Sabancı University 2021-2022 Academic Year Spring Semester Graduate Programs Quotas

Raha Akhavan, member of Sabancı Business School, had a very important swimming achievement in the US. Managing to swim across the Catalina Channel known as “the Mount Everest of marathon swimming” in 15 hours, Tabatabaei talked to gazeteSU about a wide range of topics from her passion for swimming to her targets.

-How did your interest in swimming begin?

I learned swimming before learning how to read and write! From that very early age, I loved being in the water all the time. It was tough for my parents to get me out of the pool every time I had a chance to swim. When I was growing up in Iran, because of the school work I didn’t have much chance to swim until I entered the university. There I was recruited to the swim team and competed for 4 years with my team against other universities. That period defiantly installed a permanent affection for the competitive sports and systematic training in me. When I moved to the US for my PhD again I took a break from it but I always knew that I would go back to it one day. When I got my first academic job in Bogota, Colombia I was introduced to the sport of triathlon and started training for the 3 sports of swimming, biking and running for short distances. I did my first race swimming from a mini-island to the main island in the Caribbean sea and at that moment I realized this is what I want to do: to swim in the sea, in the open water, in the nature. That feeling of infinity, endlessness of the sea and the ocean is something that is not comparable to any other feeling I have experienced in my life. Then I moved to Turkey to work at Sabancı University and I decided to participate in the annual swim race in the Bosphorus in 2017. I began training for it with discipline and when the race finished, I felt like I wanted to do more. So I began to look into longer races and options. Fortunately in Turkey there is a large community of open water swimmers and many races in beautiful spots of the country, so I was very motivated to train and practice.

-How can you describe swimming in your life?

 Swimming is my passion, it is what gives me calm and peace like meditation. Whenever I am happy I wanna swim, when I am sad or angry or anxious about something I also want to go swim. It makes me find my core, my purpose and strength again. It has helped me tremendously in life.

-You finished difficult and dangerous open-water swim route in US. Can you tell us the preparation process for this track?

For this particular swim, which is the longest I have done in my life I started preparing since 2 years ago. I first worked hard on correcting my technique with the help of a Turkish coach. Since you need to repeat the same motions a few thousand times in each practice or the main swim, it is very important to use your muscles and power in the most efficient way possible. Good technique helps you achieve that. Then I started working on my endurance and getting my mind and body used to the distance. It was particularly difficult to keep up with a training plan since the pools were closed for a long time due to the pandemic. So I had to train in the sea, but then the mucilage came and that option was also gone… it was a very challenging two years for my training but I always found some solution to not quit and finally made it.

-Can you tell us about your other achievements in swimming?

In 2019 I swam from Ireland to Scotland with a team of four in the form of relay. Each of us would swim for an hour and change with the next person and repeat, until we reached land. It took us around 13 hours in 12-14 degree waters with horrendous jelly fish that is particular to that area. With the same team and one month later, we also crossed the English Channel. In Turkey, I participate in the Bosporus race every year in Istanbul, but also in longer races for 5 to 10 km in Alanya, Bodrum, Marmaris. I have won several medals in those races, mainly I became fist in my age group for a swim from Greece (Meis Island) to Kas in 2019. I have swum many times from Caddebostan Sahil to the islands and back as part of my trainings, I know every house and rock around Kınalıada and Burgazada by heart now.

-We know that your academic life is very busy. How do you combine your swimming activities with your academic life?

I do it with a lot of planning and perseverance. I usually wake up very early to train and get that out of my way, then start to work. On the weekends I do my long trainings when I have more time. But sometimes I have to miss on training of course, if there is a deadline or some academic event such as a conference. But overall I can say that I have found a good balance now. My dean and my colleagues are also very supportive and encouraging and that helps a lot.

-Do you have any goals you want to achieve in swimming in the future?

I am planning to swim the English Channel (from England to France) in solo (without a team, only by myself swimming all the way) and round Manhattan Island in New York. I have also registered for crossing the Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco. These are my organized future plans for now, hopefully within the next two years. But I would also like to try new routes in Turkey, in the Marmara sea and also in Ege. I enjoy swimming in every part of Turkey very much!

The Times Higher Education (THE) has announced the 2022 Emerging Economies University Rankings. Once again, Sabancı University ranked as the top university in Turkey. As in previous years, Sabancı University maintained its top position among Turkish universities included in the rankings.

Times Higher Education (THE) has announced the 2022 Emerging Economies University Rankings. Sabancı University ranked 44^th in the THE Emerging Economies University Rankings, which include 698 universities from 52 countries, becoming the best among the 54 Turkish universities.  

According to the Times Higher Education 2022 World University Rankings by subject, Sabancı University ranked in the bracket of 401-500 among 891 universities in Computer Science, becoming the highest-ranking foundation university in Turkey.

Professor Yusuf Leblebici, President of Sabancı University, said Sabancı University had become the top university in Turkey on the research dimension, which is determined by the number of scientific publications and researchers, according to the THE data.

