Sabancı University- Istanbul International Center for Energy and Climate (IICEC) Honorary Chairman Dr. Fatih Birol was elected Executive Director to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Sabancı University Founding Board of Trustees Chair Güler Sabancı: “At a time when energy and climate issues reach an apex, it makes all of us proud that Dr. Fatih Birol was elected to this position with the unanimous vote of all member countries.”

The SUTAB project implemented by internationally recognized Sabancı University faculty members Ali Koşar and Devrim Gözüaçık led to the design of a device that uses micro cavitation technology, or the erosive power of bubbles obtained by cavitation, to eliminate kidney stones, prostrate growth, cancer and tumors without harming the patient.

Doç. Dr. Devrim Gözüaçık - Doç. Dr. Ali Koşar

Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences members Professor Ali Koşar and Professor Devrim Gözüaçık and their teams used the erosive power of water micro-bubbles obtained by the cavitation method to design a medical device that eliminates kidney stones, prostrate growth, cancer and tumors. 

The water gun-like device named SUTAB (Sabancı University Tissue Ablation with Bubbles Medical Device) is a breakthrough in the treatment of kidney stones, prostrate growth, cancer and tumors.  The device targets cancer cells and tumors without harming healthy tissues and cells, and provides an affordable and completely harmless method of cancer treatment.

The technology behind SUTAB

The micro cavitation technique uses the high levels of energy obtained when bubbles formed as a result of lowered water pressure collapse to target and eliminate cancer cells.  This causes no harm to healthy tissues and eliminates cancer cells only.  By targeting the erosive power of bubbles precisely, the same technology may be used to eliminate tumors, kidney stones and prostrate growth.

SUTAB will be the first device of its kind to be manufactured in Turkey.  SUTAB will provide an affordable and completely harmless method of cancer treatment.  The medical use of hydrodynamic cavitation, the principle behind SUTAB, is patented to Sabancı University scientists, which gives the device competitive edge worldwide.  With the integration of SUTAB to an endoscopic probe, Turkey will have its first multifunction cancer treatment device developed with native patented technologies.

Significant contributors to the development of a robotically controlled endoscope as part of the project are engineers Professor Mustafa Ünel and Professor Asıf Sabanovic of Sabancı University; urologist and surgeon Professor Sinan Ekici of  Maltepe University; pathologist Professor Işın Doğan Ekici, MD of Yeditepe University and engineer Professor Hüseyin Üvet of Yıldız Technical University. Also contributing to the project are Sabancı University's molecular biology experts Dr. Özlem Oral and Dr. Cenk Kığ.

About Ali Koşar

Professor Ali Koşar is a member of the Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences’ Mechatronic Engineering Program.  He is one of the leading researchers worldwide on next-generation micro-fluid systems.  His field of research encompasses boiling heat transfer, micro-and nanofluidic systems, and cavitation.  He aims at contributing to the literature by removing the lack of information about micro/nano scale heat transfer and fluid flow and providing experimental data and design guidelines for futuristic cooling and microfluidic system technologies. He has broad experience and knowledge on various types of experiments on heat and fluid flow and phase change phenomena in micro/nano scale. He has over 50 articles published in pestigious journals covered by International Citation Indexes, and has received more than 800 citations.  He also has over 50 conference papers published in peer-reviewed international conference proceedings, and has four pending patent applications.  He received  many national and international awards including  “Turkish Academy of Sciences Outstanding Young Scientist Award,” “METU Professor Mustafa N. PARLAR Education and Research Foundation Research Incentive Prize,” “Feyzi AKKAYA Scientific Events Support Fund Eser Tümen Outstanding Achievement Award,” “TÜBITAK (Turkish Scientific Council) Incentive Award,”, “9th Kadir Has Promising Scientist Award,” international “ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) ICNMM (International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels and Minichannels) Early Career Award,” “Academy of Sciences Young Scientist Award” and international “ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) MEMS (Microelectromechanical System) Best Paper Award.”

About Devrim Gözüaçık

Associate Professor Devrim Gözüaçık is a doctor of medicine, a member of the Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences’ Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioengineering Program, and an expert on molecular cell biology, genetics and cancer biology.  In his research lab at Sabancı University, he works on “autophagy” – one of the key cellular-level responses of the body to stress and disease, and trains new scientists.  Autophagy disorders are an element of many significant diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, cardiac disease, paralysis and infections.  The Devrim Gözüaçık lab is Turkey’s first and only lab that actively focuses on autophagy.  Globally recognized inventions achieved in the Gözüaçık Lab are used to gain insight into diseases incorporating autophagy disorders, and to develop targetable and innovative drugs and medical devices that have fewer adverse effects.  Devrim Gözüaçık has over 40 articles published in journals covered by International Citation Indexes, and has received more than 2500 citations, has written chapters for 10 different scientific books, and was invited to over 50 international conferences in Turkey and abroad.  He has three patent applications as a result of his work in Turkey.  Devrim Gözüaçık was named among the “20 Guiding Leaders of Biosciences” by the Hoffmann-La Roche pharmaceutical company.  His work was recognized with "European Molecular Biology Organization Award,” “Turkish Academy of Sciences Outstanding Young Scientist Award,” “Istanbul Kültür University Professor Önder Öztunalı Science Award” and “Journalists’ Society of Turkey Sedat Simavi Grand Prize for Medical Sciences.”  Dr. Gözüaçık is an editor of the US-based Autophagy journal, which is the leading periodical in the field of autophagy, and a member of the Board of Directors of the New York-based International Cell Death Society (ICDS).  He is a reviewer for many national and international research organizations including Cancer Research-UK, Wellcome Trust (UK), The Health Research Board Ireland, Research Foundation Flanders, FWO (Belgium) and TÜBİTAK. He is married with 2 children.

