Human Rights in Business Best Practices Conference Held

The “Capacity Development Program for Human Rights in Business” held by Mikado Sustainable Development Consultancy and Sabancı University with the support of the Consulate of the Netherlands’ Human Rights Fund concluded.  Best practices implemented by companies during the program were presented at the Human Rights in Business Best Practices Conference held on September 25, 2013 at Minerva Palas, Karaköy

The Human Rights in Business Best Practices Conference, the final phase of the Capacity Development Program for Human Rights in Business to increase awareness of human rights in the business world, encourage best practices and drive change, took place on September 25, 2013 at Minerva Palas, Karaköy.

Companies which took part in the program to benefit from the guidance offered by Mikado Sustainable Development Consultancy and Sabancı University Gender Forum to implement best practices in human rights within their organization shared their practices in the conference. 

The conference began with introductory remarks by Hester Jonkman, Deputy Consul-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Serra Titiz of Mikado Sustainable Development Consultancy; and Ayşe Yüksel, Sabancı University Gender Forum Purple Certificate Project Coordinator.

Introductory remarks were followed by the first panel discussion moderated by Serra Titiz with speakers Başak Atalay of the Anadolu Group; Bedriye Hülya, founder of B-fit; and Aysun Sayın, Assistant General Manager of Boyner Holding.

Speakers in the second panel discussion, moderated by Olcay Özer of the Sabancı University Gender Forum, were Dilek Mete from Bilim İlaç and Sibel Kocaoğlu from Roche Turkey.  Guest speaker Buket Şirik from the British Council made a presentation on the Equal Opportunity and Diversity project. 

At the end of the conference, participants received copies of the Best Practices Booklet containing case studies of best practices implemented within the Capacity Development Program for Human Rights in Business.

About the Capacity Development Program for Human Rights in Business

The Capacity Development Program for Human Rights in Business held by Mikado Sustainable Development Consultancy and Sabancı University with the support of the Consulate of the Netherlands’ Human Rights Fund aimed at increasing awareness of human rights, encouraging best practices and driving change in the private sector.

The Program consisted of four stages:

Human Rights in Business Trainings

Two “Human Rights and Business” free two-day training sessions were held in Istanbul in October 2012 and January 2013 with the participation of 29 trainees representing 16 companies.  Roadmaps were shared with participants for developing human rights strategies within their companies.

In addition to class-based trainings, three videoconferences were held, which were open to all employees and supply chains of participating companies. 

Implementation Guidance

Companies which took part in the Human Rights and Business trainings and wished to implement the Human Rights Roadmap within their organizations received free implementation guidance for 6 months.  Five of the 16 companies taking part in the program received guidance.

Human Rights in Business Best Practices Conference and Booklet

In the last phase of the project, the Best Practices Conference was held on September 25, 2013 with all interested stakeholders.  A Best Practices Booklet containing details of the process and best practices implemented by the companies taking guidance was printed and made publicly available.

Capacity Development Program for Human Rights in Business website: www.haklimisiniz.org

The Entrepreneurial Woman of Turkey

Aytül Erçil of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences was named "The Entrepreneurial Woman of Turkey 2013" by KAGİDER.

The award was given to Aytül Erçil for her development of an idea for artificial sight by the İsra-Vistek joint venture.

Other award categories in the 7th competition, held by the Society of Female Entrepreneurs of Turkey (KAGİDER) in association with Garanti Bank and Ekonomist magazine were "Turkey's Promising Female Entrepreneur," "Female Entrepreneur Making a Regional Difference" and "The Social Entrepreneurial Woman of Turkey."

Dear Students, Faculty and Administration Members,

In the new school year, I wish you successful studies, important progress, and memorable moments.  Sabancı University is a “horizontal” institution where every individual knows or can easily know all others, can establish dialogs, exhibits mutual sensitivity, respect, love, and support.  We are happy and proud ourselves with each individual’s success.  This supportive and enhancing environment will certainly continue with further strength in 2013-14.

I wholeheartedly welcome our new students.  With your energies, abilities, and different points of view, you give us further strength and diversity.  I am very happy and proud to work together and pursue together all aspects of university life at Sabancı University.  

With warm regards,

Nihat Berker

VACD graduates and students participate in the 13th Istanbul Biennial.

Our VACD graduates and students make their mark on the 13th Istanbul Biennial.

