Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Dr. Faruk Özlü revealed the 2017 TÜBİTAK Entrepreneurial and Innovative Universities Index.

Sabancı University named Turkey’s most entrepreneurial and innovative university once again.

The top five of the index are: Sabancı University, Middle East Technical University, Gebze Technical University, Istanbul Technical University and Boğaziçi University.

Students who can take the ELAE  on 9^th January 2018:

• Students whose status is inactive/prepared outside and who have submitted petitions to School of Languages Directorate*
• Students who are using their right to study for a second year at FDY and who have completed the survey on surveymonkey to School of Languages Directorate
• Graduate students who have received approval from their faculties
• Students who are using their right to study for a second year at FDY and who successfully complete R4 and who wish to try for the Freshman English Exemption Exam (FEEE)** 

Location and Times:

WRITING & LISTENING     10.00 – 12:10  
READING                            13:15 – 14:45
LOCATION                          FMAN 1099

For the identification check to be done in time, we ask that students who will take the exam be at the exam hall 15-20 min. before the exam starts and that they bring some official identification which includes their photograph (such as a passport, identification card, driver’s license) with them.

Students should also make sure that they bring a pencil, eraser and any other necessary pieces of equipment with them.

The results of the ELAE will be announced on the external web page of Sabancı University. These results will be announced on Wednesday, January 10th at 9pm.

Graduate students will be informed of their ELAE results by their institues.

Detailed information about the ELAE and a sample of the exam is available at the links below. We recommend that all students who will take the exam check these link.

http://sl.sabanciuniv.edu/students/elae

http://sl.sabanciuniv.edu/students/elae/assessment-exam

* a) Inactive/prepared outside students who want to continue at FDY should give a petition to the School of Languages Directorate by 11th of January 5 pm.

   b) A "Placement Exam" will be given to these students on the 15th  of January at 9 am.

** Students who are in this category need to submit a petition to the SL Directorate by January 8^th, 2018.

We wish you success in the exam.
School of Languages

A project implemented by Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences member Dr. Lütfi Taner Tunç and advised by Dr. Mustafa Ünel received support as part of the TÜBİTAK 1003 - Call for Advanced Machinery Design and Algorithm Development. 

A 36-month project titled "Development of Position Tracking and Vibration Absorbing Systems along the Slideways of Robotic Machining Processes", with Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences member Dr. Lütfi Taner Tunç as implementer, Dr. Mustafa Ünel as advisor, IK4-IDEKO control and dynamics group manager Dr. Jokin Munoa from Spain as foreign adviser, and Modesis Makina Elektronik ve Bilişim Teknolojileri San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti. as project partner, received support as part of the TÜBİTAK 1003 - Call for Advanced Machinery Design and Algorithm Development.

The objective of the TÜBİTAK Priority Areas R&D Project Support Program (1003) is to support domestic R&D projects within priority areas designated by the National Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy that observe the dynamics of their respective scientific or technological field and have traceable targets.

The project includes work on an innovative, real-time position correction system that significantly increases the slideway position tracking of industrial robots used in machining processes, and a system for absorbing the vibration that occurs on robot chassis during the process. The project work will be conducted on the Integrated Process Technologies Research and Application Center infrastructure within the Composite Technologies Center of Excellence. 

Members of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences and SUNUM researchers won METU Professor Mustafa Parlar Foundation 2017 Awards. 

Members of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences and SUNUM researchers won METU Professor Mustafa Parlar Foundation 2017 Awards. 

As part of the METU Professor Mustafa Parlar Foundation 2017 Awards, the Research Encouragement Prize was given to Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences member Dr. Nilay Noyan, the Technology Encouragement Prize was given to SUNUM Researcher Dr. Tolga Sütlü, and another Technology Encouragement Prize was given to the SUTAB (Sabancı University Tissue Ablating Bubbles) Team consisting of Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences members Dr. Ali Koşar, Dr. Asif Sabanovic, Dr. Devrim Gözüaçık and Dr. Mustafa Ünel, SUNUM Researcher Dr. Özlem Kutlu, Hisar Hospital Physician Dr. Sinan Ekici, Yıldız Technical University faculty Dr. Hüseyin Üvet, and Yeni Yüzyıl University faculty Dr. Cenk Kığ.

