2015 Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards given for “Living Together, Dialog & Cooperation within Diversity in Turkey".

Sabancı University Founding Board of Trustees Chair Güler Sabancı:

"As you are all aware, some of the most critical items on Turkey's agenda are steps to ensure the democratic coexistence of differences. I believe that the analyses and solution recommendations offered in each of the studies will contribute to fostering an environment nourished by dialog and cooperation."

In honor of the late Sakıp Sabancı, Honorary Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Sabancı University, the “Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards” were presented at a ceremony hosted by the Sakıp Sabancı Family, Founding Board of Trustees Chair Güler Sabancı, and President A. Nihat Berker on Friday, April 10, 2015 at the Sabancı Center. 

This year's theme was “Living Together, Dialogue & Cooperation within Diversity in Turkey”.

Jury Prize was given to EmeritusEmeritus Profesör Martin Van Bruinessen layık görüldü. Professor Martin Van Bruinessen has been working on the Middle East and Turkey since the 1970s: Based on anthropological field studies, his book Agha, Shaikh and State: On the Social and Political Organization of Kurdistan spearheaded the largely unexplored area of Kurdish studies. Martin van Bruinessen’s ongoing work spans a diverse area from the Kurds to the Alevis, Islam, heterodoxy, Evliya Çelebi, Ottoman history, Middle East, Europe and Indonesia. His recent focus is on religion and Islam in the transnational sphere. Martin van Bruinessen was awarded the Jury Prize for his outstanding work and lifelong commitment to using the science of anthropology specifically for living together, dialog and cooperation within diversity.

The three equally-weighted Essay Awards were given to:  

•     Mahiye Seçil Dağtaş from the University of Waterloo for “Beyond Tolerance: Re/Presenting Religious Difference in the Case of the Antakya Choir of Civilizations”

•    Haydar Darıcı from the University of Michigan for "Encounters in the Shadow of War: Turkey’s Kurdish Region"

•     Anoush Tamar Suni from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for "The Ruin as Archive: Landscape and Memory in Anatolia".

Professor Martin Van Bruinessen received his award from Sabancı University Board of Trustees Chair Güler Sabancı. Essay Award winners received their prizes from Sabancı University Board of Trustees Member and the late Sakıp Sabancı's daughter Sevil Sabancı, and Sabancı University President Professor Nihat Berker.

The award supports scholars, particularly young social scientists, discussing a current issue on an academic level.

Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards were established 10 years ago to honor the will of the late Sakıp Sabancı, and are given by Sabancı University in fields including Turkish and Islamic art, and the history, economy and sociology of Turkey.  The award program is led by the Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Istanbul Policy Center. Submissions are reviewed by an international panel of independent jury members. In the last decade, Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards have been given in subjects ranging from Turkey's economy to foreign policy, history, and social dynamics.

Starting in 2015, the Board of Trustees and Sakıp Sabancı Family resolved to give the Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards as part of the Remembrance Ceremony.  Award themes in previous years were other pressing issues such as “Checks and Balances in Democracy: the Turkish Case from a Comparative Perspective” and “Gender Equality in Turkey”. The theme for 2015 was “Living Together, Dialogue & Cooperation within Diversity in Turkey”.

The 2016 awards will be given in "New Centers in Turkey: Economy, Education, Art and Peace in Cities". In the tradition of the previous awards, the 2016 Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards will seek to support scholars, particularly young social scientists, discussing a current issue on an academic level.

"Only education must be the compass of nations striving to go forward. Our duty is to build effective platforms."

In her introductory remarks, Sabancı University Founding Board of Trustees Chair Güler Sabancı said that by merging the Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards with a special night to remember the late Sakıp Sabancı, they have added to the meaning of both occasions.

Güler Sabancı continued, “Almost everyone's mental image of Sakıp Sabancı is the same whether they knew him or not: his bounding positive energy, candidness, genuine attitude, industriousness, wittiness and smiling eyes.  But to me, what sets him apart from everybody is how appreciated he was as a businessman by the Turkish people as a whole."