Pointing out that they continued to progress in order to become a well-known and highly-acclaimed research university in the world, Yusuf Leblebici said the following: “As Sabancı University, we are making a difference in Turkey and in the world through our high-quality and unique education programs, in addition to our research outputs, which represent our contributions to the world of science. Consequently, we obtain very good results both in the emerging economies university rankings and in the world university rankings. Over the last 3 years, we ranked as the top university in Turkey according to the Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings. According to the THE data, we are the leading university in Turkey on the research dimension, which is determined by the number of scientific publications and researchers. In addition, we ranked 27^th among all the universities in the world in terms of industry-supported projects and industry income. We not only remain the best university in Turkey, but also continue on our way to becoming a well-known and highly-acclaimed university in the world. Accordingly, we continuously prepare for the future. We are making steps to further enrich our research infrastructure. We host large-scale domestic and international projects through the centers at our University. Currently, you can see the signature of Sabancı University on many projects with great scientific achievements that shape the future. These results are an indication of our successful work.”

In the coordination of GE Academy, students from Deusto University, Spain and Sabancı University & Hacettepe University, Turkey come together and share their experiences of what challenges they face and which strategies they use while doing student activism on their campuses.

In the coordination of GE Academy, students from Deusto University, Spain and Sabancı University & Hacettepe University, Turkey come together and share their experiences of what challenges they face and which strategies they use while doing student activism on their campuses.

There will be simultaneous translation from English to Turkish, Spanish and Basque languages.

YouGov Turkey, of which Özge Akçizmeci Üstün, our alumna, is the General Manager, has received 4 awards in the Owl Awards.

The Owl Awards were organized for the ninth time this year by the Turkish Researchers Association (TUAD) to demonstrate the impact of marketing research and opinion polls on business results, develop relations between research companies, their clients and data collection companies, and reward successful business partnerships. YouGov Turkey received 4 awards, of which 2 in innovative, 1 in visionary and 1 in shopper category.

This year, 49 projects among 138 applications were rewarded in the Owl Awards.  The jury comprised of 21 people from FMCG, finance, academia, advertising, research, data collection, media, communications, medical and insurance sectors, and evaluated applications in 14 categories on September 22 and 23.

Wizsight market research company established by our alumna, Özge Akçizmeci Üstün, previously received 4 Owl Awards.

You can have more detailed information about YouGov Turkey via this link.

Sabancı University’s education programs for high school students continue with Winter High School. Registrations are now open for the Winter High School, which will be held online. 

Education programs will be delivered in two categories, namely Online Winter High School and Online Winter Nanotechnology School, and application deadline is January 1, 2022.  

Entrance to university education: Winter High School

Organized by Sabancı University since 2011, the Winter High School aims to enable high school students to have university experience. 

Students at the Sabancı University Online Winter High School, which will be held from January 24 to February 4, 2022, can select courses from among more than 20 disciplines such as natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, arts, and management.  Students will receive online education for two weeks with learning sessions every weekday. 

Students curious about science will come together at the Online Nanotechnology Winter School

Sabancı University will organize the Online Nanotechnology Winter School for students curious about science from January 24 to February 4, 2022. 

Course content of the Online Nanotechnology Winter School has been created with the support of Sabancı University Center of Excellence for Functional Surfaces and Interfaces on Nano Diagnostics (EFSUN) and Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM). Courses will be delivered by the University’s faculty members and researchers, and students can select courses that they are interested in. Courses span a wide range of subject areas including nano-manufacturing, battery operation principles, genetic diseases and gene therapy, and nanotechnology. 

The Research, of which Burç Mısırlıoğlu, a faculty member of the Materials Science and Nanoengineering Program at Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences is the principal investigator along with the contribution of Kürşat Şendur, faculty member of Mechatronics, is featured on the cover of the world-famous Annalen der Physik Journal in its October issue. The team who carried out the research with Burç Mısırlıoğlu and Kürşat Şendur wrote an article about their research for the journal.

Kürşat Şendur - Burç Mısırlıoğlu

One of the oldest scientific journals on physics and published since 1799, Annalen der Physik Journal featured the results of the work mentioned above on its cover in October. In addition to Burç Mısırlıoğlu, Kürşat Şendur, faculty member of Mechatronics Program, Wael Aldulaimi, PhD student at Materials Science and Nano Engineering Program, M. Barış Okatan, faculty member of İzmir Institute of Technology (İYTE), and Can Akaoğlu, PhD student at the University of Manchester contributed to the research that aims to facilitate deterministic and local control of chirality through nanosecond electric pulses in ferromagnetic nanostructures in a nano ferromagnetic disc.

Burç Mısırlıoğlu said the following about the article published in the journal: “Vortex type ordering of magnetization is often reported to stabilize in ferromagnetic nanodiscs. Chirality of a vortex in a nano ferromagnetic disc can be clockwise or counter clockwise that can represent states to be used as information bits allowing for very high densities of data storage. Furthermore, electric control of magnetism is another topic that is at the forefront of novel device design for electronics and spintronics as it possesses advantages over traditional magnetic induction-based methods. The method we report in our recent paper relies on asymmetric nanosecond electric pulses in time that generate tangential magnetic fields coupling to the magnetic dipoles of the nanostructure, capable of reversing the chirality of nano ferromagnets.”