By: Melek Sarı

Photo Credit: Berna Özkul

Video Credit: Türker Soner

Kerim Can Kavaklı: “It makes no sense to force an eighteen-year-old to choose what they want to be in life and keep them from changing their mind ever again.  Sabancı University pulls you out of this mess.”

Wednesday Talks with Nesrin Balkan

You have been a lecturer here for six months.  In your opinion, what makes a good professor?

I think one needs to prepare.  I took countless courses, some of them from the best professors in the field.  I learned much from them.  Some others were celebrities; everyone knew them and they had the most impressive résumés, but they weren’t good teachers.  I think the difference is between how much you want to give a lecture and how seriously you take it.  Being an academic has two aspects: research and teaching.  At the most prestigious research universities in the US, academics receive most of their awards with their research work.  Even if you are not a great teacher, you can continue your academic career at Harvard, Princeton or Rochester and still reach high places.  Some others place a lot of importance on the other aspect as well. 

You mean giving lectures.

Yes; when an academic loves to lecture and is enthusiastic about it, you as a student gain much from them.  It matters to give something to the student, and also pay attention to them as human beings.

Communication is important, right?  Regardless of your subject, you are trying to teach someone something, or at least make them have questions about it.  I remembered my high school philosophy teacher.  She would steer the lesson to such a point that the whole class would start asking questions.

In social sciences, we don’t want to overload the students with a mass of information, because the world is in constant change.  The information you teach today may be irrelevant tomorrow.  So instead of teaching people things, we try to show them how to learn, what methods to use, how to investigate the truth of an argument, and what questions to ask.  I’m sure this is different in natural sciences because there are universal rules; there is a book, and if you study that, you can build a bridge.  This doesn’t change over time and you have to learn it by heart; you need to know how to use the formulas they give you. 

So you say things are different in social sciences.

Yes, because the society keeps changing. 

You are among the first students at Sabancı University.  In the first academic year, in 1999, there were just 250 of you on the entire campus.  Faculty and employees outnumbered you.  Did you enjoy this?

It had its good and bad sides.  For instance, there were few shuttles.  I would go home for the weekend so I could socialize in the city, but it was tough if you were living on campus.  Not many people came to the campus either.  We didn’t have the Performing Arts Center.  Today, there are half a dozen or more events every month.  A center like that wouldn’t have survived back in the day even if we were to buy tickets to every show.  Now there are a lot more students and a lot more amenities.  This is an economic development.  But being so few had its advantages too.  We could do anything we wanted; the resources were there and there were no predetermined structures.  You wanted a music club, you set one up.  And whatever you thought you needed for that club was purchased new.  In the beginning of this semester, there was a student clubs event outdoors, and as I was walking past the music club booth, a student called asked me whether I would like to join.  I said, “I founded this club myself; I am a founding member.”  That was the nice part.  You could to whatever you wanted and steer the clubs in the direction you wanted.

Like building from scratch.

That’s exactly what we did. 

What did you do as the music club?

We had a band and we would play in festivals. 

Do you still play music?

No, I only listen to it now. 

What would your advice be for high school students looking to enter university?

I would definitely recommend Sabancı.  I think Sabancı’s greatest advantage still is students’ ability to make their own diploma program choices.  This is an excellent opportunity and the right thing to do.  This sets us apart from most other universities in Turkey.  I encourage everyone to make use of this.  This saved me and some of my close friends.  I had joined Sabancı to study economics.  Then, I realized that economics was the last thing I wanted to study.  If I had remained in the program, I would have been a mediocre student and started a job right after graduation.  I would never have sought an academic career.  I wouldn’t be a good student either.  I couldn’t have achieved this position in my career.  I am greatly satisfied with my choices right now.  I have friends who started in the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences and then moved to Visual Arts, enjoying great success and starting their own design offices.  I have friends who are academics abroad.  Almost all of us finished the school in a program different from the one we started in, where we found ourselves.  It makes no sense to force an eighteen-year-old to choose what they want to be in life and keep them from changing their mind ever again.  Sabancı University pulls you out of this mess.

Not allowing a change of mind makes students unhappy.

The end result is people who don’t like or want to do what they do; people who study a subject they don’t want for four years, and then start anew.  This is a waste of money, time and energy for everyone.  So if they can make it to Sabancı, I definitely recommend them to come here.  We are great at whatever program we have to offer, which is another great benefit. 

Can you talk about the social and political sciences program and interdisciplinary structure?

