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.

Organized by Sabancı Business School, the "Leaders’ Meetings” are held with the participation of prominent people from the business world. The “Leaders’ Meetings” bring together students and alumni of Sabancı Business School Professional Graduate Programs and successful and leading people of the business world.

This year, the Leaders’ Meetings will host Atila Yenişen, CEO of Makro Czechia, Cenk Alper, CEO of Sabancı Holding, and Leslie Coob-Hector, Vaco SVP & Executive Partner. At the first Leaders’ Meeting to be held on Wednesday, November 24, Atila Yenişen, CEO of Makro Czechia will share his knowledge and experience under the theme of “How to Become an Expat?”. On Wednesday, December 15, Cenk Alper, CEO of Sabancı Holding will talk about “We Bring Together the Leading Institutions with Turkey and the World for a Sustainable World”. On Wednesday, January 19, Leslie Coob-Hector, Vaco SVP & Executive Partner will share her knowledge and experience under the title: “Establishing Relations in the Business Community and Growing Market Share”.

Leaders’ Meetings events organized by Sabancı Business School for 12 years host leading figures of the business world every year. More than 40 senior managers and leaders have shared their knowledge and experience in different fields so far. At the events, students and graduates have a chance to listen to the strategies of the business world from the leading senior managers in the field. It is aimed to share the knowledge and experience of the valuable leaders of business world who participate in the Leaders’ Meetings, as well as their stories, strategies, and visions of the future with students and alumni to ensure the spread of knowledge.

The winner of the Hakan Orbay Research Award Competition 2021, commemorating Hakan Orbay, the late faculty member of Sabanci Business School, has been announced. 

Dr. Begum Guney (MA & PhD from Economics at New York University) received 8^th Hakan Orbay Research Award 2021 with her paper which is written with Michael Richter “Games with Switching Costs and Endogenous References?”. Begum Guney is currently Associate Professor of Economy at Ozyegin University.

Dr. Guney received his award with a ceremony on 12 November 2021.

Award Jury of Hakan Orbay Research Awards:

• Benan Zeki Orbay, Istanbul Bilgi University
• Izak Atiyas, Sabancı University
• Eren Inci, Sabancı University
• Aziz Simsir, Sabancı University
• Koray Deniz Simsek, Rollins College
• Melsa Ararat, Sabancı University
• Yigit Atilgan, Sabancı University

The 2021 Commencement Ceremony of Sabancı University Professional Graduate Programs, and the 2020 Professional Graduate Programs Alumni Gathering, which had previously been held online due to the pandemic, were held at Sabancı University Tuzla Campus on Saturday, November 20, 2021 in line with the pandemic conditions.

During her speech at the ceremony, Güler Sabancı, the Founding Chair of the Board of Trustees of Sabancı University, said the following to the alumni: “Today, our 294 students, who have completed their professional graduate programs in the Sabancı Business School and the Graduate School of Science, are graduating. We know how important this commencement day, which brought us all together, is for you. This commencement does not only represent a new and important step in your future plans, but also your dedication and determination during the pandemic. We are going through a period which brings along extremely important changes for the world. To be successful in this period, it is very important to think in a versatile way, be open to continuous development and change, be resilient, make the most of available resources to get to solutions, and be solution-oriented. With this degree that you have obtained from Sabancı University, you will make a difference in every field where you work under the conditions of the new world”.

Highlighting that Sabancı University did not give up investing in the future even during the pandemic, Güler Sabancı said that the best example of it was Altunizade Digital Campus, which was inaugurated last month. Güler Sabancı said, “The construction of our campus, which started before the pandemic, was completed with exemplary technological investments based on what we learned from the pandemic. I am glad that our campus, of which there are only a few examples in the world, and the first one in Turkey for its technological infrastructure, hosts our professional graduate programs”. She continued as follows: “As Sabancı University, we always believed in the power of creating and developing together. Accordingly, we gave priority to building the triangle of success, which I find very valuable both in academia and the business world. I believe in this triangle of success composed of the private sector, the public sector, and academia that we implemented at our University, and think that it contributes greatly to us all. Currently, we implement this triangle of success to the best extent through our world-class education, our important collaborations with the private sector, and our projects with public institutions”.

THE ONLY UNIVERSITY IN TURKEY IN THE TOP 100

Delivering a speech at the commencement ceremony, Yusuf Leblebici, President of Sabancı University, said they positioned Altunizade Digital Campus as an educational base equipped with the state-of-the-art technology. He continued as follows: “Born from the merger of the words ‘hybrid’ and ‘flexible’ into one word, HyFlex education is greatly featured in our new campus, which enhances the use of digital technologies in the field of education, and which is our new address in the city center. We will continue to lead in this area by combining our expertise in digital technologies and computer science, one of the fields where we at Sabancı University are the strongest and the most ambitious, with our deep-rooted experience in teaching. The Digital Campus will also provide us with the ideal environment to work together with our industry partners, and develop new applications, and serve as a meeting point to further strengthen university-industry collaboration”.

Stating that professional graduate programs at Sabancı University were designed to respond to the needs of the business world and open new horizons in the careers of professionals, Yusuf Leblebici said the following: “We believe that these applied, project-oriented programs, both in the field of engineering and business administration, create important value in terms of academy-industry collaboration. We are proud to see our professional graduate programs in international rankings as a result of our meticulous efforts. Very recently, we have been ranked among the best business programs in the world in the QS World Rankings Executive MBA list, becoming the only university in Turkey in the top 100.”

Sabancı University Professional Graduate Programs include Information Technologies, Energy Technologies and Management, Cyber Security, Data Analytics, Finance, Business Administration, Business Administration for Professionals, and Executive MBA.

