Sabancı University Center of Excellence in Finance (CEF), founded under the sponsorship of Akbank, starts its new certificate program titled “Behavioral Finance – Theory and Practice”

Behavioral finance is a relatively new but quickly expanding field that seeks to provide explanations for people’s financial decisions by combining behavioral and cognitive psychological theory with conventional economics and finance. 

Neoclassical economics assume that; i) all individuals act rationally to maximize their utility for both monetary and non-monetary gains, and ii) markets are fully efficient and prices reflect all available, relevant information for all asset classes. However, in reality, these assumptions often do not hold. Behavioral finance helps explain why and how markets may be inefficient, why people are imperfect processors of information and why they are often subject to biases, errors and perceptual illusions. 

The educational program, which will be lectured by Attila Köksal, an instructor at Sabancı University, aims to be a guide to understanding the fundamentals of behavioral finance and reasons and effects of irrational investor behavior.  Throughout the program, psychological biases that effect the financial decision-making process and their impacts on financial markets and on people’s lives will be examined.

The course will be supported by real-life case studies, analyses of investor behavior, cases of behavioral interventions to modify investor behavior and a Q&A session with an investment practitioner.

The course will be held online. For more information please click here.

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About Attila Köksal

Attila Köksal graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Department of Boğaziçi University in 1983 and received an MBA degree from Philadelphia Drexel University in 1985. He began his investment banking career at the Center for International Financial Research Inc. in Princeton, NJ. Throughout his career, he held managerial positions in a number of Turkish banks, brokerage houses and asset management companies. Mr. Köksal served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Capital Markets Association between 2011 and 2014. He also held board positions at the Turkish stock exchange (Borsa İstanbul) and at the derivatives exchange of Turkey (VOB A.Ş.).

He also served six years on the global board of the CFA Institute. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Turkish Digital Technologies A.Ş., a subsidiary of Turkish Bank, Türk Sigorta and WWF Turkey. He has been the Chairman of the Board of the Financial Literacy and Inclusion Association (FODER) since April 2019.

Mr. Köksal co-authored two books under the "Geleceğe Yatırım – Investing for the Future" series. These books aim to educate teenagers and families on savings and investments. His latest book, "Parasal Konularda Yaptığımız Hatalar – What We Do Wrong On Monetary Matters" depicts the negative effects of behavioral biases and the lack of financial literacy on our financial decisions. Mr. Köksal designs and delivers courses and lectures on investments, financial advisory and asset management. He has been on the advisory board of the Masters in Finance program at Sabancı University since 2011. He also teaches a Behavioral Finance course at Sabancı University.

Canan Atılgan, member of Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (FENS), is assuming important international roles in the field of biophysics.

Canan Atılgan has started to act as Turkish ambassador of the American Biophysical Society’s (BPS) Ambassador Program. Assuming the role for a period of three years, Atılgan introduces the BPS’ events and the Ambassador Program to Turkish scientists, and promotes the program during various events organized by student congresses and clubs in Turkey. Pointing out that career programs for students attracted particular attention, Canan Atılgan said the following: “Every year I attend BPS Annual Meetings. Our next meeting will be held in February 2022. I also take part in planning committees of the BPS. Biophysics is a field beyond biology and physics; it is an inclusive, inter-disciplinary field that can be attractive for students with various backgrounds ranging from computer science to materials science, and from chemistry to mechanical engineering. If we can introduce this field to young talents at an early stage of their careers and guide them to research in this field, we can offer them a path where they can be involved in breakthrough discoveries in fields such as drug design, molecular biology, new materials discovery and even the design of new experimental characterization methods”.

To continue to develop biophysics as an inclusive, interdisciplinary international field, the Ambassador Program will create a global network of BPS members. They will serve as local Society contact points in their specific-countries or regions to promote the field and foster conversations around biophysics. Ambassadors will play a key role in providing the Society with relevant local content to share with membership and will serve as BPS’s go-to person in their local region. Through this program, the Society hopes to further develop its advocacy efforts and to grow the biophysics network around the world by educating and inspiring talents to pursue careers in biophysics.

In addition, Canan Atılgan recently assumed a role on the editorial board of Proteins: Structure, Function and Bioinformatics journal. One of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world, Proteins is a monthly publication established in 1986 by Cyrus Levinthal, who is amongst the forefathers of the field of molecular biology. The journal covers research on all areas of protein research, including structure, function, computation, genetics, and design. Canan Atılgan acts as an editor of articles in the field of computational biology and those at the intersection of experimental and theoretical methods. Atilgan herself has been publishing her research in the journal since 2001.

