The Initiative between Sabancı University’s İstanbul Policy Centre (IPC) and Stiftung Mercator has begun innovative work on climate change, Turkey-Germany- EU relations and education
 
Participants to the "Policy Requirements for Turkey and EU: A 2012 Perspective" panel include Kemal Derviş, member of Sabancı University International Board of Advisors, ICM Senior Advisor and Brookings Institute Vice President, Daniel Gros, Director of Center for European Studies CEPS.

The first event marking the beginning of the unique and innovative work in areas of Climate Change, Turkey-Germany- EU Relations and Education, took place on Feb 1st.  The panel at The Seed, Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Emirgan, witnessed the formation of a unique Turkish-German collaboration on public policy and academic work.

The keynote speakers were Güler Sabancı, President of Sabancı University Board of Trustees, Bernhard Lorentz, President of Stiftung Mercator, Nihat Berker,  Sabancı University Rector and Fuat Keyman, İPM Director

Following keynote speeches, Kemal Derviş, member of Sabancı University International Board of Advisors, ICM Senior Advisor and Brookings Institute Vice President, Daniel Gros, Director of Center for European Studies CEPS and Klaus Scharioth, participated in the  "Policy Requirements for Turkey and EU: A 2012 Perspective" panel, aimed at contributing to the revitalization of Turkey-EU relations, a joint project of  Center for European Studies CEPS), IPM and Stiftung Mercator. 

Financial Resources of the Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Centre (IPC) and Stiftung Mercator

The non-profit strategic alliance will be jointly financed by Stiftung Mercator and Sabancı University. Sabancı University allocates a major part of its yearly budget to IPM and its various projects. In 2011, total financing equaled one million thirty three thousand Euros and Sabancı University allocated funds worth three million seven hundred ninety eight thousand Euros in the five-year period.

The alliance will last for five years and Stiftung Mercator shall donate five million five hundred thousand Euros, one million Euros of which is a supplemental project fund. One third of this fund shall be used in scholarships and the remainder shall be used for collaborative efforts.

In an increasingly globalizing world acquisition of knowledge and free movement of people and ideas loom large in preparation for whet the 21. century brings. Aiming strengthening of academic, political and social ties between Turkey and Germany and Turkey and the EU, Stiftung Mercator shall invest 5.500.000 Euros in the initiative. The initiative shall focus on three areas of cooperation critical for the future of these countries and the world:
•    Relations between EU/Germany and Turkey
•    Climate Change
•    Education

Strategic Targets
The strategic alliance formed between Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Centre (IPC) and Stiftung Mercator aims at conducting academic studies and application-oriented projects in the three areas identified. The steps to be taken are as follows:
 
• Consolidation of IPM’s stance as a European think tank of global significance, continuation of its prestige and political force joining serious academic work with oriented practices
• With the Mercator Scholarship Program, provision of invaluable intellectual, financial and logistical resources to international academicians doing research at IPM
• Through projects that will allow the initiative to exert social and political influence, allowing IPM to reach decision  makers and public opinion
• Projects aiming to strengthen relations between EU/Germany and Turkey

The framework agreement defining areas of strategic alliance between Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Centre (IPC) and Stiftung Mercator was signed by Güler Sabancı, Sabancı University President of the Board of Trustees, and Bernhard Lorentz, President of Stiftung Mercator, in recent months in Essen, at a meeting attended by prominent representatives of German business, politics and civil society.

The five-year strategic alliance between Istanbul Policy Center and Stiftung Mercator shall cover joint research and public policy formation in areas of climate change, Turkey-Germany- EU relations and education.

This alliance will be a first in Turkey, especially in terms of the intensive research on climate change and its contribution to strengthening of public awareness on the subject. The alliance formed between Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Centre (IPC) and Stiftung Mercator aims at being a research and public policy institution with a joint Turkish-German vision based on equality, as demonstrated in its approach to EU-Turkey relations and other issues.

Sabancı University embraces children in the 12th year of the “Discover Yourself” projects.

The “Discover Yourself” projects by Sabancı University Civic Involvement Projects reached out to more than 11,000 primary school children in 12 years, and brought university students together with schoolchildren.

This year’s first “Discover Yourself” project begins in Diyarbakır: a team of 15 volunteers from Sabancı University and other universities will help 250 schoolchildren in Diyarbakır to “discover themselves” between January 30 and February 4, 2012.

“Discover Yourself” projects conducted by students as part of Civic Involvement at Sabancı University throughout the year will visit Diyarbakır for the fifth time between January 30 and February 4, 2012.

The initiative will reach out to 250 primary school students in Diyarbakır to boost their creativity and self-confidence, and help them realize their potential.  The week-long project will take place at the Koşuyolu Primary School in Diyarbakır with 15 volunteer university students and Sabancı University Civic Involvement Projects administrators.

