Sabancı University Non-Thesis Graduate Programs 2020 Commencement Ceremony will be held on Saturday, October 17, 2020. The ceremony will be broadcast live on Youtube channel from Sabancı University Performing Arts Center. 

The online ceremony will be held for the graduates who have completed the Sabancı University Professional Graduate Programs in the fields of Information Technology, Cyber Security, Data Analytics under Graduate School of Engineering and Natural Sciences; and the fields of Finance Master, Management (MBA), Management for Professionals (Professional MBA) and Management for Executives (Executive MBA) under Sabancı Graduate Business School.

The Founding Chair of the Board of Trustees of Sabancı University, Güler Sabancı, and President Yusuf Leblebici will be delivering their speeches at the opening of the virtual ceremony and Member of the Board of Trustees of Sabancı University and Borusan Holding Board Member Agah Uğur will be the guest speaker of the ceremony. 

There will also be special content and speeches dedicated to our graduates. 

The live stream can be watched at Sabancı University Youtube Channel.

The 2020-2021 Academic Year of Sabancı University Opening Ceremony will be online on Monday, October 19, 2020 at 17:00 with Honorary Speaker Pankaj Mishra. 

Pankaj Mishra

Opening speeches of the Sabancı University 2020-2021 Academic Year Opening event will be held by Sabancı University Rector Yusuf Leblebici, Vice Rector and IPC Director Fuat Keyman and Stiftung Mercator Director Michael Schwarz.

Globally, we live in extremely difficult times due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). As Sabancı University, we deeply acknowledge the difficulties that our students, faculty members, and staff are facing. We believe that we can tackle these challenges together through building solidarity. On this note, we hope that you will join us at the opening of the 2020/21 academic year of Sabancı University.  

The event will be held in English. Please click here for registration. The Zoom link will only be shared with those who have registered.

Sabancı University Istanbul International Center for Energy and Climate (IICEC) has released the fifteenth issue of IICEC Energy Market Newsletter. 

Please click to read IICEC Energy Market Newsletter.

Atakan Koçanalı, a Sabanci University Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Research and Application Center (SU IMC) Researcher and student of the Materials Science and Nano Engineering Master’s Program, under the supervision of Dr. Burcu Saner Okan, was awarded second prize in the category of the postgraduate poster competition held at the SPE ACCE 2020 Conference.

Left: Burcu Saner Okan, Atakan Koçanalı, Yusuf Menceloğlu, Abdulmounem Wis Alchekh

The SPE ACCE (Automotive Composites Conference and Exhibition) 2020 organized by Ford Motor Company and General Motors Company for the 20th time this year is regarded as the world's best conference in the automotive industry and composite materials field. SPE ACCE took place virtually between 9-11 September 2020 this year with a total of 550 attendants from the world's best automotive companies such as Ford, FCA, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Tesla, Toyota and Volkswagen. 

In the conference, SU IMC researcher Atakan Koçanlı, under the supervision of Burcu Saner Okan as part of his Master’s program, was awarded second prize in the poster competition for master students with the poster titled “Development of graphene / talc hybrid additive from plastic wastes by upcycling technique and its use in the production of light-weight automotive parts”. Abdulmounem Wis Alchekh, a post-doctoral researcher and the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Faculty Member Yusuf Menceloğlu also contributed to this research. 

The study awarded is one of the 1003 projects supported by Turkey Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) Research Support Programs Department (ARDEB) under the coordination of SU IMC researcher Burcu Saner Okan in the project numbered 218M658 and titled "Development of graphene / talc hybrid additive from plastic waste with upcycled technique and its use in the production of light and robust prototype interior and exterior trim parts in the automotive industry as a reinforcer". Farplas Automotive Inc.  is a partner in this project undertaking the task of evaluating the performance of the developments made and producing a prototype. 

This study with its innovative approach has made a significant contribution to a circular economy by addressing the biggest problem in today’s world- the transformation of waste plastics into value-added products. Within the scope of the research, the carbon source in waste plastics, the reinforcing element commonly used in automotive plastics, is deposited on talc, enabling the production of a new generation graphene / talc hybrid additive. This developed additive will be used in the production of lightweight and low-cost automotive plastic parts. 

Dear Sabancı University Students, Academicians and Administrative Staff,

Leaving 20 years behind since first opening its doors for education, our university welcomes the 2020-21 Academic Year with great hope and excitement. This period , in which we will start differently  than ever before with the use of distance education, brings the excitement of creating and developing together with our new students and the hope of welcoming our students on our campus as soon as possible.

As Sabancı University, thanks to our strong technological infrastructure, we quickly adapted to distance education during the pandemic period; we continued to provide our students with uninterrupted world standard university education with our internationally successful academic staff and our renowned education system that is making a difference in higher education. Meanwhile, we continued to invest in our goal of becoming one of the best campus universities in the world, powered by its research. As an important step in this regard, I am very happy and proud to announce that our Altunizade Campus is ready to welcome its first students. Our new campus will serve as a digital education center, furthering our university's vision for the future.