Operational Excellence ManagerŞebnem Arı Aktaş, 

The Direct Digital Manufacturing Platform (DiMAP) infrastructure development project led by Sabancı University was recognized by Turkish Republic Minister of Industry and Technology, Mustafa Varank, during the "Impact and Beyond: Experience Sharing and Networking" event. A recognition plaque was presented to L. Taner TUNÇ, the Academic Director of the Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Research and Application Center (SU-IMC), on behalf of Sabanci University.

DiMAP, funded by the "Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)" framework established in collaboration with Turkish Republic and European Union as part of the "Competitive Sectors Programme" launched by Turkish Republic Ministry of Industry and Technology, is a platform where smart and digital manufacturing approaches will be implemented by utilizing additive manufacturing technologies in direct manufacture of complex, critical and high value-added functional components designed in automotive and aerospace industries. Bursa Industrialists and Businessmen Association (BÜSİAD), Kocaeli Chamber of Industry (KOSANO), Composite Industrialists' Association, East Marmara Development Agency (MARKA), SAHA Istanbul and Technopark Istanbul are also involved in the development of this platform. In this context, by the help of the activities committed to be performed by 2032, it is aimed to increase the competency of SMEs in direct digital manufacturing technologies to help them in becoming more competitive in such high value-added industries. Through DIMAP, technical training and awareness activities will be organized in order to strengthen the capacity of SMEs in Istanbul, Kocaeli and Bursa region along with the aim of increased access to financial supports through international grant applications. The preparation period of DiMAP infrastructure, which will also host various activities to increase the awareness of stakeholders and collaboration among those in such technologies, has been completed by a wide participation of colleagues especially from SU-IMC, FENS and SUATT, as listed below (alphabetically sorted according to surname based on the units):

Vice President and FENS Faculty Member Mehmet Yıldız, FENS Faculty Member Bahattin Koç, University of Bristol Senior Research Associate Eralp Demir, SUATT FENS Project Partners Manager Can Kartoğlu, FENS Project Partner Dilem Hızlan, Project Management Office Specialist Sezen Sefayi and Abdurrahman Türk, FENS and SU-IMC Faculty Members Burcu Saner Okan, Hatice Sinem Şaş, University of Delaware Composite Materials Center Researcher Thomas Cender, METU Faculty Member Eda Aydoğan Güngör, SU-IMC Project Engineer Murat IŞIK, University of Liverpool Researcher İsa Emami Tabrizi, SU-IMC Technical Manager Orkun Seçer, Operational Excellence Manager Şebnem Arı Aktaş, Facility Management Leader Nuray Tatlı, R&D Laboratory Specialist Hüseyin Çeçen, Building and Laboratory Specialist Turgay Gönül.

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

Please click to read IICEC Energy Market Newsletter

Sabancı University Executive MBA program (EMBA) moved up by 1 place and ranked 65^th in the QS Global Executive MBA Rankings, and became the only Turkish university in the top 100.  

Sabancı University Business School continued to rise in the 2021 Global Executive MBA Rankings published by QS World University, which lists the best Executive MBA programs in the world.

Ranking 65^th among the best Executive MBA programs in the world, Sabancı University became the only Turkish university to enter the list. Ranking 28^th, up by 3 places over the previous year, in the European rankings, Sabancı University maintained its leading position in this region.

Sabancı University Executive MBA program obtained the most successful results in “Career Progression”, “Manager Profile” and “Diversity Ratio” categories. Accordingly, looking at the career journeys of the alumni, there was 83% of increase in their salary and promotions while the alumni had a success ratio of 57% in terms of promotion to executive positions. Sabancı University had a score of 52% in the category of diversity, which covers representation of people with different citizenships and women.

Nihat Kasap, Dean of Sabancı Business School said: “Our Executive MBA program, which we have designed to raise the leaders of tomorrow who can make a difference in the business world, brings theory and practice together. Our school offers one of the best Executive MBA programs through its international educational trip to Columbia Business School and the world-class course content. We are also proud to see that our success is recognized by international ranking institutions.”

In the context of the annual “QS Global Executive MBA Rankings”, programs are evaluated based on approximately 10 criteria ranging from the university’s academic reputation to alumni career progression.

You can reach QS Global Executive MBA Rankings here.

Results of the “Research on the Contribution of Advertising to Turkish Economy”, which Ezgi Akpınar Uysal, member of Sabancı Business School, carried out with the support of IPSOS for Digital Marketing Communication Platform (DPİP) have been revealed. With this research, the value that advertising adds to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been measured in a multi-faceted way for the first time.