CENK ALPER: “I AM ONE OF THE GRADUATES OF THESE PROGRAMS”

The guest speaker of the commencement ceremony, Cenk Alper, Board Member and CEO of Sabancı Holding, emphasized that he also completed a Sabancı University Professional Graduate Program, and continued: “I am one of the first alumni of this program. First of all, I should say that what I learned there contributed greatly to my professional life”.  

Highlighting that the concept of success changed a lot recently, Cenk Alper said the following:

“Being successful does not mean any more that your company makes the highest profit. What you sacrifice or how you contribute to others while making the highest profit are also among the most important success criteria. We should hear all the voices around us. We should ‘listen’ and ‘implement’ more and more. This is the only way we can move forward and adapt to the world. We can create a collective spirit by managing our business with a leadership approach free from ego and castes.”

Advising the alumni to go for sustainable ones among all the opportunities brought to them in their future lives, Cenk Alper gave the following messages: “Whatever you do, please act by thinking about our world and the future generations first. Let your choices be ‘sustainable’ all the time. There is only one theme for our professional and private lives going forward: Sustainability. Sustainability for the nature, the society and the production. We can and must hand over a more livable world to the generations to come. We do not have the luxury to leave this responsibility to future generations. The times when we evaluate our work purely on financial criteria are well over. Nowadays, our clients and investors assess us, companies, based on our environmental, social and governance performance as much as our financial indicators, and they sometimes fail us for poor performance in those fields. We must take notice of the climate emergency, know that our resources are not infinite, and we must take measures urgently. We all have some responsibility to assume in this.”

The special speaker of the 2020 Alumni Meeting was Cüneyt Evirgen, Sabancı University Executive Development Unit, EDU Director.

Zeynep Bahar Çelik, President of the Alumni Association, made a special speech at the Graduation Ceremony and the Alumni Gathering. On behalf of the 2021 graduates, Seher Yalçın from the Management for Managers Program, Gökhan Gençörnek from the Management for Professionals Program and Pamir Can Karakurt from the Management for Professionals deliver their speches also. 

The Sabancı University Professional Graduate Programs 2021 Commencement and 2020 Alumni Gathering will be held on Saturday, November 20, 2021. 

Sabancı University will conduct its Professional Graduate Programs 2021 Graduation Ceremony and 2020 Alumni Gathering at Tuzla Campus on November 20, 2021.  Professional Graduate Programs include Information Technology, Energy Technology and Management, Cyber Security, Data Analytics, Masters in Finance, MBA, Professional MBA, and Executive MBA programs.

The Commencement Ceremony and Alumni Gathering will be broadcast live on Sabancı University YouTube channel.

2021 Commencement Program

• 15.30 – 16.00 Registration and distribution of caps and gowns (Sports Hall)
• 16.00 – 17.00 Cocktail (Sports Hall)
• 17.00 – 17.30 Gathering for commencement and queuing for academic procession (Sabancı   Performing Arts Center)
• 17.30 – 17.45 Taking of seats according to the plan (Sabancı Performing Arts Center)
• 17.45 – 19.30 Commencement (Sabancı Performing Arts Center)
• 19.30 – 19.45 Return of caps and gowns (Sabancı Performing Arts Center)

2020 Alumni Gathering Program

• 11.00 – 11.30 Registration and Distribution of Caps and Gowns (Sports Hall)
• 11.30 – 12.30 Cocktail (Sports Hall)
• 12.30 – 13.00 Gathering and Queuing for Academic Procession (Sabancı Performing Arts Center)
• 13.00 – 13.15 Taking of Seats According to the Plan (Sabancı Performing Arts Center)
• 13.15 – 14.15 Alumni Gathering (Sabancı Performing Arts Center)
• 14.15 – 14.30 Return of Caps and Gowns (Sabancı Performing Arts Center)

Sabancı Business School ranked among the best 100 business schools on the Financial Times’ “Executive MBA Rankings” in 2021, as in 2019 and 2020.

Sabancı University ranked 93^rd based on the average of the last three years in the rankings, which list the best Executive MBA programs in the world. Sabancı University ranked the first in terms of “Faculty Members with Doctorates, becoming one of the leading business schools in the world. Rising to the 2^nd rank in the ratio of “Women on Board”, the program also ranked 18^th in “Female Student ratio”, and 43^rd in “International Course Experience ratio”.

Equality Responsive, World-Class Education

Nihat Kasap, Dean of Sabancı Business School, said they would continue to provide international course experience through the international study trip to Columbia Business School and course content with international standards. He continued, “As Sabancı University, we keep working to reflect our gender responsive approach on every aspect of our academic and administrative mechanisms. We implemented our plans to offer equal opportunities and eliminate stereotyped frontiers, and we are proud to the see the results of our efforts reflected on our rank in the internationally-recognized FT Rankings. Despite the challenging conditions of the pandemic, teaching and research quality of our school is at international standards in many respects, which is the most important factor for us as educators.”

About the Financial Times Ranking

To be eligible to participate in the FT Executive MBA rankings, a school should be accredited or have an affiliation with an AACSB or Equis accredited organization. While preparing its global rankings, Financial Times evaluates schools for 16 criteria such as alumni career progress and salary increase, gender, and nationality diversity among students, faculty members and advisory board members, faculty members’ publications in FT 50 journals, and corporate social responsibility activities. The 16 selection criteria used in the Financial Times rankings are composed of data collected from surveys participated by Sabancı University EMBA Program alumni.

The full FT Executive MBA rankings 2021 can be seen here:  https://rankings.ft.com/rankings/2863/emba-2021