Emphasizing the importance of education, science, scientists and innovation for Sakıp Sabancı, Güler Sabancı said that he was a close follower of innovation. Güler Sabancı explained, “He wanted to be a step ahead of time in both thought and activity. So he listened to the youth and took their opinions. He always reminded everyone to clear the way for the youth, and express his confidence in them. These are why his greatest dream was building a university. And he was fortunate enough to see his dream come true. Today, Sabancı University is among the best in Turkey. Our institution leads the way with an education model that makes a difference, and provides world-class education to thousands of youths."

Speaking on the significance of choosing "Living Together, Dialogue & Cooperation within Diversity in Turkey" as this year's theme, Güler Sabancı said, "As you are all aware, some of the most critical items on Turkey's agenda are steps to ensure the democratic coexistence of differences. I believe that the analyses and solution recommendations offered in each of the studies will contribute to fostering an environment nourished by dialog and cooperation."

Güler Sabancı concluded by saying: "Only education must be the compass of nations striving to go forward. Our duty is to build effective platforms."

I wish a bright future for young scholars and the society of Turkey

Jury Award winner Professor Martin Van Bruinessen said, "It will be a great honor if my writings have contributed to living together, cooperation and dialog between ethnic groups in Turkey."

Bruinessen warned academics that their studies may have limited impact on the society. He noted the possible contribution of prominent business figures like Sakıp Sabancı to living together, cooperation and dialog in Turkey.

Professor Martin Van Bruinessen concluded, “The number of young scholars in Turkey is on the rise. The studies of this generation promise hope for Turkey.  I am optimistic in my view of the country. I wish a bright future for young scholars and the society of Turkey."

About Martin VAN BRUINESSEN

Martin VAN BRUINESSEN (1946, Schoonhoven, Netherlands) studied theoretical physics and mathematics at Utrecht University, graduating 'cum laude' in 1971. He later switched to social anthropology, which he had been studying on the side. In 1974-76 he spent two years doing fieldwork in (the Kurdish-inhabited parts of) Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria for study of social organisation and social change among the Kurds. This fieldwork, supplemented with archival research, resulted in a Ph.D. thesis ("Agha, Shaikh and State: On the Social and Political Organization of Kurdistan") submitted to Utrecht University in 1978, revised versions of which were later published in German, Turkish, Kurdish, Persian, Arabic and again English.  

During the years 1978-81 he traveled extensively in Turkey, Iran (on which he published a number of articles) and Afghanistan (where he worked in a village development project). In between (mainly during 1979-1980), he did research in Ottoman history and taught an advanced Turkish course, both at the Department of Turkish Studies of Utrecht University. The work on Ottoman history, done in cooperation with colleagues of different backgrounds, resulted in the edition and analysis of (parts of) the single major source on Kurdish society in the 17th century, Evliya Çelebi's Seyahatname.

From 1982 on, he has concentrated on Indonesia as a second area of research, spending altogether 9 years there in research and teaching on various aspects of Indonesian Islam. This included a year of fieldwork in a poor slum in the city of Bandung, four years as a consultant for field research methods at Indonesia's Institute of Sciences, supervising large research projects on Indonesia's ulama and on co-operatives in various parts of the country, and two and a half years as a lecturer of sociology of religion and related subjects at the State Institute of Islamic Studies in Yogyakarta. These activities resulted in numerous publications, in English and Indonesian, including the monographs Tarekat Naqsyabandiyah di Indonesia (1992), NU: Tradisi, Relasi-relasi Kuasa, Pencarian Wacana Baru (1994), and Kitab Kuning, Pesantren dan Tarekat: Tradisi-tradisi Islam di Indonesia (1995).

Between his stays in Indonesia he returned several times to the Middle East on short research trips, focusing on Kurdish and Turkish politics and religious movements, notably on shifting ethnic and religious identities in Turkey and on developments in the Kurdish movement. In 1994 van Bruinessen returned to the Netherlands as an assistant professor of Kurdish and Turkish studies at the Department of Arabic, Persian and Turkish Languages and Cultures of Utrecht University. During the course year 1996-97 he was a guest professor for Kurdish studies at the Institute of Ethnology of Berlin's Free University. He also taught, for shorter periods, at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) in Paris. Much of his writing on the Kurds of this period was collected in the two volumes Mullas, Sufis and Heretics: The Role of Religion in Kurdish Society (2000) and Kurdish Ethno-nationalism Versus Nation-building States (2000).