The METU Professor Mustafa N. Parlar Education and Research Foundation awards prizes every year to recognize the endeavors and certify the competencies of researchers and scientists in all branches of the sciences to encourage their work and motivate younger generations to become involved in science.

We commend all faculty members for their achievements. 

The winners of the fourth Hakan Orbay Research Awards given by the Sabancı University School of Management in honor of faculty member Hakan Orbay who passed away in 2011 were chosen. Winners received their prizes at a ceremony held on December 20, 2017 at SoM 1073.

Introductory remarks to the ceremony were delivered by Sabancı University School of Management Dean Professor Füsun Ülengin. Hakan Orbay’s wife Benan Zeki Orbay also spoke at the ceremony, saying, “This award makes me feel like our family is growing every day."

The recipients of the Hakan Orbay Research Awards were:

• Assistant Professor Semih Üslü from Carey Business School, John Hopkins University with his study "Pricing and Liquidity in Decentralized Asset Markets” in the Young Researcher Category,
• Bilkent University Faculty of Management PhD Candidate Naime Usul for her work titled "Affect-Based Stock Investment Decision: The Role of Affective Self-Affinity”.

The ceremony was followed by lectures on the winning articles.

The jury panel this year consisted of Benan Zeki Orbay from Istanbul Bilgi University, Sabancı University faculty Aziz Şimşir, Eren İnci, İzak Atiyas, Melsa Ararat, Nakiye Boyacıgiller and Yiğit Atılgan, and Koray Deniz Şimşek from Crummer Graduate School of Business, Rollins College. 

About Hakan Orbay:

Hakan Orbay finished the Ankara High School of Science in 1979 and received a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and Physics from Boğaziçi University between 1979 and 1983.  He completed a master's in Electrical Engineering at the University of Calgary in 1986, after which he returned to Turkey and worked in information technologies in the banking sector from 1988 to 1991. Having never lost his interest in academic studies, Orbay went back to the US in 1991 for a PhD in Economics in the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, which he completed in 1995. Orbay was a member of Koç University faculty from 1996 to 1999, when he joined Sabancı University as one of the founding faculty members.  He continued his endeavors in the School of Management until his passing in 2011.

Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Computer Science and Engineering PhD 2016 graduate Süheyla Çetin Karayumak won the IEEE Turkey PhDDissertation Award.

Süheyla Çetin Karayumak completed her PhD at Sabancı University under the guidance of Gözde Ünal in 2016. She used computer science and machine learning algorithms to develop new mathematical solutions to complex medical imaging problems.

The fast and practical vessel segmentation method Çetin Karayumak developed is being used to map vessel structure from a variety of medical imaging methods. Towards the end of her PhD, Çetin Karayumak became interested in neuroimaging, specifically diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) and brain white matter analysis. Her efforts culminated in a method that enables modeling the asymmetry between white matter fibers, which may be used in diagnosing neurological disorders.

Süheyla Çetin Karayumak joined the Harvard University Medical School's Psychiatric Neuro-imaging Lab as a postdoctoral researcher in November 2016, and continues her work on harmonizing dMRI images obtained from different environments and scanners using machine learning-based techniques.

About the IEEE Turkey PhD Dissertation Award

The IEEE Turkey PhD Dissertation Award is given to outstanding young scientists who have completed their PhDs in a university in Turkey within the last two years in one of the areas of activity of IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).  

Commissioned in September 2016, the Sabancı University Center of Excellence for Functional Surfaces and Interfaces (EFSUN) published the activity report for its first year.

Click here to view the EFSUN 2016-2017 Activity Report.

EFSUN is one of the few centers of excellence in Turkey authorized by the Council for Higher Education and ratified in the Official Journal. It is also the only center dedicated to nanodiagnostics in Turkey.

The mission of the center is to bring together outstanding researchers to create high-impact research outputs that focus on the science and technology required for effective and original nanodiagnostics. The center hopes to become a center of attraction for high-quality researchers worldwide through its high-impact research outputs.

The center was established by 5 scientists and 26 other scientists joined over a short while. Contributing members are world-class researchers who hold various coveted national and international awards.  As of the end of 2017, 43 PhD candidates, 32 graduate students and 9 postdoctoral researchers benefit from the motivating and cooperative environment of the center.