VACD MA student Serkan Taycan and VACD BA09/MA12 alumnus Didem Erk participate in the 13th Istanbul Biennial. Serkan Taycan’s works can be seen at Galata Greek Primary School and Didem Erk’s at Beyoğlu Arter. Other alumni taking part in 13th Istanbul Biennial team are Project Coordinator Demet Yıldız (VACD BA06/CULT MA09), Social Media Curator Övül Durmuşoğlu (VACD MA05), and Curatorial Collaborator Adnan Yıldız (VACD MA04).

The 13th Istanbul Biennial, titled “Mom, am I Barbarian?”, curated by Fulya Erdemci and focusing on the theme of public space as a political forum opens on Saturday, 14 September. The exhibition will be open until 20 October and free of charge to create a public domain and become accessible for everyone.

Featuring 88 artists and art collectives from different generations and geographies, the 13th Istanbul Biennial hosts 11 artists and 2 art groups/collectives from Turkey. 3 artist collaborations are also among the participants. The 13th Istanbul Biennial is one of the biennial editions which feature a high number of participants from Turkey.

Didem Erk’s work exhibited at the 13th Istanbul Biennial, “I wish I could not be traced in the archives (Sırkıran | Secret Decipherer | Mistiko Spastis) ” (2013) is an ongoing project she developed during her time in Nicosia, Cyprus. She began viewing the city as a library, and began reading and walking along the North and South parts. Finding the city to be full of stories (much like any other city), and since language is a place, Erk began treating Nicosia as a library of sorts, a container of stories. The records of the artist’s performance, which she did in both Northern and Southern Cyprus, were shown along the north - south axes in the exhibition space as well.

For more information about 13th Istanbul Bienali: http://13b.iksv.org/tr/

FALL SEMESTER PLACEMENT and PAYMENT

Dormitory applications of students for the 2013-2014 Academic Year can view the placement list beginning on 13.09.2013 at 13:00 by bannerweb.sabanciuniv.edu site.

Acceppted students are required to pay their dormitory fees to Akbank brunches with company code 815 under the ATS (Subscription Payment System) between the dates 13.09.2013 and 19.09.2013. 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. 

The dormitory fees are not paid between these date, students will be considered to have waived their dormitory placement.

Dormitory fees for the Fall Semester of the 2013-2014 Academic Year are below.

Undergraduate students: 

4 person room (person/term)            2.200 TL

2 person room (person/term)            3.275 TL

Graduate students: 

2 person room (person/term)            3.275 TL

1 person room (person/term)            5.000 TL

Studio room   (person/term)              5.250 TL

Deposit (Undergraduate-Graduate; upon entry)    800 TL

When you come for check-in, please hand over your chest x-ray and payment receipts to related dormitory offficer which are listed below.

Working hours:

A1-A2 Dorms / Office A1 G034 (0216 4839926)

A3-A4 Dorms / Office A3 G008 (0216 4839934)

A5-A6 Dorms / Office A6 G034 (0216 4839927)

B1-B2-B5 Dorms / Office  B5 1034 (0216 4839929)

B3-B4-D1 Dorms / Office  B3 G042 (0216 4839933)

B6-B7 Dorms / Office B7 G042 (0216 4839936)

B8-B9 Dorms / Office B8 G042 (0216 4839938)

B10-B11 Dorms / Office B10 G038 (0216 4839955)

Studio room / Office A1 G034 (0216 4839926)

Out of working hours

B1 Dorms / Office B1 G042 (0216 4839932/35/45)

Students are enter dormitories as of 21.09.2013.

Attend the orientation; New undergraduate and graduate students will check - in after 18.09.2013.

We wish you success.

Click here for result

To the attention of students who took the ELAE on September 4th, 2013

Exam result code explanations are as follows:

SL (Satisfactory in the ELAE): indicates students who have received the required grade or above in the September 4th ELAE  and who have gained the right to start their faculty studies as Fall (regular) Freshman in the 2013-2014 Fall Semester.

EL: (Exempt from the ELAE): indicates students who are exempt from the September 4^th ELAE. These students have already gained the right to start their faculty courses in the 2013-2014 Fall Semester.

IL (Intensive English Course): indicates the right to attend the Intensive English Course and the ELAE on September 16th, 2013. *

UL (Unsatisfactory in the ELAE): indicates students who have not been able to obtain the required grade in the ELAE on the 4^th September, 2013.*

NA (Non-attendance): indicates students who did not attend the exam and is equivalent to a “UL” grade*.