In 1999 van Bruinessen was appointed to the chair of comparative studies of modern Muslim societies at Utrecht University and the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM). At the latter institute, he co-ordinated the research programs ‘Islam, Civil Society and the Public Sphere’ and ‘The Production of Islamic Knowledge in Western Europe’ and organized numerous conferences and workshops. His major publications were the coedited volumes Sufism and the ‘Modern’ in Islam (with Julia D. Howell, 2007), The Madrasa in Asia: Political Activism and Transnational Linkages (with Farish A. Noor and Yoginder Sikand, 2008), Islam and Modernity: Issues and Debates (with M. Khalid Masud and Armando Salvatore, 2009), Producing Islamic Knowledge: Transmission and Dissemination in Western Europe (with Stefano Allievi, 2011) and Contemporary Developments in Indonesian Islam: Explaining the ‘Conservative Turn’ (forthcoming).

Van Bruinessen retired formally from Utrecht University in 2011, but he continues PhD supervision there as well as at several other universities, and was a guest professor at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations in London in the 2011-12 winter semester. From September 2012 onwards, he is a senior visiting researcher at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore.

Besides the major West European languages, Van Bruinessen is fluent in, and has lectured in, Turkish and Indonesian, reads and speaks Kurdish and Persian, and has passive knowledge of Arabic. He has made most of his scholarly work available to the people with whom it deals in the form of Indonesian, Turkish, Kurdish, Persian and Arabic translations.

Downloadable publications

http://www.hum.uu.nl/medewerkers/m.vanbruinessen/publications/index.html

Complete list of publications

http://www.hum.uu.nl/medewerkers/m.vanbruinessen/publicaties-eng.html

DEADLINE EXTENDED: The Mercator-IPC Fellowship Program Applications

Application Documents

2015/16 Call for Applications | Thematic Areas and Project Proposals | Application Form | Program Guidelines |Fellowship Brochure

The Mercator-IPC Fellowship Program is part of the Istanbul Policy Center-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative, a strategic partnership between Sabancı University and Stiftung Mercator. The program aims to strengthen academic, political, and social ties between Turkey and Germany, as well as between Turkey and Europe by facilitating excellent scientific research and hands-on policy work. It is based on the premise that acquisition of knowledge and the exchange of people and ideas are preconditions for meeting the challenges of an increasingly globalized world in the 21st century.

The Mercator-IPC Fellowship Program allows international scholars, journalists, professionals and civil society activists especially but not exclusively from Germany to work on academic and practical projects at Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) in three thematic areas:

EU/German-Turkish relations
Climate change
Education

There are two types of positions available:

Mercator-IPC Fellowships are granted to outstanding young academics, journalists and professionals who have significant prior work experience. The fellows will be expected to work on academic or practical projects at IPC. A Master’s degree (or equivalent) is required for this position, but a PhD is strongly preferred. Applicants without a PhD degree will only be considered if their work experience and expertise meet the program requirements to the jury’s satisfaction. Projects which focus on the German-Turkish nexus are likewise preferred. Applicants cannot apply for fellowships to fund their PhD dissertations.

Mercator-IPC Senior Fellowships are granted to internationally renowned scholars and highly respected representatives of civil society or politics who have already made a significant contribution to German-Turkish or European-Turkish relations. Senior Fellows are jointly chosen by the partners of the Istanbul Policy Center-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative.

Given the urgency of climate change which risks going beyond a 2oC warmer world and poses a significant threat for societies, economies and ecosystems, prompt action is needed at all levels. Yet people long for a better way of life and it is not conceivable to choose between climate and development. Consequently, the challenge of the 21st century becomes identifying and implementing development trajectories that reconcile economic, social and environmental concerns and priorities.