SPS at Sabancı is a great example of interdisciplinary structure.  If this program were in another school, its students would be sitting in different rooms, taking different courses.  Here, students may take courses from a variety of disciplines and I think this is great in terms of education.  Disciplines in social sciences are separated according to subject or methodology.  Let’s consider psychology, which focuses on what goes on in people’s minds, how individuals act, and what their mental situation is.  These are what a psychology student spends most of their time on.  If you want to understand the society at the same time, it is greater than the sum of all individuals, and has its own dynamics.  In this case, you have to consider sociology, where methods are different altogether.  If you focus on sociology, you miss out on psychology courses and are unaware of psychological approaches.  Psychology is about the mental aspects of the individual, but then there is economics, which also concerns the individual.  If you go in that direction, you miss out on psychology and sociology, and so on. 

I think social sciences is going in a direction where academics learn about research methods, tools and approaches in a variety of subjects and apply these to all the issues that face them – in other words, they step out of their native discipline, or establish interdisciplinary links.

The interdisciplinary structure at Sabancı University is much more relevant to real life.

I agree.  I think this is getting better for students at Sabancı University.  For instance, I have a PhD in international relations and the articles in my dissertation were on why countries go to war or why Turkey gives foreign aid to other countries.  I recently took part in a conference which was not exclusive to social scientists but appealed to all social sciences using experimental methods, and was an exciting event.  There was a category called “decision science,” which studied how people make decisions. 

A PhD student and I decided to conduct a project on community volunteers in Turkey; why they volunteer, how they volunteer to do more, and what factors influence this.  I find this interesting and fun.  I may have studied international relations for a long time, but the methods and approaches that are available to me at Sabancı University are conducive to a study on why students volunteer.  I want to apply these methods and approaches to this data.  I believe that in the future, people will begin calling themselves social scientists or human scientists instead of sociologists or psychologists.  Towards this end, Sabancı University is the best place in Turkey for students to gain this ability.  We don’t just give them a choice, we also give them education with a wider and more innovative scope.

What are your plans for the future?

I plan to stay at Sabancı University for a long time; I’m very happy here and this is a great place to be an academic thanks to facilities provided and the institutional culture.  I know from other places I’ve visited that the culture and personal relationships may not be as good as they are here.  There are people here who understand, respect and value the work I do.  Student quality is high.  That is why I want to stay here.  We need to come up with some projects while I do that.  Recently, a project on NATO was approved, so we have that to do.  I will continue to publish articles related to my dissertation; we will look into our SAP projects and so on.  So I plan to give lectures while I write on whatever comes up, whatever inspires me. 

So as a member of Sabancı University faculty, you are able to pursue your personal development.  You are happy to be in a culture you find to be right, together with extraordinary students and colleagues.

Yes.  Here, people treat each other with respect, and I always look forward to coming to work every day.  I work in my office all day – I don’t need to do that; I can work in my apartment here, or back home in Istanbul.  But I love being here and that is important. 

This is a fine community to be in.

Yes. 

Thank you for the interview.

Kerim Can Kavaklı: When I started in Sabancı, I was surrounded by, and was classmates with, people who were more intelligent than anyone I would meet later in life.  You may have heard others say that they were a group of extremely smart, successful and special people.  It was sobering to be in the same class with them; you had to come down to earth because they were extremely clever and knowledgeable.  Graduates of science schools ground us into dust in science classes.  Think of the bell curve in regular courses.  Ours was like the back of a Bactrian camel.

Wednesday Talks with Nesrin Balkan

The first interview of 2014 is with Kerim Can Kavaklı, who was among the first students of Sabancı University in 1999, and now is a faculty member in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.  Our Board of Trustees Chair Güler Sabancı says about the first students: “They were brave kids.  We told them our dreams; they believed in us, trusted us, and they came to Sabancı University.”  Kerim Can Kavaklı is one of those “brave kids” who chose Sabancı University at a time when there wasn’t even a campus, just a vision and plans.  We spoke to Kerim Can Kavaklı on his university years, ways of students, education, and his interest in social sciences.  The second part of this interview will be available next week. 

You are one of the first Sabancı University students.  What would you like to tell us about that time?

I spent most of my life around here.  Before Sabancı, I was in the Koç High School, which is nearby.  That was 7 years of my life.  Then, I was among the first 250 students admitted to Sabancı University in 1999.  As I passed the English exam, I was one of the 50 people who skipped preparatory year went straight into university courses – so I was the first among the firsts.  The school was very small, classes were very small, most of the buildings didn’t exist – even the cafeteria.

We had a small place by the dorm halls that we used as a cafeteria.

Yes, that small shop was where we all ate. 

I remember it used to be called Cafe Dorm.

All our classes were in what is the School of Languages now.  We had one large hall; 50 of us crammed in there for the first year courses.  The Nature and Science class was in the Rector’s Hall.  As the school continued to grow and faculty buildings were complete, we chose our diploma programs.  I chose Social and Political Sciences.  After graduation, I went to Rice University for master’s and the University of Rochester for my doctorate.  Rochester  is one of the best schools in international relations, particularly in mathematical and statistical methods in political science.  After getting my degree in Rochester, I returned to Turkey, to Sabancı University as a faculty member. 

So Sabancı is your first academic experience.

Yes. 

Did you give lectures at Rochester during your doctorate?