Teams composed of students from Sabancı and other universities will train the children of socioeconomically disadvantaged families in educative drama, art, handicrafts, verbal and numerical skills, and conflict, understanding and peace.  Other efforts will include developing awareness of cultural heritage and preservation.

Homecoming and Reunion will take place on May 26th, 2012.

Please watch!

The TÜBİTAK Career Development Program will support the research projects of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) member İnci Gümüş and Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (FENS) members Murat Kaya, Nilay Noyan and Fevzi Çakmak Cebeci.

The TÜBİTAK Career Development Program aims to encourage studies by young researchers at the doctorate level by providing project support.  The program supports the emerging academic leaders of the 21st century, serving a dual purpose of making opportunities for young scientists to pursue a strong career as researchers and educators, while also improving scientific levels and expanding the share of science in national development.

The projects to be supported are “Macroeconomic Effects of Various Tax Policies in Periods of Financial Crisis” by FASS member İnci Gümüş; “Behavioral Experiments on Supply Chain Contracts” by FENS member Murat Kaya; “Random Programming Models for Post-Disaster Relief Network Designs” by FENS member Nilay Noyan, and “The Production and Characterization of Hybrid-Nanostructure Supercapacitors with Vertical Carbon Nanotubes and Conductive Polymers” by FENS member Fevzi Çakmak Cebeci.

The common opinion of the faculty members was that support given to researchers in early stages, when creating a strong research vision and portfolio is critical, will have great benefits on the development of careers.

Sabancı University Faculty Member Erdal Toprak and Harvard University Faculty Member Roy Kishony developed the “Morbidostat” – a device for real-time monitoring of the drug and antibiotic resistance stages of bacteria.  The related article was published in Nature Genetics, one of the most distinguished periodicals in the field.

Assistant Professor Erdal Toprak from Sabancı University and Professor Roy Kishony of the Harvard Medical School developed the “Morbidostat” – a device used to gain further insight into the drug resistance stages of bacteria in clinical environments.  The device allows real-time monitoring of the resistance stages.  The related article, coauthored by Erdal Toprak and Roy Kishony, was published in the December 2011 issue of Nature Genetics, one of the most distinguished publications in the field.  The article was widely acclaimed by the scientific community, and received numerous citations shortly after publication.

It is known that many antibiotics are rendered useless when bacteria gain resistance to their active agents.  Although there is continuous research for new antibiotic actives to overcome this problem, natural and financial restrictions lead to very few new drugs developed in recent years.  Currently, the most effective means of overcoming this problem is to increase the efficacy of existing drugs.  Experts believe that this is tied to a molecular-level understanding of the process with which bacteria gain resistance.

Experiments by the team using the morbidostat revealed that the Escherichia coli bacteria, which have no drug resistances, became resistant by hundreds of times in only three weeks.  Bacterial mutations and the order of these mutations were identified by whole genome sequencing.  The study showed that bacteria could become much more resistant with the change of only 3 or 4 nucleotides, and that the mutations could occur only in a certain order.  The discovery of the order in which bacteria must mutate to become drug-resistance offers insight into the strategies for the fight against drug-resistant bacteria.

Publications:

Science:

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/333/6049/1562.2.full.pdf 

Nature:

http://nature-com.alltop.com/
http://www.natureasia.com/en/highlights/details.php?id=1583

The Scientist:

http://the-scientist.com/2011/12/18/the-evolution-of-drug-resistance/

PhysOrg

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-whole-genome-sequencing-evolution-drug-resistance.html

Nature Medicine

http://blogs.nature.com/spoonful/2011/12/welcome-to-the-morbidostat-researchers-watch-deadly-drug-resistance-in-action.html

The SU Drama Club will perform Medea at the following universities:

Germany Tour:

Date: Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Time: 19:30
Place: Frankfurt Viadriana University
Stage: Hörsaal 6 des Gräfin-Dönhoff Gebäudes der Europa-Universität Viadrina

Date: Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
Time: 19:00
Place: Karlsruhe Technical University
Stage: Festsaal im Studentenhaus

Date: Friday, January 27th, 2012
Time: 19:00
Stage: Mensa of Ulm University

Holland Tour:

Date: Monday, January 30th, 2012
Time: 20:00
Stage: Wageningen University

Teaser

TÜBİTAK Career Development Program will fund İnci Gümüş’s research project entitled “Macroeconomic Effects of Alternative Tax Policies During Financial Crises”. This project will analyze the effects of tax cuts on macroeconomic variables during financial crises. These effects will be studied in the context of the 2008 global financial crisis in Turkey. The project will provide insights on how macroeconomic variables would behave in a case where the government has access to additional borrowing, which allows for tax reductions to stimulate the economy.