The circumstances such as increasing investments in renewable energy sector and development of sectorial climate adaptation policies in many countries provide a unique opportunity to take actions for sustainable development through the prism of the climate change. In order to address these issues and prepare towards the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21), the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Marmara University Research Center for International Relations (MURCIR) and Istanbul Policy Center-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative (IPC) organize a two-day event (conference-debate and scientific workshop) on climate change on 16th and 17th of April 2015. 

On 16th of April 2015, the conference-debate will bring together French and Turkish representatives from public authorities, private sector, financial sector, academia and civil society to discuss the topic "How to reconcile climate and development?”. The questions which will be addressed by the speakers include but are not limited to “How to define these development trajectories? How to finance them? Do all countries have the means for this? What concrete solutions have already been developed?”.  The conference will be followed by a cocktail and an exhibition of photographs titled “60 Solutions for Climate Change” by acclaimed photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

On 17th April 2015, the Young Scholars Workshop titled “Beyond Special Circumstances: Turkey and Global Climate Change Politics” will gather junior and senior academics as well as presenters from government institutions, NGOs and think tanks from around the world to exchange broadly on the various aspects of climate change. This workshop will also host two high-level keynote speakers:

Prof. Hilal Elver, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food; Professor of Global Studies at University of California at Santa Barbara, USA

Prof. Franck LeCocq, IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) AR5 WGIII Lead Author; Director of CIRED (International Center for Environment and Development), France

Both the conference and the workshop are open to general public. 

You can find the detailed programs: 

16 April 2015 click

17 April 2015 click

Please click here to register 

The new exhibition titled “Buluşma…Reunion” brings together the works of 20 artists whose paths have crossed with the Sabancı University Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design Program, displaying a range of works from various disciplines such as painting to photography, documentary and installation. The exhibition will be open to art enthusiasts between the dates of April 9, 2015 – July 26, 2015.

Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum (SSM) is preparing to host the new exhibition titled “Buluşma…Reunion”, bringing together the works produced by 20 artist graduates of the Sabancı University Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design Program in many disciplines from painting to photography, documentary and installation.

The details of the exhibition were announced during a press conference on April 8, 2015, Wednesday, with the attendance of SSM Director Dr. Nazan Ölçer, President of the Sabancı University A. Nihat Berker and Erdağ Aksel, Faculty Member at the Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. “Buluşma…Reunion” brings together the works of 20 artists whose paths have crossed with the Sabancı University Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design Program, and who now work as professional artists, gaining prominence in international biennales, expositions and exhibitions, on the 15th anniversary of the program’s first course. These 20 artist graduates produce works in many different mediums but distinguish themselves in their common determination to produce in the art world where maintaining permanence and continuity is a constant challenge and come together at this exhibition for the first time.

A catalogue in conjunction with the exhibition was prepared for the artworks, which were selected from the works of 115 artist graduates who graduated from the Sabancı University Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design Program between 1999-2015. The publication includes articles penned by the Sabancı University alumni and the faculty as well as photographs by Sabancı University Faculty Member Murat Germen.

The 40 artworks by 20 artists were selected by a committee including notable names in the international art world today such as the Exhibitions Secretary of the Royal Academy of Arts (1977-2008) Sir Norman Rosenthal, Director of l'Ecole Nationale Supérieure Des Beaux-Arts (2000-2011) Henry-Claude Cousseau and art historian, curator and critic Deepak Ananth, who also serve as the International Board Members of SSM, along with Dr. Nazan Ölçer, Director of Sakıp Sabancı Museum and Erdağ Aksal, Sabancı University Arts and Social Sciences Faculty Member Erdağ Aksel.

During the “Buluşma…Reunion” press conference Dr. Nazan Ölçer addressed the audience, saying, “These professional artists who have found their own artistic path come together at the “Buluşma…Reunion” exhibition for the first time, at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum. Exhibitions are among the most powerful ways of communicating with the society, and they are invaluable in providing the opportunity for artists to showcase their works and take bold steps in forming their personal languages. I firmly believe that this exhibition hosted by Sakıp Sabancı Museum will resound with its youth and energy.”