That depends on the school.  In large state universities like Michigan State, you will have several courses of our own.  They don’t want that in private universities like Rochester, both because there are enough lecturers for the relatively small student community, and because students who pay over $50,000 a year in tuition fees don’t want to be lectured by a PhD student. I didn’t give lectures, but I was a teaching assistant.

You were one of the first undergraduate alumni in 2003.  You returned to Sabancı University a decade later as a lecturer.  What differences did you observe?

Physically, there is a huge difference.  The campus is much prettier and greener compared to 10 years ago.  The number of faculty has vastly increased.  Most people I knew as a student are gone of course, but the number of academics has increased.  There are many new programs which come with a host of different courses.  This was a strong academic institution even when I was a student, but now there is much greater choice.  I think this is the greatest difference. 

Has the student profile changed from the time you were a student?

I could be doing current students some injustice because I don’t remember much about my time as a student; I don’t remember how hard I worked or what else I did.  I have been involved in master’s and doctorate programs for 9 years where the schedule is hectic and you have to take the initiative all the time.  Undergraduate education is not the same kind of experience; students at this stage have lots more to do with their lives than just sit in classes and take notes.  I am now frustrated when my undergraduate students skip some reading they were supposed to do, but when I was their age, I was probably doing the same.  The group of students that took my first course here last semester were all staggeringly clever.  It was a small class of 10 people, but they were all seniors.  They were very bright and I loved to sit and talk to them, discuss with them.  I’m not sure if we were as smart as they were – I hope we were.  It seems to me like we worked harder and did more reading, but that was nine years ago and my memory could be playing tricks on me.

Would you recommend students to seek master’s or doctorate degrees?

Absolutely.  I joined the introduction event for the SPS program, which was my major.  At the meeting, program coordinator Özge Kemahlıoğlu asked me as a graduate to talk about where my fellow students were and what they did.  We were a very small group of 50 people.  At the commencement in 2003, there were only 48 of us.  Most of my friends are in very good places and almost all have master’s degrees.  I believe that a graduate degree is a must today. 

So would you say that a student should seek a master’s or even a doctorate degree although their plan is not an academic career?

In social sciences, the purpose of a doctorate is to create academics.  If you are not going to become an academic and go back to the university for research and teaching, a doctorate is not imperative.  The purpose of a PhD is to break you in to some literature, and then provide you with the environment to do research and make academic inventions.  If you are not interested in these, it is better to join a master’s program that will prepare you to work in a company or an NGO.  Not everyone has to dedicate 5 or 6 years to a doctorate.  But I think a master’s degree is important and necessary.

Young people in Turkey are in a pinch: unemployment is a great worry.  One needs a good education to shine among the crowd.  This makes a master’s degree even more important.

The job market is always difficult, even more so today.  There are things in life that you can change, and other things that you can’t.  Take your height: it is an important attribute that you cannot change.  Research suggests that taller people receive more job offers, are paid higher salaries, and are promoted more quickly. 

So taller people have a better chance of being hired?

That’s what the findings suggest.  I don’t know if taller people are just picked over others, or if they are brighter than others as well.  It’s really difficult to say. 

Appearance seems to be a factor.

What matters is this: Your stature or intelligence are things that you cannot change.  But education is something you can, and if you have arrived at Sabancı University, it is likely that you have some advantages that run in your family or in your past.  Add to that the education and connections at Sabancı, and you can develop much further.  This is a great opportunity that people must use. 

Was Sabancı University an informed choice?

Not for me.  I was 18, and no one is informed enough to make a choice at that age.  But it turned out to be a brilliant choice.  My family checked the faculty members here, and I was entitled to a scholarship.  That’s how I decided. 

You were an achiever if you had won a scholarship.

I was.  And speaking of scholarships, let me tell you an anecdote.  When I started in Sabancı, I was surrounded by, and was classmates with, people who were more intelligent than anyone I would meet later in life.  We were in a small environment, taking courses together.  You may have heard others who were here at the time say that they were a group of extremely smart, successful and special people.  The professors were great too, but the students were amazing.

Well, they were your friends.

Here is the anecdote: I skipped preparatory year and started university courses.  All 50 of us were in the same hall.  I noticed that 6 or 7 people were carrying the same type of backpack.  It wasn’t a known brand or anything; just a navy backpack with a round logo on it.  I assumed they had all bought them from the same place.  One day, I sat next to one of them and I checked to see what the logo said.  It said “World High School Mathematics Olympics.”  Then I checked the others; they weren’t all mathematics.  One was chemistry, the other computer science.  Among those 50 students were 6 or 7 people who had represented Turkey in the Olympics.  I was a good, hardworking student, but I must admit that I probably wasn’t the brightest star among them.

This sounds like humility; you were among that group as well.  One of the conditions for Sabancı scholarships back then was representing Turkey in the Science Olympics.  That brought a number of excellent students to Sabancı.

I should imagine.  But then you had to take university courses together.  It was sobering to be in the same class with them; you had to come down to earth because they were extremely clever and knowledgeable.  Graduates of science schools ground us into dust in science classes.  Think of the bell curve in regular courses.  Ours was like the back of a Bactrian camel.  We were on one hump, and they were on another.

The Bactrian camel was a nice touch.

