M. Fatih Çalışır specializes in early modern Ottoman history and environmental history. He received his BA from Fatih University in 2005, his MA from Bilkent University in 2009, and his Ph.D. from Georgetown University in 2016. Before beginning his doctoral studies, Çalışır served as an assistant specialist at the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, where he contributed to cultural heritage preservation efforts at the Topkapı Palace Manuscripts Library and the Istanbul Museum of the History of Islamic Science and Technology (2009–2010). Throughout his academic career, Çalışır has held several positions. From 2017 to 2019, he was affiliated with Ibn Haldun University, and from 2019 to 2023, he served as a faculty member in the Department of History at Kırklareli University. In 2024 and 2025, he was a visiting researcher at the Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies, supported by the TÜBİTAK 2219 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Abroad. Since February 2023, he has been a full-time faculty member at the Institute of Islamic Studies at Istanbul University.
Çalışır is the author of a monograph on Mehmed I and has edited several scholarly volumes, including works on the Köprülü years in Ottoman history (1656–1710), the era of Suleiman the Lawgiver (with Suraiya Faroqhi and M. Şakir Yılmaz), and the history of the Turkish war industry (with A. Sefa Özkaya). He is also recognized for his translations of academic studies on environmental history, military history, and the Baburid Empire from English into Turkish. In addition to his publications, Çalışır is the founder of the Bilkent History Society and the Environmental History Society of Turkey. He also spearheaded the biennial Süleymaniye International Symposium, which has fostered scholarly exchange and collaboration in the field of history.