The President of the Sabancı University Prof. Dr. A. Nihat Berker expressed his happiness and excitement about the “Buluşma…Reunion” exhibition, saying “The cause of my elation is seeing that Sakıp Sabancı Museum will be hosting the works of our young artists in the same halls that previously hosted such world-renowned artists as Picasso, Dali, Rembrandt, Rodin, Anish Kapoor and Miro.” Prof. Dr. Berker also said, “As the Sabancı University, we are extremely proud to see that these young artists are moving further in their art careers with determination. I am certain that they will gain international acclaim in the future.”

Erdağ Aksel, Faculty Member at the Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, addressed the audience during the press conference and said, “Sabancı University was founded at the end of a long process that started with Güler Sabancı’s challenge to a group of academicians to ‘imagine the university that your heart desires.’ Today, we are happily seeing the fruits of this revolutionary program.”

As part of the “Buluşma… Reunion” exhibition, which will be open between the dates of April 9 and July 26, 2015, works by the Sabancı University Visual Arts and Visual Communication Program graduates Aslı Narin, Baptiste Croze, Berke Soyuer, Beyza Boyacıoğlu, Burcu Yağcıoğlu, Cemre Yeşil, Deniz Gül, Deniz Üster, Ege Kanar, Egemen Demirci, Elif Süsler, Erdem Taşdelen, Hasan Salih Ay, Hayal Pozantı, İz Öztat, Julia Kul, Onur Ceritoğlu, Tan Mavitan and Meriç Algün Ringborg, who was recently invited to be a part of the 56. Venice Biennale will be exhibited alongside two works by sculptor Bayram Candan, who continued his art practice in the metal studio at the Sabancı University until his untimely passing in 2013.  

Panel conferences with the attendance of artists and Sabancı University alumni who currently work in the fields of art theory and criticism and who also contributed to the exhibition catalogue with their articles, will also be organized in conjunction with the exhibition. The first of the series of panels will take place on April 11, 2015, Saturday.  

In the Children’s Education Programs designed parallel to the “Buluşma…Reunion” exhibition, children will explore questions regarding contemporary art and partake in a creative process that will help them delve into the questions that arise in the artist’s mind. Throughout the exhibition, children will add their artistic output to an ever-growing installation, a thought map.

A scholarship fund within Sabancı University was created as part of the “Buluşma…Reunion” project with the contributions of Enka Vakfı, Garanti Bankası, Kibar Holding, Milliyet Gazetesi, Mitsubishi, Polimeks Holding, Sabancı Holding, Samsung ve Umur Matbaa along with many personal contributions, to be used on the education of the Sabancı University Visual Arts and Visual Communication Program students.

For the duration of “Buluşma…Reunion”, all students will be able to visit the exhibition free of charge.

Sabancı University Gender and Women's Studies Forum continues education on “Film and Gender” section

Sabancı University Gender and Women's Studies Forum continues its efforts in education with three modules on “Film and Gender”. The training module will be held on Saturdays between 10 am and 1 pm at the Karaköy Minerva Palas. Admission is limited and the sessions will begin on April 4, 2015. The "Film and Gender" module will be a four-week module.

The “Film and Gender” module will discuss representations of women and men in film and analyze how gender roles are built; and the third module, This module will consist of an introductory course followed by Sabancı University Faculty Member Ruken Alp on “All About My Mother” (P. Almadovar), Sabancı University Faculty Member Reyhan Tutumlu on “The Shining” (S. Kubrick) and Sabancı University Faculty Member Sibel Irzık on “M. Butterfly” (D. Cronenberg).

The "Art and Gender" module in May will also be a four-week session. The lectures in order are Marmara University Faculty Member Ahu Antmen on “Gender Discrimination in Art History and Feminist Art Practices”, artist Canan on “The Personal Is Political”, Kadir Has University Faculty Member İnci Eviner on “The Knife in the Eye” and Rahmi Oğdül on “Knitting the Body in Art: Flat and Circular”.

