Nursemin Sönmez studied political science and European studies at Bielefeld University and the University of Tübingen in Germany. In 2008, she started a position as scientific assistant at the Faculty of Sociology at Bielefeld University and the University of Tübingen. Before that, she was a scientific assistant responsible for the scientific analysis of communal integration projects.

In 2006, she became the project leader of an intercultural education project. Since 2007 she has been working as a freelance seminar leader in political education, and since 2011 as an advisor in the Heinrich Böll Foundation. She leads the project ‘Chancengerechtigkeit’ (Equal Opportunities) for the advancement of underrepresented groups in study scholarships, the journalism study programme ‘Medienvielfalt, anders’ (Media Diversity, Done Differently), as well as the coaching and mentoring programme ‘Grün vernetzt’ (Network Green) for scholarship students.