Second Stage of YÖK-Future Project Implemented
September 12, 2020
The Council of Higher Education initiated the "YÖK-Future Project" by implementing a new method in addition to the current procedures for the recruitment of academic staff last week.
The project will be carried out in three stages. These stages were determined as "Employment of Research Assistants in Priority Fields", "Employment of Faculty Members in Priority Fields" and "YÖK Academic Merit-Career Platform".
CoHE shared the details of the first stage with the public last week. In this stage, universities were given permits for additional appointments for the research assistant positions in priority fields for 2020 in order to meet the qualified manpower in the priority fields needed by Turkey. The recruitment procedures were left to the universities, provided that they only abide by the conditions determined by CoHE. CoHE paid utmost attention to benefit from the pool of academics in Turkey, rather than the pool of academics of a certain university, to ensure that the appointment of the people to these positions are carried out according to merit.
Second Stage in YÖK-Future Project:
“EMPLOYMENT OF FACULTY MEMBERS IN PRIORITY FIELDS"
The second stage of the "YÖK-Future Project" will consist of "additional" permits that will be given for the appointment of faculty members (assistant professors, associate professors and professors) in the fields called "Critical Technologies" around the world that are fields prioritized for the development of our country. "Successful departments" will be rewarded with additional job advertisements for faculty members to be allocated to prominent fields at Turkish universities.
CoHE President Prof. M. A. Yekta Saraç’s Statement Regarding the Second Stage of the “YÖK-Future Project”:
- "Critical Technology Fields" are determined as priority and specific fields
As part of the first stage of the project, which we have recently announced, we have sent additional permits for the research assistant positions in priority fields to universities. While the first stage is underway, we are now starting the second phase of our project, “Employment of Faculty Members in Priority Fields”.
At this stage of the project, "Critical Technology Fields" were determined as priority and specific fields.
The determined fields are as follows:
- Information security,
- Biomedical equipment,
- Biotechnological pharmaceutical technologies,
- Cloud computing,
- Big data and data analytics,
- Energy storage,
- Broadband technologies,
- Solar energy,
- Advanced functional material and energetic material technologies,
- Quantum technologies,
- Micro-Nano-Optical electromechanical systems,
- Modeling and Simulation Technologies,
- Engine technologies,
- Internet of Things,
- Robotics, Mechatronics and Automation,
- Wind power,
- Agriculture and animal biotechnology,
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
- Successful departments will be rewarded with additional staff positions for the first time
In this project, the positions will not be reserved for universities, and additional positions to be announced for the prominent fields of the relevant university will be allocated. In this way, these departments will be supported with new staff members and encouraged to carry out more successful processes. For the first time since the foundation of CoHE, successful departments are recognized by CoHE and given additional positions.
- Transparency, merit and equal opportunity will be favored
Another important feature of the project, which is a new and innovative initiative, is that it is created by considering transparency, merit and equal opportunity, as in the other projects of the New CoHE. In this project, only departments with successful faculty members in the fields of critical technology that are important for the country are privileged due to their success. After the project is put into practice, universities will be entrusted to continue the processes as in our other projects.
- The two stages of the project are designed to complement each other
"The Recruitment of Research Assistants in Priority Fields", which is the first stage of the YÖK-Future Project, is the allocation of additional positions to universities. The second stage of our project is the provision of additional permits for faculty member positions in the fields of “critical technologies” to universities. The positions given in both of these stages are not the positions that the universities have permission to use, but the additional permits for positions to be given. Although these two stages seem different from each other, they are designed to complement each other. In the second stage, these permits to be given to universities are for the “rapid breakthrough of our country in critical technologies”.
- 750 additional faculty member positions in 18 critical technology fields to be allocated to 77 universities
First of all, the priority fields of critical technology were determined for the recruitment of faculty members to be made within the scope of the project. Competency maps of the departments for these fields were created. Accordingly, additional positions were distributed to universities.
In this context, 77 universities will be able to recruit additional 750 faculty members in 18 critical technology fields in addition to the current employment permits of universities. Middle East Technical University, Istanbul Technical University, Yıldız Technical University, Gazi University and Hacettepe University will get the most positions in declining order.
- Competency maps of universities and departments are prepared
A competency map of universities was prepared for the fields of critical technology according to fields. Firstly, two main titles, which are quantity and quality, were determined. Relevant sub-indicators were determined under both of these titles through a system where the quantity will have an effect of 40 percent and the quality will have an effect of 60 percent.
The following will be considered for the quantity indicator: Contribution to academic knowledge in the world, significant community that creates an academic value, focus effect
The following will be considered for the quality indicator: Quality of academic publications, production of quality academic publications, efficiency of academics, capacity to produce publications that will contribute to the industry, contribution to the internationalization of Turkey, contribution to the internationalization of universities
Formulas based on concrete outputs were used in the sub-indicators of both main titles. These formulas include factors such as the number of publications, the effects of publications, references they have received in Turkey and in the world, patents, and international cooperation.
YÖK Academic Merit-Career Platform, the third stage of the project, will also be put into practice this month.