The report about the “Research on the Contribution of Advertising to Turkish Economy” incudes concrete assessments about the impact of advertising sector, which develops rapidly through technological innovations, on Turkish economy. Ezgi Akpınar Uysal shared her research outputs at a press conference. Accordingly, total amount of advertising and media investments in our country was 17 billion 469 million TL in 2020, and every 1 TL of advertising and media investment generated a return of 19,4 TL on domestic economy. In other words, advertising and media investments contributed to Turkey’s GDP by 6.73% in a direct and indirect way in 2020.

Among 38 countries with an annual media investment of above 1 billion USD, Turkey is the 31^st biggest market in the world by the size of media investments. However, Turkey’s share in total advertising volume is only 0.33%. This rate is the lowest one among the biggest 38 markets. Accordingly, considering the rate of media investments in our country to GDP, there is a growth potential of nearly 2.5 times.  

Regarding the impact of the advertising sector on employment, the number of enterprises in this field has grown by 2.26% while salaries and wages have had a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.57% since 2014. According to TurkStat employment data in 2020, 602,704 people, corresponding to 2.25% of total employment of 26,8 million people, are supported by the growth of advertising and media investments.

There is a two-sided interaction between GDP growth and the advertising sector, which is impacted by economic growth, current economic size and macroeconomic expectations. According to the modelling data, the contribution of advertising and media investments to Turkey’s GDP was 6.24% on average from 2012 to 2020, and it grew gradually over years.

Advertising, the name of a growing sector

Digital Marketing Communication Platform (DPİP) was established by four associations that lead the marketing communication and advertising sector in Turkey, namely Advertising Clients Association (RVD), Advertising Agencies Association (RD), Interactive Advertising Association (IAB), and Mobile Media Research, Marketing and Advertising Association (MMA). During his opening speech at the press conference, Ahmet Pura, Chair of DPİP, said the following: “Today, we are presenting the report on the Contribution of Advertising to Turkish Economy, prepared for the first time in our country with the contribution of Digital Marketing Communication Platform established under the cooperation of four associations. Further growth potential of our distinguished sector, which has a strong stimulating impact on economies, should be tapped to make the sector a sustainable one. Our motto is “Advertising, the name of a growing sector”. He thanked Dr. Ezgi Akpınar Uysal of Sabancı University, and Rabia Kalyoncu, Serkan Ceran and Özlem Bulut of IPSOS for their valuable contributions to the research.

Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM) and Nobel İlaç have signed an important cooperation protocol within the framework of industry-university collaboration. Held in SUNUM building, the signing ceremony was attended by SUNUM Director Prof. Fazilet Vardar Sukan and Nobel İlaç Board Member Numan Balki.

Prof. Fazilet Vardar Sukan said the following: “Through the collaboration of these two important institutions, we aim to obtain effective results in the short and medium term in the field of medicine and biotechnology. Considerable contributions will be made to medicine development and commercialization in Turkey thanks to Nobel İlaç’s competencies in the field of biopharmaceuticals, and SUNUM’s competencies in nanotechnology and infrastructure.”

The aim of this cooperation between Nobel İlaç, which is involved in research, development, production, marketing and distribution of pharmaceutical products, and SUNUM, which carries out innovative work in nanotechnology, is to deliver effective results in the field of medicine and biotechnology in the short and medium term. 

Thanks to the cooperation, it is planned to make the most of the opportunities offered by “anti-CD 147 inhibitors”-based research program developed by SUNUM for coronaviruses, various cancers and other diseases, and to start research activities for development of registered host cells in the process of manufacturing of biotechnological medicines. The scope of the cooperation also covers initiation of research activities for development of registered environment and buffer solution for industrial cell lines by Nobel İlaç, and support for development of new solutions for different diseases through potential discoveries.

Prof. Dr. Ayşe Betül Çelik, member of Sabancı University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, received the "Order of the Star of Italy" award, which is the highest rank given by Italy. Prof. Çelik received the "Order of the Star of Italy" (Ordine della Stella d’Italia) award with the rank of “Official” (Ufficiale) after being nominated by the Italian Embassy in Turkey and granted by the Italian President.

Yusuf Leblebici, Ayşe Betül Çelik, Meltem Müftüler-Baç

In a ceremony held at the Palazzo di Venezia, which is the Istanbul residence of the Ambassador of Italy in Turkey, Ayşe Betük Çelik was bestowed the award by Massimo Gaiani, Ambassador of Italy in Ankara. This award is the highest rank given during the Italian Ambassador Massimo Gaiani’s period. Member of Sabancı University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences since 2002, Prof. Çelik carries out peace and gender equality work in many civil society organizations in addition to her academic studies in the conflict resolution field.  

