His research concerns religion and global politics, international security, and American foreign policy. His scholarship has appeared or is forthcoming in several academic journals including Conflict Management and Peace Science, International Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Social Science Computer Review, and Terrorism and Political Violence. Nilay is currently working on a project examining the relationship between religious repression and terrorism. In 2016, he directed the State University of New York’s Muslim Voices Project—an initiative aimed at opening up dialogue between Muslim intellectuals and activists and the community at large. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in 2013.