Program
April 2015 | Film and Gender (4 Weeks)

April 4 - (Lecturer tbd), “Introduction”
April 11 - Ruken Alp (Sabancı University), “All About My Mother” (P. Almadovar)
April 18 - Reyhan Tutumlu (Sabancı University), “The Shining” (S. Kubrick)
April 25 - Sibel Irzık (Sabancı University), “M. Butterfly” (D. Cronenberg)

May 2015 | Art and Gender (4 Weeks)

May 2 - Ahu Antmen (Marmara University), “Gender Discrimination in Art History and Feminist Art Practices”
May 9 - Canan, “The Personal Is Political”
May 16 - İnci Eviner (Kadir Has University), “The Knife in the Eye”
May 23 - Rahmi Öğdül, “Knitting the Body in Art: Flat and Circular"

Place: Karaköy Minerva Palas

Time: 10.00 am - 1.00 pm

Fees:

Students / Teachers / SU Members: 150 TL (April), 150 TL (May)
Adults: 240 TL (April), 240 TL (May)

Information and Registration: email genderforum@sabanciuniv.edu or call  0216 483 93300216 483 9330

Website: http://genderforum.sabanciuniv.edu/tr/sanat_sinema_felsefe 

Sabancı University Entrepreneurship Council (SUGK) became the Turkish representative of the MY-WAY Project, an initiative that is funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program and began on January 1, 2015.

MY-WAY is a two-year long project started on 1st of January 2015 and co-funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The MY-WAY project aims at enhancing and improving the collaboration and efforts of web entrepreneurship initiatives (hubs, projects, accelerator networks, contests, etc.), web/business experts (accelerators, mentors, etc.), educational actors (business teachers and trainers) and the young adults as the final beneficiaries (through student networks, their alumni and student entrepreneurship centres).  

The MY-WAY project will increase the visibility and impact of the web entrepreneurship initiatives and services by actively engaging student networks and support centres and connecting them with business networks within the web entrepreneurship ecosystem. The social network of young adults across Europe will enable a wide spread of information, discovery of synergies and linkages between the actors and their services. It will also act as a multiplier, successfully representing the targeted young adults.  The following main results will be achieved:

●    MY-WAY will map the web entrepreneurial ecosystem;
●    Two stakeholder discussions will be organised in Brussels in October and December 2015;
●    Four action plans will be developed in four countries (Budapest, Zaragoza, London and Istanbul) for the sustainable enhancement and harmonisation of the support offered by the student enterprise centres and networks for targeted young adults;
●    Four Student Enterprise Conferences will be organised in 2016;
●    2016’da dört Öğrenci Girişim Konferansı düzenlenecek;
●    Signed agreements between student support centres and web entrepreneurship support providers in different European countries will strengthen sustainability;
●    MY-WAY will run the European Disruptors’ Network’s Secretariat.

Under the same call in Horizon 2020, a total number of ten projects have received funding. They will work together in order to support the implementation of the Startup Europe Initiative, which aims at boosting innovation, entrepreneurship and the growth of start-ups and thus injecting dynamism into the economy and society.

The MY-WAY consortium is composed of ten partners, from seven different countries, representing the main actors of the web entrepreneurship ecosystem. Sabanci University represents Turkey in this project.  The project is coordinated by Europa Media Non-profit Ltd. (HU). The project partners are: London Association of Enterprise Agencies Ltd. - Capital Enterprise (UK), H-Farm Italia (IT), AEGEE Student Network (BE), NACUE - National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs (UK), Bar-Ilan University (IL), Sabanci University (TR), EUCLID Network (UK), YES - European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs (BE) and Menlo Media - http://www.eu-startups.com/ (DE).

Project website will be available soon at www.mywaystartup.eu.

Designed by Sabancı University to develop individuals equipped with the competencies needed to manage "big data," the Data Analytics Graduate Program will receive Deloitte's trainers and support in joint projects enabled with the practical perspective and subject matter expertise needed in business.