It was absolutely fun and exciting at the same time.  Being in the same class with such achievers, striving to catch up with them boosted our motivation.  That boost only lasted so far, of course; I couldn’t wait until the science courses ended so I could pick myself an area where I could succeed in.  It makes you come to terms with your limits.  Anyone can do high school-level math.  It’s not difficult to get an A in high school.  But as you progress, you climb to the heights and begin to compete with progressively fewer and better people.  Their quality just keeps rising, so do the requirements for getting an A.  This is something that befalls most students as they transition from high school to university.  They tend to think it will be just as easy to get good grades in university, and are perplexed when they can’t.  You’re not in high school anymore; you’re in an elite group of students and must work much harder to remain at the top.  You grasp this reality as you begin to explore your options and decide on the major that suits you the best.   

What does being at the very top look like, for a student or an academic?

It’s easier to know when you’re at the top as a student – your grades, the reference letters of your professors tell all that needs to be told.  I don’t know about professional life, but if you decide to go the academic way, things change.  You join a doctorate program, take courses for two years where the guy at the top is also prominently displayed; he’s the one that gets the highest grades, does the most talking.  But then all of this comes to a screeching halt as you delve into academic research – your dissertation.  That is where it all changes.  The best-performing students can come up with a great idea, motivate themselves and produce a great work, but sometimes they can’t.  There are people who are great in classes and at doing the tasks they are told to do, but who lose that motivation when they have to create something on their own and not adhere to a time plan.  They don’t make good academics and stray off to other fields.  So being at the top has to do with the field you pick.  Being at the top as an academic is writing the most interesting, most cited articles and books. 

I see.

And being a good professor, of course. 

Having good communication with students.

Absolutely. 

To be continued…

Yuda Yürüm: “What makes a university professor?  He is supposed to have genuine interest in his courses and students, strive to educate them and train them in the best way possible.  What separates scientist from teacher is his scientific work.  A good scientist must be properly involved in scientific studies and share his work with the world.  You are not supposed to brood over scientific facts.  He must have integrity and do everything possible to make sure that the knowledge he generates is passed on to the next generation.”

Wednesday Talks with Nesrin Balkan 
Do you have brothers or sisters?

I have a brother who is 14 years older and sister who is 10 years older.  After they married and left the house, I grew up like an only child.  But I do have very close relations with them.  They are sort of like my parents. 

Almost half-parents, of course.

Brotherhood is a great feeling and we have a wonderful relationship.  We meet regularly.  I have wonderful nephews and nieces too, we see each other quite often.  I love family gatherings, family dinners, long hours spent with family members.  This is one of my greatest pleasures in life. 

So you like a large family.

Yes, that is what I love the most.  I am a rather domestic person, so the home is important to me. 

I checked Ekşi Sözlük for some entries about you.  You have responded to student criticism on Ekşi Sözlük, and in summary you say: "No university in the world gives students the right to comment on what questions will be asked in an exam and how.  This is the case at Sabancı, and it is the way it should be.  Students are solely responsible for studying for their courses and studying even more."

That is precisely what I told students.  These were my first years at Sabancı; I gave the chemistry chapter of the Science of Nature course for 4 or 5 years, from 1999 to 2003 or 2004.  I think one of the exams was particularly difficult.  I somehow heard about the comments of students, and I was annoyed.  You can't ask a professor why his questions were hard.  At the Middle East Technical University, we had some of the most brilliant chemical engineers of Turkey who were professors.  The Chemistry Department at METU is where proper chemistry education in Turkey started.  They were both excellent engineers and very severe professors.  We would think twice about crossing their rooms, let alone complain about exam questions.  This was how we were educated.  We ended up learning a lot I must say; we received an excellent education and I am proud of it.  I believe that my school is the best chemical engineering school in Turkey.  We would not even dare to think about telling our professors what to ask in exams - that was the culture then.  This is how we were brought up.

My mission has always been to teach my students what I know in the best way possible, but as I had said in that message, no one has the right to ask a professor why his questions were difficult.  Those students were maybe not aware of how serious this thing is.  I assumed they were acting out of childishness. 

You are an uncompromising educator.

Yes, I am.  This has a lot of weight for me.  You must always take your job seriously and be your best in class.  We must do what our mission requires us to.  Being a professor is a full-time job.  It is not part-time, and it is never some-time.  If you are doing this job, you must do it properly and do all it takes.  I've been in academia for more than 40 years - I started in '70 so it's 43 years, and I have been a professor for 41.  You have a certain way of doing things, eventually. 

You might refuse to compromise in this area but you do have a warm relationship with your students, right?

Of course, my door is always open to them.  I was department head at Hacettepe for 6 years.  Hacettepe may be a public university, but it is a modern public university.  Students had to pass through two secretaries before entering my office, but my door was always open to all of them, from the youngest undergrads to doctorate students.  If they had a problem, they could talk directly to me about it.  And this is still the same.  I have always been accessible to my students and done my best to give them something.  I find it very important to have good relationships with my students, provide them with everything a professor can provide, convey my knowledge to them and make sure that they are well-prepared for the future.

If I remember correctly, you were accepted to the membership of a very reputable international academic institution in 2000, during the first academic year of the university, and I had prepared the press release for that.

