Dear Alumni,
As we celebrate the arrival of the new year, allow me to share some of the highlights of 2013 for our University.
Following the 2013 admission exams, we received 710 new undergraduate students. We have 3300 undergraduate and 850 graduate students for a total of 4150.
The number of alumni reached 6234. As is the case every year, we were proud to hear about the achievements of our alumni.
151 students went to European Universities with exchange programs and 232 students from Europe came to our University. The percentage of our international students increased from 12.9% to 16.5%.
The increase in the volume of active projects implemented by our faculty continues: the funding of new projects initiated in 2013 was TL 34.3 million, which is an increase of 37.3% over the last year, and 111% over the year before. Among these projects, 48% are supported by TÜBİTAK, 20% by EU, 22% by the private sector, and 3% by the Ministry of Development and some other international funds.
The importance of research for our University and the sustained success of our Faculty members over the years brought us first place among foundation universities in the University Entrepreneurship and Innovation Index issued by the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology this year as well.
The undergraduate program in Psychology, which was being prepared by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences for a while, will become available this year.
The School of Management initiated the minor program in Entrepreneurship. Another new program was the Sabancı University and Advertising Foundation collaboration of Masters in Brand Practices Management. Implemented by EDU, this program will start admitting students in the beginning of the new academic year.
Energy Technologies and Management, and also Nanotechnology are two new graduate programs in our Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences. These interdisciplinary programs are available with dissertation or without dissertation for professionals.
The Sakıp Sabancı Museum hosted the “Anish Kapoor in Istanbul” and the “1001 Faces of Orientalism” exhibitions last year. Meanwhile, the Performing Arts Center, one of the major distinctions we have on campus, hosted 24 plays, 18 concerts, 2 dances and 7 film screenings.
We connected with our alumni in the US Alumni Meeting on May 4, the Reunion and Homecoming events on campus on May 24 and 25, the Family Day at the Museum on November 21, regular Cinema Days on campus, and other SUMED events at various locations in Istanbul. I will continue to meet regularly with the ever-growing SU alumni community in 2014.
Istanbul Policy Center (IPC), Istanbul International Center for Energy and Climate (IICEC), Executive Development Unit (EDU), Competition Forum, Corporate Governance Forum, Civic Involvement Projects, Gender and Women’s Studies Forum and many other initiatives continue to be very active. Drawing on past experience, the new Sabancı University Entrepreneurship Council (SUGK) and the SUCool pre-incubation facility undertake new projects and support innovative ventures.
We have two initiatives that both strengthen our community connections and generate income for the scholarship fund: The Summer School for High School Students and the Karaköy Science and Culture Academy (Saturday School) receive great interest as the first and only initiatives in Turkey in their respective fields.
In 2013, the SU Scholarship Fund received TL 431,514 from the Annual Donation Campaign (this includes alumni contributions), TL 955,000 from the sale of the property donated by Dr. Rıza Sarıoğlu, TL 821,408 from the Summer School for High School Students and the Saturday School, and TL 928,201 from corporate donors, achieving a total contribution of TL 3,136,123.
High-quality education that generates new knowledge is key to economic and social advancement. This is the only way to produce sustainable solutions to the needs of the society and humanity in general. The supporters of Sabancı University helped us step closer to this goal. The list of 2013 supporters is available here.
The active support of our alumni encourages us on our way to becoming one of the best universities in the world. Much of what we have achieved cannot be told here, so please click here to view the highlights of 2013 at our university.
Our objectives for 2014 are to expand our program portfolio with new and innovative programs; improve the effectiveness and efficiency of existing programs; better utilize the research talent in our faculty to increase the number of publications and projects; maintain our performance in using external funding in research projects; create Centers of Excellence that will boost the international visibility of our university; and to raise effective and sustainable funds to achieve these goals.
As a member of a University that leads scientific and technological breakthroughs, has national and international achievements in the dissemination of generated knowledge, and is strengthened with the capabilities of its alumni, I feel very lucky as I am sure you all do.
I hope that 2014 continues to improve your lives, and wish you and your loved ones health, peace and success in the New Year.
With warm regards,
Nihat Berker
 |
|