Business analytics is used for a variety of purposes from operational efficiency to risk management, increasing marketing investment returns, and innovation strategies linked to the management of big data. Companies investing in business analytics to increase performance and make strategic decisions gain significant advantages over competition in terms of growth rate and costs. This is why corporations need the workforce who knows business analytics and can manage big data. 

Responding to this business need, Deloitte Turkey and Sabancı University started a strategic cooperation. Deloitte Turkey will support the Non-Dissertation Graduate Program in Data Analytics in a number of aspects from helping design the curriculum to providing trainers for the program, enabling students to learn methods and experiences they may apply in real-life situations.  

Güneş Süsler

Deloitte Turkey Business Analytics Services Leader Güneş Süsler said the following: "The digital world doubles in size every two years. Between 2013 and 2020, the digital world is expected to expand by a factor of 10, from 4.4 trillion gigabytes to 44 trillion gigabytes. Although 60% of the digital data in the world is currently being generated by developed countries, this will have reversed by 2020, when the majority will be generated by emerging markets. This is a great opportunity for Turkey and Turkish industries and businesses which compete globally. Businesses that have the capability to analyze data generated within and outside the organization, and can create the insights and forecasts needed to make the right decisions towards strategic and operational objectives will be placed above the competition. However, businesses need to be able to merge data analytics competencies with industrial and functional perspective to move in this direction. The Sabancı University and Deloitte partnership was initiated to respond to this need. As Deloitte, we hope to provide the analytical perspective we developed to meet the business needs of various sectors and disciplines to this joint program.”

H. Sait Ölmez

Sabancı University Data Analytics Graduate Program Director H. Sait Ölmez had the following to say:

"We launched the Data Analytics Graduate Program as part of the professional graduate programs in the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, and designed the program to supply the workforce needed to create new business models through data analytics and modeling, and add value to business processes. We were meticulous in our design of curriculum and syllabi to ensure that our participants achieve the highest technical competency. We are aware that the ideal profile in this field is interdisciplinary in nature and is equipped with technical proficiency as well as knowledge about the current applications, methods used and approaches adopted in business today. We believe that our partnership with Deloitte will bring an industrial perspective to the content of the program, and will provide field experience to our students."

Curriculum to meet business needs

Experts from Turkish and global Deloitte offices will be featured as guest lecturers to create an environment where examples, best practices and experiences in real-life situations are shared. Deloitte Turkey will assist in shaping the program curriculum in a way that will answer business needs, and work with students to guide them in the right direction. Deloitte Turkey and Sabancı University will also design and implement joint research projects in data analytics. 

25 students are expected to be admitted every year

The program began in the fall semester of the 2014-2015 academic year with 24 students, and 25 students are planned to be admitted every year. There is great demand for the program in various sectors from financial services to technology. The range of sectors represented in the program will be expanded next year with retail, public and energy sectors where competitive and performance gains may be achieved. 

An innovative environment for students

Students will be provided an innovative environment through the Deloitte Values House Data Analytics Lab designed to generate innovative solutions and shape ideas where students may meet Deloitte experts for project work, discussions and project presentations.

President of the Republic Recep Tayyip Erdoğan approved the appointment of Sabancı University Vice President and Research and Graduate Policy Director Hasan Mandal as a member of the Council for Higher Education (YÖK) following an election by the Council of Universities.

About Sabancı University Vice President and Research and Graduate Policy Director Hasan Mandal

Mandal was born in Eskişehir in 1965 and has a bachelor's degree in Metallurgy Engineering from the Middle East Technical University and a PhD from the University of Newcastle.  He began his academic career in 1994 as an Assistant Professor in the Ceramic Engineering Department of Anadolu University, Eskişehir. He became an Associate Professor in 1996 and Professor in 2001. 

Mandal has worked in a number of national and international institutions, won 20 awards including a TÜBİTAK Science Award, and has almost 100 articles, 65 of which have been published in journals covered by SCI, close to 900 citations, and 6 international patents.   

Hasan Mandal has been the Director of Sabancı University Research and Graduate Policy since March 15, 2011, and the Vice President of Sabancı University since January 2012. 