Yes, I was the first person from Turkey to be granted a Fellowship at The Royal Society of Chemistry, Britain's famed international chemical society.  I have other memberships too; I am a member of the American Chemical Society.  They invite me to their conferences for keynote events almost every year.  I will not be attending this year because I have another conference on the same dates. 

You are very well known in your career and you represent Turkey on an international level.

I am only one of them; there are many great scientists and professors in Turkey who are known worldwide.  I have many friends who represent Turkey most brilliantly.  I strive to be one of them.

You are one of them, and you are a very humble person as well.  I asked around the faculty for you, trying to get an inkling of how they see you.  Two things caught my attention.

One, a member of faculty said "Yuda Bey will never ignore you if you run into him in the corridor, he always makes eye contact and greets you."

I make a point of that, and it only comes from my respect for others.  I expect the same too.  Some people are a little timid, others may have too many things on their mind that they don't see me in the corridor sometimes.  Acknowledging a person I run into is purely out of respect, regardless of whether they are younger and older.  To tell you the truth, I do expect to be treated the same way. 

The second thing was a note on a bulletin board: "Yuda Yürüm himself has more publications than a faculty combined."

I don't know, I didn't see that note.  You can find out anyone's number of publications; if you log on to the Web of and retrieve Sabancı professors, I come second only to Professor İsmail Çakmak.  I think Professor Yaşar Gürbüz has the same number of publications as I.

So that was the ranking.

Yes, that is the only ranking I am aware of.  I have always tried to do my best to elevate the reputation of the institution I work for, and this is judged in my case with my publications.  If making publications adds to the prestige of the university, I believe I have done that.  This is my 14th year at Sabancı, and I have had quite a few publications.  Although I am proud of this fact, we must remember that there are other prolific professors here.  We should not forget about them. 

I must say that you are a wonderful couple.  Your wife Perla is a cheerful, smiling, fascinating person.

Perla and I have done a good job of raising our sons, and now we are raising our grandson.  I hope we have more grandsons and granddaughters in the future, as long as God gives us health.

Are you happy then, Yuda Bey?

I am very happy, thankfully. 

In your career, in your personal life…

Leading a balanced life has its benefits to career as well.  We have had our ups and downs of course, we have been through better and worse.  We had difficult days.  But family is very important to me; like I said before, being together as a family matters very much.  I wouldn't change my sons for the world, and now that I have a grandson, I wouldn't change him for the world.

So now your sons are part of the "world?"

No, they will always be special.  But the baby completely captivates you, and there is no limit to the foolishness you can do with a baby.  The prim and severe Yuda Yürüm disappears and I can be as funny as I want. 

So can we call being a grandfather a second chance at boyhood?

I guess so.  They used to tell me that and I couldn't understand the difference until now.  The difference here is that you have the loveliest creature of the world, but have no responsibility for it.  You love your children as well, but you are ultimately responsible for them.  With a grandchild, you love him, you hold him, you kiss him, and then you give him over to his parents for them to take care of all problems; sleep, eating… 

So you get the cream off the top.

Exactly, and that is an immensely pleasurable thing.  That is what is so great about the grandfather-grandson relationship.  This makes Perla and I ecstatic.  We can feel impatience coursing in our veins when we are going off to see our grandson. 

Did you find what you were looking for in life?  What were you looking for, and what did you find?  Did you have any disappointments?

I have never had disappointments in my career.  As an overall issue of course, we have had financial difficulties when I was in public universities.  The public university has little to offer you in terms of salary, and this has implications on the family.  All professors of public universities have had the same problem, of course.  Otherwise, I don't think I have had a serious problem.

My job gave me everything I wanted out of life.  Scientific reputation and its glory, the ability to do the job you love are very important.  You would be unhappy if you did a job that you didn't enjoy.  Here, I do something I really love and I am very happy.  I travel abroad frequently, meeting new people or coming back together with people I know, exchanging ideas - that too is great.  I must say that I am a happier person because of this job that I love. 

This was a great conversation Yuda Bey, thank you.

Trainings were held for the female inmates and guards of the Adana Karataş Penitentiary as part of the “Mor Güvercin - Purple Dove” project implemented by the Sabancı University Gender and Women’s Studies Forum in association with the Youth Re-autonomy Foundation of Turkey and the KAMER Foundation with the approval and cooperation of the Ministry of Justice General Directorate of Penitentiaries, the financial support of the European Union Central Finance and Contracts Unit and the consultancy of the Ministry of Family and Social Policy.

On the first day of training between January 12 and 15, 2015, project introduction seminars were held for female inmates and guards, and the importance of NGO work in penitentiaries was explained.  On the second and third days, female inmates were separated into 12-25 and 25 and above age groups for training.  The training provided by KAMER on the second day focused on the themes of violence and discrimination.  On the third day, the Sabancı University Gender and Women’s Studies Forum held a workshop on “Gender.”  Attorney Cansu Selmin Demir facilitated a workshop on “Women’s Rights.”  On the fourth day of the project, Associate Professor Aslı Akdaş Mitrani gave training on “The Role of Prison Personnel and Psycho-Social Services in Penitentiary Relations” to guards and personnel.