The 2020-21 Academic Year excites us very much in terms of the investments we have made in our Tuzla campus. The new studio building of our Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, which has been completed, opens new horizons for our young people who continue to work in the field of visual arts, while our new dormitory buildings, which are being built, will enable us to further the opportunities we offer our students on campus.

The most fundamental aim of our university has always been to educate individuals who have universal values, are sensitive to the needs of the society, are focused on producing solutions, know how to learn to learn, are open to continuous improvement and are self-confident. Sabancı University students and graduates are distinguished by these characteristics in every environment they are in.

I hope it will be an academic year full of health and success, in which we prepare our students to become world citizens and continue to undertake internationally acclaimed research.

Guler Sabanci

Founding Chair of the Board of Trustees

Sabancı University Mechatronics Engineering PhD 2020 alumni Hakan Osman Çaldağ’s paper has been regarded as noteworthy by the editors of the prestigious fluid mechanics journal Physics of Fluids and promoted as Editor's Pick in the September 2020 issue.

Hakan Osman Çaldağ's paper is based on a part of his PhD thesis work supervised by FENS Member Serhat Yeşilyurt and titled “Acoustic radiation forces on magnetically actuated helical swimmers”. In this article, Caldag investigated the effects of acoustic fields on the trajectories and velocities of artificial helical swimmers by introducing a computationally efficient method, called chain-of-spheres, to calculate the acoustic radiation force acting on the swimmers.

Inspired by the flagellated bacteria in the nature such as E. coli, artificial helical microswimmers have potential medical application areas such as drug delivery to tissues and organs, opening of clogged arteries and microsurgery. Since the dimensions of the swimmers go as low as nanometers, one cannot place on-board actuation mechanisms such as motors. That’s why these swimmers are actuated by external means. When the helical swimmers are coated with a magnetic material, they can rotate under a rotating magnetic field and this results in net propulsion. However, magnetically actuated swimmers exhibit several instabilities such as wobbling, tracing helical trajectories and asynchronization with the magnetic field that severely impact the swimming performance. In the article, acoustic waves are proposed to overcome these issues. Acoustic waves are used often in the medicine and they have no harm to the human body. Thus, they can be used alongside the rotating magnetic fields which are harmless to the humans as well. The effect of the acoustic waves on the swimmers manifest itself through what is called acoustic radiation force. However, the evaluation of this force through the traditional means such as the finite-element modelling requires high amounts of computer memory and the solution takes several minutes. In this study, a new analytic approach, called chain-of-spheres, is developed and the radiation force acting on the swimmer can be calculated in seconds with low memory usage at high accuracy. In this approach, the helical structure is approximated as a chain of spheres and the total force acting on the helical structure is found equal to the sum of the forces acting on the spheres which can be calculated analytically. This modelling approach is coupled with the simulation model of the helical swimmer under magnetic actuation and swimming under magnetic and acoustic fields is investigated. It is observed that the travelling acoustic waves enhance the swimming velocity and decrease wobbling whereas the standing wave fields can be utilized for keeping the swimmer stationary at a unique position depending on its geometry.

Turkey's leading nanotechnology centers SUNUM and ITUnano signed a bilateral cooperation protocol. The protocol signed between Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM) and Istanbul Technical University Nanotechnology Application and Research Center (ITUnano) aims to develop advanced technologies that will generate value for the industry through joint infrastructure use and experience sharing between the centers. 

Advanced nanotechnology solutions that will emerge from the SUNUM and ITUnano partnership are expected to shape the future of industries from energy to medicine, food and defense. 

SUNUM Direktörü Prof.  Fazilet Vardar ile ITUnano müdürü Prof.  Levent Trabzon’un katılımıyla düzenlenen online törende, iki merkez arasındaki işbirliğinin önemi hakkında Fazilet Vardar şunları söyledi: “Upholding SUNUM's fundamental mission of 'creating universally-accepted solutions in areas congruent with Turkey's economic and technological policies', we aim to create long-term partnerships that will lead to effective inter/multidisciplinary research and development. We believe that the cooperation with ITUnano will create a synergy between the centers that will transform knowledge generated by research into value-added products and services which benefit the society. We hope that the cooperation will advance Turkey's industry and technology.” Levent Trabzon had the following to say about the partnership: “ITUnano’s core approach of ‘quality R&D through teamwork’ is the principle behind the scientific and technological partnership with SUNUM, one of Turkey's leading centers, for synergy in academic pursuits as well as the development of value-added products for the industry. We expect the bilateral partnership to contribute to the creation of a qualified workforce that Turkey and its industry need, and the development of highly valuable products.” 

About SUNUM

Established under Sabancı University in 2010 with a budget of 35 million USD committed by the State Planning Organization and Sabancı Foundation, SUNUM was accredited as a "National Research Infrastructure" by the Ministry of Development's Research Infrastructure Council for a term of five years in 2017. As a National Research Infrastructure, SUNUM has open laboratories that are available 24/7 for serving the institution as well as external partners in the core capabilities of: research, service, cooperation, value creation, and education. Its main areas of research are: nanomaterials, life sciences, food-agriculture-water, energy, and defense industry.

