Fellowships recognize the outstanding scholarly accomplishments and potential of Ohio State graduate students entering the final phase of their dissertation research or terminal degree project. The funding enables recipients to devote one year of full-time study to the completion of their research, unimpeded by other duties.

A researcher in Professor Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan's Children and Parents Lab, Aytaç-DiCarlo studies  the trajectories and quality of coparenting relationships—those in which parents have overlapping childrearing responsibilities. Her research also looks at the implications of these relationships for child development.

“The dynamics of coparenting relationships are pivotal to understanding family functioning, yet significant gaps remain in our knowledge about how these relationships evolve from infancy through adolescence,” she said. 

“I hope to contribute valuable insights into the factors that promote resilience and well-being for both parents and children.”

Alongside Aytaç-DiCarlo, the 2024-2025 Presidential Fellows cohort included students from fields including public health, atmospheric studies and dance studies, among multiple other areas in the arts and sciences. The 2025-2026 cohort will be announced this November.

Aytaç-DiCarlo’s Ohio State dissertation is her second: She received her first PhD in Developmental Psychology from Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey. She also holds three Master of Science degrees: one in Psychology from Ohio State, another in Psychology from METU, and a third in Sociology from METU.

Broadly, her work focuses on coparenting, couple relationships and family wellbeing in diverse cultural contexts. She has published multiple articles and an edited book in these areas.