Prior to the activity in Adana, a four-day project was held in the Denizli Bozkurt Women’s Open Prison, where 300 inmates attended a seminar titled "Post-Release Life and Advice-Support Mechanisms.”  The seminar was joined by YRFT, KAMER, local women’s NGOs, the Denizli Bar Association and experts from Violence Prevention and Monitoring Centers (ŞÖNİM).  Group sessions on discrimination, women’s rights and gender issues were held with 40 women in the 18 to 25 and 25 and above age groups.  A seminar on legal rights was held with 10 girls between the ages of 12 and 18, and a workshop on the importance of NGO work in penitentiaries was given to 12 guards.

The project will be repeated in the Ankara Sincan Women’s Penitentiary on February 16-17-18-19 and in the Izmir Şakran Women’s Penitentiary on March 23-24-25-26.

About the project:

The Mor Güvercin-Purple Dove Project is based on the idea that women’s shelter homes planned to be commissioned in 24 provinces around Turkey may be a viable alternative for women who have been imprisoned and seek to rejoin social life in a disadvantaged position.

The project aims to improve the visibility of female inmates and provide them with alternatives that will generate value in post-release life while seeking to develop relationships among local NGOs, women’s shelters and penitentiaries.  Other objectives of the project are to reveal the vulnerability of prison inmates to violence against women, help inmates gain a sense of women’s rights, and inform them about women’s shelter homes.

At the end of the project:
- 120 female inmates in the 12-25 and 25 and above age groups in women’s penitentiaries in 4 provinces will have received knowledge about women’s rights, gender and violence against women.
- 400 inmates in 4 provinces will have learned more about women’s organizations and shelter homes for their post-release use, and have gained awareness about their rights.
- 40 guards and 12 psycho-social services specialists (52 personnel in total) assigned to women’s penitentiaries will have received information about women’s rights and civil society, and have developed closer ties to civil society.
- One guard from each penitentiary (4 in total) will have been chosen to liaise between penitentiaries and women’s shelter homes and NGOs, acting as an NGO representative.
- The project will have contributed to former inmates utilizing women’s shelters in 24 provinces of Turkey post-release.
- Local women’s nongovernmental organizations will have assumed liaison role between women’s shelter homes and penitentiaries.

The project is implemented by the Youth Re-autonomy Foundation of Turkey, active in the area of juvenile delinquency since 1992, in association with the Sabancı University Gender and Women’s Studies Forum and the KAMER Foundation with the approval and cooperation of the Ministry of Justice General Directorate of Penitentiaries, the financial support of the European Union Central Finance and Contracts Unit and the consultancy of the Ministry of Family and Social Policy.  The project began in February 2014 and will continue for 18 months in four women’s penitentiaries in Turkey (Ankara, Adana, Izmir and Denizli).

Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences members Ali Koşar and Devrim Gözüaçık developed the SUTAB – a variation on the water gun that will enable affordable, completely harmless treatment of cancers, tumors, enlarged prostates and kidney stones.  The SUTAB project was widely covered in the Hürriyet daily.

The SUTAB project led by faculty members Ali Koşar and Devrim Gözüaçık utilizes the micro-cavitation technique, or the abrasive power of water bubbles caused by boiling, to eliminate kidney stones, prostrate, cancer and tumors without harming the patient.

SUTAB will be the first device of its kind to be manufactured in Turkey and will be a breakthrough in healthcare.  With SUTAB, patients will have access to affordable and completely harmless treatment of cancer, tumors, prostate and kidney stones for the first time in Turkey.

The project team collaborated with Professors Mustafa Ünel and Asıf Sabanovic from Sabancı University, Professor Sinan Ekici from Maltepe University and Professor Hüseyin Üvet from Yıldız Technical University for prototype development.

The Hürriyet coverage of the project (in Turkish) is available here.

Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) at Sabancı University in partnership with the European Academy Berlin (EAB) would like to announce the dialogue project Likeminds – German-Turkish Junior Expert Initiative, a project supported by the Robert Bosch Foundation. Following four exceptional years of exciting topics and discussions, the Likeminds – German-Turkish Expert Initiative is going into its fourth year of operations under the title “Energy: Fuel for Economies, States and Societies.”

We would like to invite you to apply for our program and/or to spread the news among your professional and/or private networks and refer interested individuals to our program. We have attached the announcement with a short description of the program for this purpose.

“Likeminds” is a bilateral exchange and dialogue program between Germany and Turkey. It aims to connect young professionals and invites them to participate in issue-focused discussions, connecting them professionally as well as personally.

“Likeminds” hopes to serve as an exchange program and a platform geared towards future leaders in Turkey and Germany respectively and aims at creating a dialogue for better understanding and future cooperation beyond the span of the program.

“Likeminds” consists of three components: a preparatory workshop, held simultaneously in Turkey and Germany, followed by two tours d’horizon in which the participants visit both countries. At the workshop, participants will choose different aspects of the year’s focus topic to be elaborated during the program year. At the tours d’horizon, they get the opportunity to discuss their chosen issues with German and Turkish leading experts from politics, economy, academia, and media. We would like to particularly invite those individuals to apply, who have not necessarily had a focus on Germany previously.