Hasan Mandal was appointed to YÖK Membership by the President of the Republic on March 24, 2015 in accordance with Article 6, Paragraph b/5 of the Higher Education Law numbered 2547.  To view Hasan MANDAL’s full CV, please click here. 

Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) and SaferWorld presented their joint report titled “Turkey and Somalia: Making Aid Work for Peace” at a press conference.

Within the past year, Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) and SaferWorld joined forces to shed light on Turkey’s involvement in Somali relief and development efforts. Interviews and workshops with professionals, academics, NGO staff, and civil society groups were conducted in Turkey, London, Nairobi, and across Somalia. Among the major findings of the research are the practices and methods of Turkish organizations as well as their robust divergence from the traditional donor attitudes vis-à-vis principles on deployment and fieldwork. The two think tanks compiled their findings and policy recommendations in a report entitled “Turkey and Somalia: Making Aid Work for Peace.”

According to the report, the activities of Turkish state agencies and NGOs in Somalia since 2011 have become a hallmark of Turkey's foreign policy and underpinned its global image as an emerging power. The candor and effectiveness of Turkish aid organizations in the Somali context have challenged the conventional thinking and practice in the discourse of humanitarian relief and development assistance. From health care to education, infrastructure construction to the provision of basic services, Turkish engagement in Somalia makes an interesting case not only from a practical but also from a methodological standpoint.

Key findings in the report are: Turkey has become more visible as a global actor in the past decade.  “Humanitarian diplomacy” aids began to focus on nations caught in conflict and strife.

Aid plays a central part in Turkey’s activities in Somalia, and is the foundation of Turkey’s reputation in the country.  Somalia continues to be among the top five countries that receive the most aid from Turkey, and is the largest recipient of aid from Turkish NGOs after Syria.

Foreign aid provided by the Turkish government and NGOs in the region started with emergency relief and evolved into development projects in health, education, utilities and government.  The next step in aid evolution may be an explicit focus on aid that serves the building of peace. 

s experienced by other donors, Somalia was a difficult context for Turkish aid organizations.  Turkish institutions encountered risks related to the inadvertent exacerbation of conflict due to limited knowledge about the dynamics of the conflict, channeling of aid to the war economy, corruption, embezzlement of supplies by political elite, and excessive focus on Mogadishu.

Turkey’s reputation and close interest in Somalia place both the government and NGOs in a strong position to provide aid for peace by focusing on conflict and sensitivity to peace, placing accountable, comprehensive and legitimate politics at the center of government-building while merging these efforts with mediation, conflict resolution and grassroots initiatives. 

Turkey’s experience in Somalia provides important lessons for further improving the concept of humanitarian diplomacy implemented by the Turkish government in foreign policy.

SaferWorld is an independent international organization working to prevent violent conflict and build safer lives.  The not-for-profit organization has programs in nearly 20 countries and territories across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. 

The report’s authors Thomas Wheeler (SaferWorld), Onur Sazak (IPC) and Auveen Woods (IPC) gave information about the report in the conference. 

Note: The report is attached as a pdf file  

After being named among the best Executive MBA programs in Financial Times' annual business school rankings for 2014, the Sabancı Business School's Executive MBA program ranked 44th among the "Best Executive MBA Programs in Europe" also compiled by Financial Times. The Sabancı Business School ranked 73rd as an institution.

This recognition is a new international achievement for the Sabancı Business School.

The Sabancı Executive MBA program continues to provide value to its participants with numerous international achievements and recognitions through inclusion in the Financial Times ranking, whose criteria include alumni career potential, performance and salary increase, international profile and research performance of faculty members, percentage of female students and percentage of international students.

Sabancı Business School Dean Füsun Ülengin said, “As the Sabancı Business School, we are proud to advance our international recognition with new achievements year after year. In 2014, our Executive MBA program was included in the Financial Times Global Rankings, and we crowned our ongoing success with inclusion in the Financial Times European rankings. Sabancı Business School will continue to draw on its position as a young and dynamic school to gain more international recognition every year. I would like to congratulate all of my colleagues who played a part in this success."

For more information and questions about the program: https://sbs.sabanciuniv.edu/en