19/02/2014
Sabancı University received the “Most Entrepreneurial and Innovative University in Istanbul” award at the Regional Meeting for Public-University-Industry Cooperation held by the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology.
The meeting, attended by President Nihat Berker, was held in the İkitelli Industrial Estate. Also attending the meeting were Fikri Işık, Minister of Science, Industry and Technology; Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, Governor of Istanbul; Fatih Kocabaş, District Administrator of Bahçeşehir; Erdal Bahçıvan, Chairperson of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry, and representatives from universities and industrial companies.
Speaking at the meeting, Minister Işık explained that investment in research and development was critical to achieving Turkey’s objective of 500 billion dollars in exports by 2023. Calling for partnering academic knowhow with the industry, Işık emphasized the effectiveness of close collaboration between public, university and industry stakeholders, and said, “We will have no concerns for the future if we succeed in bringing people who are willing to do their utmost for their country together within an effective organization.”
Minister Işık said: “Collaborate more with the industry because we will back you up. If a project submitted to TÜBİTAK by an industrialist has a budget of over 10 billion dollars, we will reject it if a university is not a partner. The pillar of science must be strong if research is to be sustainable. Likewise, we will fund 40% of a project rather than 30% if there is a university involved. We are giving extraordinary support to academic R&D, and will continue to do so. The R&D funding available this year is TL 1.576 billion. We wish that the funding is used up effectively this year, so that we may turn around and say that the funding was not enough, that our industry is keen on R&D. But we couldn’t spend the entire funding last year. Our universities must pay closer attention to this issue.”