Under this years’ topic “Energy: Fuel for Economies, States and Societies,” we hope to discuss and discover the mobilization of likeminded people, in which people get together and make something happen – a way in which social movements function everywhere in the world. Whether it is social questions, ecological challenges, human rights or anti‐discrimination topics – Germans, just like people in Turkey, regularly pick up on these topics, making their concerns visible to public attention and campaigning for social change.

We would like to invite you to apply for our new program and/or circulate our announcements to individuals that you find suitable for the program. Please click here for the application form. The deadline for applications is 1 February 2015.

For questions, please get in touch with Melike Ayşe Kocacık, Program Assistant at 90 2164839000/3144 or makocacik@sabanciuniv.edu

Sabancı University Faculty and Researchers Make a Difference

For the September 2014 term, 18 Sabancı University projects were chosen to receive TÜBİTAK support

Sabancı University received TÜBİTAK support for 18 of its projects in the September 2014.  The 18 projects receiving support under the 1001, 3501 and 1005 programs comprise 69% of total submissions.

In terms of number of projects per faculty member, Sabancı University did 1.6 times better than the closest competitor.  This is up from 1.4 times better in March 2014.  According to the September 2014 selection results, Sabancı University accounts for 3.4% of all projects supported nationwide within the 1001, 3501 and 1005 program, compared to 2.3% in the March 2014 term.

TÜBİTAK September 2014 – Projects Supported within the Program for Supporting Scientific and Technological Research Projects (1001)

Associate Professor Albert Levi, FENS, "Secure Communication in Body Area Networks"

Associate Professor Devrim Gözüaçık, FENS, "Analysis of the role of microRNA 376 family on tumor formation and development "

Professor Erhan Budak, FENS, "Development of Analytical Modeling and Measurement Methods for High Performance Grinding Processes "

Associate Professor Gözde Ünal, FENS, "Localization of Brain SubThalamic Nucleus using Joint Diffusion MRI-Functional MRI Analysis for Parkinson Patients: Application to Deep Brain Stimulation "

Professor Henning Stichtenoth, FENS, " Polynomials over Finite Fields: Theory and Applications II "

Professor Hikmet Budak, FENS, " Reference sequencing of the 5DS chromosome of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) "

Assistant Professor Hüsnü Yenigün, FENS, "Using Modern Parallel Computation Technologies For Cerný Conjecture Falsification And Construction Of Reset Sequences "

Professor İbrahim Tekin, FENS, " Multiport wideband single antenna for MIMO based wireless communication systems and mobile phones"
Associate Professor Kemalettin Erbatur, FENS, " Quadruped Robot Design, Construction and Control "

Dr. Özlem Oral, SUNUM, " The Effect of active PKC izozymes on Autophagy Mechanism and Identification of target Autophagy genes"

Associate Professor Selim Balcısoy, FENS, "A Visual Analytics System based on Spatial Augmented Reality and Physical Visualizations”

Dr. Tolga Sütlü, SUNUM, " A cell-based screening assay for the identification of cancer immunotherapy targets"

Professor Uğur Sezerman, FENS, " Identification of epigenetic and other factors and their target pathways in colon cancer aetiology"

Professor Yaşar Gürbüz, FENS, " Design of fully integrated 94 GHz radiometer for passive millimeter wave imaging using SiGe BiCMOS technology "

TÜBİTAK September 2014 – Projects Supported within the Career Development Program (3501)

Dr. Feray Bakan, SUNUM, " Synthesis of calcium phosphate nanoparticles for siRNA delivery and in vitro analysis of the gene silencing effect of siRNA loaded nanoparticles "

Assistant Professor Hakkı Yazıcı, FASS, " Optimal Redistributive Taxation under Directed Technological Change "

TÜBİTAK September 2014 – Projects Supported within the National Program for Supporting New Idea and Product Research (1005)

Dr. Lale Işıkel Şanlı, SUNUM, " Scale-up Development and Fabrication of Multi-functional, High Strength and Electrically Conducting Graphene Fibers "

Assistant Professor Özge Akbulut, FENS, " Design and fabrication of silicone-based composite human tissue and organ models for surgical simulations "

2014-2015 Spring Term Dormitory Fees and Payments

The dormitory fees for our undergradute and graduate students in the 2014 - 2015 Academic Year Spring Semester are listed below, and are required to be paid to Akbank brunches with company code '815 under the ATS' (Subscription Payment System)between the dates 2015 January 19 and January 23. Under this system, you must provide first your student number (example 00012345), name and surname for access to the amount you are required to pay, which will then be collected in cash. The Artı Para accounts opened for payment of tuition fees in instalments cannot be used for dormitory fees.

Dormitories will be open through the semester break.

We wish you a good holiday.

Dormitory Management

2014 – 2015 Academic Year Spring Semester Dormitory Fees / Per Person (VAT included)

Undergraduate students:

4 person study rooms  1.500 TL

4 person rooms            2.500 TL

2 person rooms            3.675 TL

Graduate students:

2 person rooms            3.675 TL

1 person rooms            5.250 TL

Studio apartments (Hall F-G)    5.500 TL

Students entering dormitories for the first time are required to pay a deposit fee of 850 TL.