The "Order of the Star of Italy" award was conferred to Ayşe Betül Çelik for being an important point of reference for enhancing the participation of women in the peace process in the Mediterranean region through her academic studies in conflict resolution and gender equality, and the roles she has taken in the foundation of the Turkey antenna of the Mediterranean Women's Mediators Network, which was established under the leadership of the Italian Foreign Ministry, and her work for this antenna.

Pointing out that she was very glad to receive the award for her work, Ayşe Betül Çelik said the following: “I am so glad and honored that my academic and civil society work in the field of gender equality and peace was recognized with an international award in such a time when gender equality and civil society work have a decreasing importance all across the world. I hope that such appreciation by the President of Italy will enhance the collaboration between Turkey and Italy in academic and civil society fields. I would like to thank the Italian Embassy for nominating me and finding my work deserving of appreciation".

Massimo Gaiani, Ayşe Betül Çelik

The award for “Order of the Star of Italy (Ordine della Stella d’Italia)” was officially launched in 2011 with the main aim for the preservation and promotion of national prestige abroad, promoting friendly relations and co-operation with other countries, and promotion of ties with Italy. The distinction qualifies as a second civilian honor of the State, and represents a particular honor on behalf of all those who have acquired special merit."

Times Higher Education (THE) has published the Times Higher Education Global Employability University Ranking and Survey, revealing the top 250 universities in the world in terms of employability. One of the two universities from Turkey included in the rankings, and the top one among foundation universities, Sabancı University has climbed an impressive 19 places in this year’s rankings.

Sabancı University had another achievement in the Times Higher Education world university rankings, and was ranked among the top universities in the world in the Times Higher Education Global Employability University Ranking and Survey published by the London-based global higher education ranking institution. Entering the rankings along with Istanbul Technical University, Sabancı University was ranked among the top 250 universities for graduate employability. Sabancı University was ranked 209^th in the list.

Prof. Dr. Yusuf Leblebici, President of Sabancı University, pointed out that they prepared students for the business world, adding that he was very happy to see Sabancı University as one of the two Turkish universities and the only foundation university in Turkey entering the Global Employability University Ranking.

Yusuf Leblebici said the following: “As Sabancı University, we are always at the top positions among Turkish universities in global university rankings. We are very happy that Sabancı University is one of the two Turkish universities and the only foundation university in Turkey entering the Global Employability University Ranking. We are proud to be one of the best universities in this country for our high-quality and unique education programs, in addition to our research outputs, which represent our contributions to the world of science. Well aware of the fact that we owe our current privileged position to the farsighted infrastructure investments over the last 22 years and our valuable academic team, we continue our long-lasting infrastructure investments going forward. Since the establishment, we have raised qualified, well-educated and self-confident individuals at our university. Our students graduate from our university as world citizens who are ready for this new period, and able to adapt to change, in a way to respond to the needs of the business world. We closely follow up our alumni, wherever they may be in the world. We have had more than 15 thousand alumni so far. 79% of our alumni are in professional life, while 11% continue their graduate studies, and another 5% pursue an academic career. Our alumni, who are the ambassadors of our university, remarkably contribute to making Sabancı University one of the best universities in the world. 97% of Sabancı University alumni start their professional lives or continue their academic studies within one year after their graduation. Even this figure is more than enough to demonstrate how our efforts yield results.”

Following Turkey’s signing of the Paris Agreement, works started for transition to greener manufacturing applications with a comprehensive approach covering all industries and with the target of sustainable manufacturing technologies and zero carbon emission.

In this context, Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM) organizes a webinar entitled “The Impact of Green Deal on Industry and National Action Plan” at 14:30-17:00 on Friday, November 26. At the webinar, the roadmap that will be developed with perspectives of stakeholders from all relevant sectors to start with manufacturing industries, decision-makers, and NGOs will be discussed in addition to implications of the roadmap.

Starting with the opening speech of Hasan Mandal, President of TÜBİTAK, the webinar will host Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, EU Ambassador to Ankara and President of the EU Delegation to Turkey, as the keynote speaker, and Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology, Fatih Özkaldı, Head of EU Green Deal Task Force from TÜSİAD, and Yann Meniere, Chief Economist of European Patent Office (EPO), as speakers.

Please click here to register.