As a result of the cooperation and research undertaken in the center, more than 90 papers were published in upscale journals, 10 joint patent applications were made, and 3 companies were founded in 2016 and 2017. The center also received support and grants upowards of TL 25 million from reputable sources.

The best time for energy importers

The Sabancı University Istanbul International Center for Energy and Climate (IICEC) hosted the Turkish launch event of the World Energy Outlook 2017 report. International Energy Agency Executive Director Dr. Fatih Birol presented the World Energy Outlook 2017 report at the meeting. Dr. Fatih Birol­ argued that this was the best time for energy-importing countries, saying "The number of importers was 5 in 2000, but will become 51 by 2020. Russia will continue to export. US, Canada and Australia are entering the market as new exporters. It will be a grave mistake if energy importers miss this opportunity."

The Sabancı University Istanbul International Center for Energy and Climate (IICEC) hosted the Turkish launch event of the World Energy Outlook 2017 report on Friday, December 15, 2017. The report was presented by International Energy Agency Executive Director Dr. Fatih Birol.

Hosted by Sabancı University Founding Board of Trustees Chair Güler Sabancı and Sabancı University IICEC Director Professor Carmine Difiglio, the meeting was also attended by the Director of the Parliamentary Commission on Industry, Trade, Energy, Natural Resources, Information and Technology Ziya Altunyaldız and TÜSİAD Director Erol Bilecik as speakers.

IICEC Honorary Chairman and International Energy Agency (IEA) Director Dr. Fatih Birol­ stated that this was the best time for energy-importing countries, continuing, “US, Canada and Australia are entering the market as new exporters. Russia will continue to export. This is a great time for energy importers. It will be a grave mistake if energy importers miss this opportunity. The number of importers was 5 in 2000, but will become 51 by 2020." Also discussing climate change, Dr. Fatih Birol said that the world was a great distance away from meeting the Paris Climate Convention targets. Summarizing what needed to be done, Birol said, "We must make the world twice as energy efficient. Our primary fuel is energy efficiency."

Speaking in the launch event, Sabancı University IICEC Director Professor Carmine Difiglio expressed IICEC's pleasure to host the fifth World Energy Outlook launch event. Saying that IICEC was a research center that merged thought with analyses and business dynamics, Prof. Difiglio continued, “Unless backed with sustainable action by the industry, research and government policies cannot produce solid outputs. Being at the center of the triangle formed by the public sector, businesses and academia, IICEC is in a perfect position to conduct analyses and issue research publications, inform the energy market on a regular basis, and expand its network of experts.” 

We need a long-term and resilient balance to energy supply and demand.

TÜSİAD Director Erol Bilecik discussed the strategic importance of energy investments for the sustainability of development, continuing "We are among the regions that will be affected the worst by climate change as a global issue. We are almost 75% dependent on imports for energy. We have a great opportunity to reduce this dependence: Our potential in wind, solar and other renewables is rich and varied. We must make maximum use of this potential.” 

Saying that the security of energy supply was among the key parameters of development, Erol Bilecik continued: “This is a requirement for Turkey's social development and economic growth targets. We need a long-term and resilient balance to energy supply and demand. The first step towards this is establishing a transparent, predictable and more competitive market. Another priority is making inroads in energy efficiency as quickly as possible. We believe that, as the public and private sectors, we need to establish an ecosystem that will ensure the maximum utilization of our renewable energy sources. To this purpose, a regulatory framework that will incentivize investments and a grid infrastructure that will enable the most effective implementation are critical components." 

Also speaking at the launch event, Director of the Parliamentary Commission on Industry, Trade, Energy, Natural Resources, Information and Technology Ziya Altunyaldız said, “Turkey has been growing, and energy demand has been going up by 5% year after year. Renewable energies are Turkey's advantage, and the energy sector, where private players are the driving force, has growth predictions from generation to distribution. We took important steps towards liberalization in electricity. We are trying to do the same in natural gas. Renewable energies are our lifeblood." 

The United States is stepping up to world leadership in shale oil and gas 

Discussing the rapid change in the US, Chinese and Indian markets, IICEC Honorary Chairman and International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Dr. Fatih Birol­ said that the change in China would once again have an impact on global energy markets, continuing, "China is taking great strides in nuclear energy. It will reduce costs, and become an exporter of nuclear technology." Fatih Birol also said that the developments in the US energy sector would affect everyone deeply:

"In spite of declining oil prices, the US will continue to be the world's largest shale oil and gas producer. The ability to exploit new resources at low costs elevates oil and gas production in the US to a level that is inaccesible by most other countries. The US was already a net exporter of gas, and will become a net exporter of oil by the end of 2020." 