Our alumna, Özlem Kalkan  has received the award in Technology category of Leadership in Sales Awards 2021 (LiSA) in her role as SabancıDx Chief Sales and Marketing Officer.

Winners of LİSA award, organized for the first time this year by Sales Network, have been announced at the Sales Network Summit. Leaders of the year have been announced in 12 different categories, and winners of LiSA 2021 awards have been determined upon evaluation of popularly short-listed candidates by a distinguished jury.

Our alumna, Özlem Kalkan has been found deserving of the award for her multifaceted experience in technology sector.

Having graduated from Sabancı University Electronics Engineering Program in 2003, Özlem Kalkan completed her master’s studies in both electronics and telecommunications in 2005. Starting her career in 2004, Özlem Kalkan has been working for SabancıDx since 2019. 

The final report entitled “Where does gender stand in migration and environmental works? Examples from civil society in Turkey” for the project coordinated by Kristen Biehl, researcher at SU Gender and member of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and funded by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute Human Rights Research Grant Program, has been published. 

The report brings migration and environment, often treated as independent fields, into a unique conversation with one another through a gendered lens. By closely examining the gender awareness and approaches of NGOs working in the fields of migration and environment in Turkey, the report also considers ways of thinking about these two fields together around the axis of feminist politics.

How do NGOs working in migration and environment in Turkey see gender issues related to their areas of concern, and how do they implement gender equality both in their work activities and within their organizational structures?  And how can a research project carried out around this question with an intersectional approach contribute to thinking together about migration, environment and gender? Within the framework of this research designed to answer these fundamental questions, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 30 NGOs, half being from the field of migration and the other half from environment, all of which actively carry out rights-based works in Turkey and do not describe themselves as women and/or LGBTI+ organizations in their mission statements.

The first part of the report includes a summary of academic publications and reports focusing on Turkey around the four main concepts (civil society, gender, migration and environment) that constitute the background of the research topic. The second part of the report details the methodology of the report, including the selection process of organizations and interview methods. The third part examines findings of the research under the headings of migration and environment respectively. Under both headings, different conceptual perspectives on how organizations perceive the relation between their field of operation and gender are presented first. Secondly, how organizations involve gender awareness and/or their efforts towards gender equality in their work is examined. Lastly, internal structures of organizations are evaluated from the perspective of gender equality. In the conclusion and discussion part of the report, findings from migration and environment sections are presented in summary, and matters arising from thinking these two fields together are discussed. 

The report was co-authored by Kristen Biehl and Özlem Aslan, visiting professor at Kadir Has University. Mert Koçak, PhD candidate at the Central European University, and Aslı Aygüneş and Begüm Selici, PhD candidates at Sabancı University Gender Studies Program also made substantial contributions in the research stage. 

You can access the full report via this link.  

Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM) will implement Spin-SUNUM program through which it will support selected start-ups with a range of services from R&D to infrastructure, to market access for 1 year. Deep-tech Start-ups with a focus on nanotechnology will be able to apply for the program, and selected start-ups will have a chance to develop cooperation with SUNUM and meet investors.

Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM) will implement Spin-SUNUM program through which it will support start-ups that use methods and processes and develop products and services based on nanoscale technologies. SUNUM hasreceived applications for this program by August 30, 2021and the selection process is continuing. 

Selected start-ups will have quicker access to the market thanks to the support provided without having to spend time and resources for any R&D investment.

The selection committee has first carried out a pre-elimination process and has evaluated pitching presentations where 18 start-ups were selected. 5 start-ups will be selected in the final step to be finalized by the end of October.

A CHANCE TO MEET INVESTORS

The start-ups to be supported will have a chance to meet investors interested in deep technologies, and benefit from facilities of SUNUM (devices, laboratory, technical expertise etc.) for free and/or with discounts to develop their ideas and verify their data by producing sophisticated prototypes for 1 year. In addition, they will have access to SUNUM’s researchers to benefit from collaboration and consultancy opportunities with the support of SUNUM  Bussiness and Project Development team. They will have a chance to access opportunities such as product development, access to SUNUM Business Ecosystem, match and cooperate with big companies and SMEs with the support of SUNUM Collaboration and Project Development team.

SUCCESSFUL START-UPS WILL RECEIVE SUPPORT FOR 2 MORE YEARS

Mentoring will also be provided to benefit from TÜBİTAK and the European Commission funds. As start-ups enhance their visibility, they will increase their chances of finding investors and new team members. Start-ups found successful at the end of 1 year will be able to continue to benefit from these services for 2 more years and relevant start-ups may be offered longer-term cooperation.

Applications to the program can be submitted until the evening time, August 30 via https://sunum.sabanciuniv.edu.