The European tour of the English performance of “Medea” will begin with a reception to be given by the Consul-General to Turkey in Stuttgart, Mustafa Türker.

The Sabancı University Drama Club’s English-language performance of “Medea” goes on a European tour.  As Turkey’s first English-language performance by an amateur ensemble reaching a wide audience, the ancient Greek tragedy “Medea” will be performed in Germany first.  The members of the SU Drama Club will direct and perform the play on Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at the Frankfurt Viadriana University.  The Consul-General to Turkey in Stuttgart, Mustafa Türker Arı, will give a reception in honor of the SU Drama Club actors on Monday, January 23rd.

Fotogaleri

Following a long line of successful performances, the Sabancı University Drama Club ‘SUOyuncuları’ performed the ancient Greek tragedy “Medea” in English, which was unprecedented in Turkey.  Now the same ensemble goes on a European tour with several performances of “Medea” in Germany and Holland.

The SU Drama Club’s take on the ancient Greek tragedy “Medea” questions the ancient Greek and gives a modern twist to the content.  The SUOyuncuları ensemble aims to set a precedent for amateur drama ensembles in universities to pursue multicultural and international events.

Stuttgart Reception:
Consul-General: Mustafa Türker Arı
Residence Address: Richard Wagner Strasse No: 8 Stuttgart
Date: Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Time: 14:00-15:00
 
The SU Drama Club will perform Medea at the following universities:

Germany Tour:

Date: Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Time: 19:30
Place: Frankfurt Viadriana University
Stage: Hörsaal 6 des Gräfin-Dönhoff Gebäudes der Europa-Universität Viadrina

Date: Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
Time: 19:00
Place: Karlsruhe Technical University
Stage: Festsaal im Studentenhaus

Date: Friday, January 27th, 2012
Time: 19:00
Stage: Mensa of Ulm University

Holland Tour:

Date: Monday, January 30th, 2012
Time: 20:00
Stage: Wageningen University

The winning team of the Social Entrepreneurship Contest held by Momento and Sabancı University was announced at a ceremony held on Wednesday, January 18th.  The contest required students to design social aid-oriented Momento kits and prepare business plans.  The Momento kit designed by the winning team will be offered by Momento, and members of the team won iPads.

The Social Entrepreneurship Contest held by Momento, Turkey’s first experience gift pack, and Sabancı University, concluded.  The winning team was announced at a ceremony held on Wednesday, January 18 at the Sabancı University campus in Tuzla.

The contest called for participants to design social aid-oriented Momento packs and build business plans.  Submissions were assessed by a jury of 7 investors and entrepreneurs, namely Didem Altop, Endeavor Turkey Secretary-General; Serhat Görgün, General Manager of Inovent; Dilek Çetindamar, Sabancı University School of Management; Serra Titiz, Mikado Consultancy; Zeynep Dağlı, Chair, Momento Board of Directors, and Zeynep Bahar, Director, Sabancı University Civic Involvement Projects.

Momento is Turkey’s first experience gift pack.  The recipient of a Momento Experience Kit may choose one of the 50 to 140 activities listed in the Momento booklet.

Zeynep Dağlı, Chair of the Momento Board of Directors, said, “Entrepreneurship is one of the critical enablers of development, growth and advancement in a country.  New ideas and new projects must keep appearing to ensure that development continues.  Think about it: if it hadn’t been for Steve Jobs, who was determined to ‘put a PC in every household,’ where would we be now?”  On the objective of the contest held in partnership with Sabancı University, Dağlı said, “As Momento, sharing the importance of social responsibility was as important as supporting entrepreneurship in this contest.  We were aiming to experience how we could make a social contribution without material gain, and how social responsibility did not require large investments.  We would like to congratulate the winning team and thank everyone for participating.”

Members of the winning team are Oya Tekbulut, Ece Tekbulut, Cem Zengin and Çağla Buzluk.

The contest called for participants to design social aid-oriented Momento packs and build business plans.  Submissions were assessed by a jury of 7 investors and entrepreneurs, namely Didem Altop, Endeavor Turkey Secretary-General; Serhat Görgün, General Manager of Inovent; Dilek Çetindamar, Sabancı University School of Management; Serra Titiz, Mikado Consultancy; Zeynep Dağlı, Chair, Momento Board of Directors, and Zeynep Bahar, Director, Sabancı University Civic Involvement Projects.

Momento is Turkey’s first experience gift pack.  The recipient of a Momento Experience Kit may choose one of the 50 to 140 activities listed in the Momento booklet.