Dr. Fatih Birol shared the following findings of World Energy Outlook 2017: 

"The report describes new ways for global energy. The need for energy will continue to increase, albeit at a lower rate, and will be 30% greater in 2040 than what it is now. To meet rising demand, China needs to add the equivalent of today’s United States' power system to its electricity infrastructure by 2040, and India needs to add a power system the size of today’s European Union. The technologies used by China and India will reduce costs. The ways in which the world meets its growing energy need are fundamentally different from what they had been 25 years ago. At the top is natural gas, followed by the rise of renewable energies and energy efficiency. Renewable resources meet 40% of the increase in base demand, and the boom in renewable energies signals the end of coal's golden age. This is mostly due to power plants under construction. The share of coal in India's energy resources will decline below 50% by 2040. The use of gas will reach 45% by 2040, and it will grow mostly in the industrial sector as its use in electricity generation is losing momentum. China is leading the increase in nuclear energy. By 2030, China will surpass the US as the largest nuclear energy producer of the world." 

Electricity will account for 40% of end use

Electricity is growing faster than energy. Global demand for electricity will rise by more than 60% in the near future. Electricity will attract more investment than oil and gas. Electricity will account for 40% of end use by 2040, and this is equal to the growth of oil over the last 25 years. One-third of the growth in electricity is owed to industrial electrical engines. Rising incomes mean that many millions of households add electrical appliances (with an increasing share of “smart” connected devices) and install cooling systems. The world also gains, on average, 45 million new electricity consumers each year due to expanding access to electricity, although this is still not enough to reach the goal of universal access by 2030. 

Toplantının açılışında konuşan Sabancı Üniversitesi IICEC Direktörü Prof. Carmine Difiglio, IICEC olarak bu yıl Dünya Enerji Görünümü  Raporu sunumuna 5’inci kez ev sahipliği yapmaktan dolayı çok mutlu olduklarını belirtti. IICEC’in düşünce, analiz ve iş dünyası dinamiklerini birleştiren bir araştırma merkezi olduğunu söyleyen Prof. Difiglio, “Araştırmalar ve devlet politikaları, sektörün sürdürülebilir aksiyonlarıyla desteklenmediği sürece kesin çıktılar üretemez. IICEC; kamu, iş dünyası ve akademi üçgeninin merkezinde olduğu için, analiz yaparak yeni araştırma yayınları ortaya çıkarıyor, enerji pazarına düzenli bilgilendirme yapıyor ve uzman ağını genişletiyor.” 

The Functional Surfaces and Interfaces Workshop took place at the Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM) on November 25, 2017.

Introductory remarks to the workshop held by the Sabancı University Center of Excellence for Nanodiagnostic Functional Surfaces and Interfaces (EFSUN) were delivered by Sabancı University Vice President of Research and Development Professor Şirin Tekinay, SUNUM Director Professor Fazilet Vardar Sukan and Research and Graduate Policy Director Professor Cengiz Kaya.

With invited speakers from various disciplines including energy, physics, molecular biology, material engineering, chemistry, and bioinformatics, the workshop brought together nearly 100 researchers from many disciplines.

The keynote speaker of the event, Professor Pınar Mengüç, and invited speakers Associate Professor Devrim Gözüaçık, Professor Alper Kiraz, Associate Professor Gözde Özaydın İnce, Associate Professor Funda Yağcı Acar and Assistant Professor Saliha Durmuş provided participants the opportunity to learn from experts on functional surfaces, interfaces and their applications, stay informed of latest developments, and establish a network for communication and knowledge sharing.

The workshop included a poster competition for young researchers. Winners were chosen with the votes of scientific jury panel members and participants.  First prize went to Hakan Yılmazer, second prize to Yunus Akkoç, and third prize to Yavuz Ali Ekmekçioğlu, while Ahmad Reza Motezakker won the "people's choice" award.

The workshop generated awareness surrounding functional surfaces and interfaces, and created a motivational environment by bringing researchers together.