The SUNUM facility houses 25 laboratories in six classifications and a total area of 1.500 square meters, which are equipped with high-precision, state-of-the-art equipment for nanotechnology. 

About ITUnano

Established with the support of the State Planning Organization, the Istanbul Technical University Nanotechnology Application and Research Center – ITUnano has a 1000-m2 cleanroom (including lab and support units). The ultra-cleanroom environment complies with ISO 14644-1 requirements and is equipped with the technology to perform nanotechnology research. The facility is composed of a 50 m2 ISO 5 (class 100) cleanroom, a 167 m2 ISO 6 (class 1000) cleanroom, a 3 m2 ISO 7 (class 10000) cleanroom, a 10 m2 ISO 8 (class 100000) cleanroom, and 770 m2 of infrastructure (machinery room). ITUnano works on 4 core themes that target the engineering applications of nanotechnology. Research and development efforts that are innovative on a global level focus on Composite Material Technologies, Sensor Technologies, Surface Science and Engineering, and Photonic-Magnetic Materials.

TÜBİTAK has launched two separate calls through ARDEB and TEYDEB for the "COVID-19 Response and Resilience Program" initiated by Development Agencies under the coordination of Ministry of Industry and Technology General Directorate of Development Agencies for projects developed by universities and the private sector that have R&D potential. Submissions to the calls were evaluated in only 15 days via online panels and meetings. The call has resulted in approximately 7 million TL support for 21 projects.

One of the 8 projects to be supported under the ARDEB group is “Automated Image Recognition System for Detection of COVID-19 Infection Using Computed Tomography̧” where Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (FENS) Member Professor Berrin Yanıkoğlu is implementer, and Associate Professor Fatih Gülşen, Associate Professor Onur Tutar and Assistant Professor Bora Korkmazer from Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine and Dr. Hümbet Nasibli, Alper Aker and Oğuzhan Acar from TÜBİTAK National Metrology Institute (UME) are researchers. Other researchers in the project are Sabancı University PhD candidates Sara Atito Ali Ahmed, M. Umut Şen and Mehmet Can Yavuz, and Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine residents Dr. Sabri Şirolu, Dr. Ali Ergun Eryürekli, Dr. Toghrul Mammadov and Dr. Rauf Hamid.   

Due to the long processing times of PCR tests and high occurrence of negatives in the early stages of the disease, computed thoracic tomography (CT) scans are considered as an avenue for diagnosis.

The system developed under Berrin Yanıkoğlu as implementer aims to analyze CT scans automatically and identify lung afflictions within seconds. This will enable effective disinfection of CT equipment and reduction of internal contagion. The system to be developed will be installed in the Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine within 6 months.

“QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) Top Universities Under 50" rankings were revealed. The system uses the same methodology as the QS World University Rankings to determine the top universities under 50 years of age.  Sabancı University ranked between 81st and 90th. 

The QS methodology is heavily based on reputation, which accounts for 50% of the total score and enables younger universities to compare their visibility and outreach. The "Under 50" rankings evaluates universities on six indicators based on four criteria determined to be relevant to prospective students, namely research, teaching quality, employability and international outlook. 

Four of the indicators are based on “hard” data, and the remaining two on major global surveys – one of academics and another of employers. The weight of the indicators based on hard data are 20% for student-to-faculty ratio; 20% for citations per faculty; 5% for international faculty ratio and 5% for international student ratio.  The weight of the survey indicators are 40% academic reputation and 10% for employer reputation. 

The Turkish institutions among the 150 young universities worldwide were Sabancı University as well as Koç Universities in the 61st-70th range, and Bilkent University in the 81st-90th range. 3 Turkish universities were included in the rankings.

A project in which the Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is a partner is to receive funding from the Horizon2020 Program.

The Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has received funding for 8 Horizon2020 projects so far, becoming the most successful Turkish institution in its field.

A project in which Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Dean and Faculty Member Professor Meltem Müftüler-Baç won funding in the last call of the Horizon2020 Program's Social Sciences and Humanities area. The "ENGAGE- Ensuring Good Global Governance for the European Union" project is designed to support the European Commission's objective to achieve a more influential and unified European foreign policy around the world. The project is coordinated by Spain-based ESADE and has 13 partners from 10 countries. The Sabancı University research team consists of Professor Meltem Müftüler-Baç, Professor Senem Aydın-Düzgit, and Dr. Ezgi Uzun.

Professor Meltem Müftüler-Baç is also a consortium partner to the Migration Governance and Asylum Crises (MAGYC) and Integrating Diversity in the European Union (InDivEU) projects supported within the 2018 call of the Horizon2020 Program's Social Sciences and Humanities area. In addition to her project research partnership and work packet leadership in the two ongoing projects as well as the new ENGAGE project, Professor Müftüler-Baç is a member of the Advisory Board of the Horizon2020 program's FEUTURES (2016-2019) and EU-List (2018-2021) projects.