Grade bands are as below:

Postgraduate candidates who have taken the September 2^nd ELAE will be informed of their results by their faculties.

The Intensive English course will take place between September 9^th- 13^th, 2013. Course details will be announced on the School of Languages notice boards on Monday September 9^th  at 9:00 am. 

Students who received a “U” grade at the end of Summer School or UL grade from the ELAE on September 4^th, 2013 and whose status is inactive should submit a petition indicating whether they wish to continue studying at FDY or not by Tuesday, September 10^th, 2013. Petitions may be faxed to 0216 483 9140 as long as the original petition is later handed in. For more details please contact Elif Topçu on 0216 483 9150.

We wish you success in your studies,

The School of Languages Directorate

Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences 2010 graduate Emre Ertan designed and developed a mobile application called “Gözlük” (“The Lens”) with three of his friends.  When launched, the application rose to number 3 in the news category in Turkey within five days.

We spoke to Emre on his successful enterprise in application development.

Gözlük is the easiest way to follow Turkish and foreign newspapers and writers.  This is a single application designed to access all news sources and browse recent news in categories including economy, politics, sports, celebrity news, culture and arts, humor and technology.  It has a streamlined appearance that makes the screen easy to read and provides a pleasant user experience.  The artificial intelligence we have developed means regular users get to view the news they are most interested in as quickly as possible.  In short, Gözlük is a personalized news platform.

Who are the creators and how did the idea come to life?

Together with our friends in America, we try to stay informed about the latest developments in Turkey.  Users in America mostly read news on mobile devices.  The applications they use harness technologies that provide each user with the news that they are actually interested in.  We realized that there weren’t many applications in Turkey that use personalization technologies and provide a smooth user experience.  We can say that we identified a gap in the market by focusing on our own needs.  Three friends and I started to develop the application.

Alp Artar, Undergraduate: Bilkent University Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Doctorate: Boston University Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Emre Kazdağlı: Undergraduate: Bilkent University Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Graduate: Carnegie Mellon University Engineering and Innovation Management

Emrecan Doğan, Undergraduate: Boğaziçi University Industrial Engineering; Graduate: Stanford University, MBA

Emre Ertan, Undergraduate: Sabancı University Manufacturing Systems and Industrial Engineering; Graduate: Stanford University, MBA 

How does the application work and how does it differ from similar applications?

Gözlük is very easy to use.  When you first launch the app, you select the categories you are interested in, and the app feeds you the news in those categories straight away.  The background algorithm fetches news from the best sources and presents them to the user.  What makes us different is the technology we use.  Our team members have spent a great deal of time on algorithms.  We believe we offer the best technology among similar applications in the market.  We keep working on user experience and design to ensure that reading news on your device is as smooth and pleasant an experience as possible.

How can we download the app?  Do you have tablet and mobile versions?

Currently we only have an iPhone application, but soon we will have iPad and Android versions out.  iPhone users may download the app for free on the Appstore.

As an entrepreneur, what are your advice for your fellow Sabancı University students about bringing their ideas to life?

There was a time when the brightest among us wanted more than anything to get a job in a good company and climb the career ladder.  Now it is much easier to start a business.  People with a business idea can find investment much more easily than in the past.  Improved communication channels means setting up teams is simpler.  Therefore I strongly recommend everyone with a business idea to act as soon as possible.  If their startups succeed, they will have realized their dreams; if not, they will have gained valuable experience that they cannot find anywhere else.  In both cases, they walk away with great learnings.  The only thing they must do is to act now.

Alex Wong received the Global Nikon Award 1st prize in Video category

VACD Faculty member, Yoong Wah Alex Wong received the Global Nikon Award, 1st prize in Video category, "A Reverse Of Time", at 2012-2013 Nikon photo contest.

In all, 99,339 works were submitted from 22,752 participants in 153 countries. Many of the works submitted came from the United States, India, and China, with over 2,000 individuals participating from these countries.

Japan and Italy were also represented by over a 1,000 entrants. On 27 and 28 August 2013, he and his spouse were invited to attend the award ceremony and exhibition opening at Nikon Ginza Tokyo, Japan.

2013-2014 Fall Term Fees And Payment Dates
By Student Resources  |  23 August 2013