Prof. Dr. Yurdal Genç received his B.Sc. (1981) and M.Sc. (1984) degrees in Geological Engineering from Hacettepe University. He completed his Ph.D. in Economic Geology in 1992 at the Institute of Mineralogy and Petrography, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (Germany) as a recipient of a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Prof. Dr. Genç has taught courses on ore deposits, industrial minerals, and ore microscopy at the Department of Geological Engineering at Hacettepe University, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, and the Middle East Technical University (METU). During his academic career, he also served as Head of the Department of Geological Engineering at Hacettepe University and as Director of the Hacettepe University Earth Sciences Application and Research Center.

After retiring from his faculty position at the Department of Geological Engineering at Hacettepe University in June 2025, Prof. Dr. Genç joined Gaia Jeolog in July 2025 and currently serves as Senior Advisor.

His research and professional expertise in economic geology include orogenic and epithermal gold deposits; antimony and mercury mineralization; massive sulfide copper-lead-zinc deposits; porphyry copper-molybdenum systems; iron and lead-zinc skarn deposits; metamorphic lead-zinc deposits; lateritic nickel deposits; and clinker mineralogy. Throughout his academic career, he has supervised sixteen M.Sc. theses and seven Ph.D. dissertations and has served as a consultant on numerous geological and mineral exploration projects.

Prof. Dr. Genç has authored 22 scientific articles published in national and international peer-reviewed journals, presented 46 papers at national and international scientific conferences, and is the author of the book Ore Microscopy (1998).

He has also served as reviewer, editorial board member, editor, and editor-in-chief for several national and international scientific journals, including Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration, Jeoloji Mühendisliği Dergisi, Türkiye Jeoloji Bülteni, Bulletin for Earth Sciences, Mediterranean Geoscience Reviews, Mineralium Deposita, and Ore Geology Reviews. In addition, he has served as a member of the Scientific and Technical Committee of Chamber of Geological Engineers of Türkiye, a member of the Organizing Committee of the Geological Congress of Türkiye, and Co-Chair of the 61st Geological Congress of Türkiye.