Council of Higher Education and Presidency of Defence Industries Sign Cooperation Protocol
CoHE President Erol Özvar: “It is of great importance that the public, university and private sector cooperate to increase the success of our defense industry.”
January 10, 2023 / Ankara
The Council of Higher Education (CoHE) and the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) signed a protocol for cooperation in the fields of human resources, R&D and education.
The signing ceremony was held at the Council of Higher Education. Prof. Erol Özvar, President of the Council of Higher Education, Prof. İsmail Demir, President of Defense Industry, Serdar Demirel, Mustafa Murat Şeker, Celal Sami Tüfekçi, Ph.D., Prof. Faruk Yiğit and Harun Çelik, Vice Presidents of Defence Industries, Prof. Oral Cenk Aktaş, President of Defence Industry Academy, Prof. Haluk Görgün, Chairman and General Manager of ASELSAN, Prof. Temel Kotil, General Manager of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), Murat İkinci, General Manager of ROKETSAN, Mehmet Akif Nacar, Ph.D., General Manager of HAVELSAN, CoHE Members, Prof. Necdet Ünüvar, Rector of Ankara University, Prof. Mustafa Verşan Kök, Rector of Middle East Technical University, Prof. Musa Kazım Arıcan, Rector of Ankara Social Sciences University, and representatives of the institutions attended the ceremony.
The protocol signed for university-industry cooperation will increase the joint use of infrastructures, R&D, scholarship, career and internship opportunities as well as promotion and in-service activities.
“No state without power in the defense industry can maintain its economic independence”
He noted that the localization movement in the defense industry enabled the country to have a say on an international scale, and that contributed to the development of economic and international relations, the reduction of foreign dependence, the benefit of domestic industrialization and the development of the domestic workforce.
He reiterated that many technological innovations such as augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, internet of things and big data, which determined the competition in the defense industry, were the subjects they had determined as priority areas and said that CoHE had recently launched the Big Data project with eight universities selected as pilot universities. He stated that the project would also be instrumental in raising an expert academic audience.
“We increased the opportunities offered to our students with the protocols for university-industry cooperation”
Özvar stated that the Council of Higher Education increased the opportunities offered to students through various protocols for university-industry cooperation, with the aim of developing long-term strategies, practices that would ensure the development of Türkiye, and national technologies with high added value. “For instance, we decided to award undergraduate scholarships to those who will choose artificial intelligence engineering in addition to basic sciences for the first time this academic year,” he said.
CoHE President Özvar reiterated that they implemented an exemplary university-industry cooperation model at Marmara University under the protocol signed between CoHE and TAI. He stated that they opened a laboratory in the field of aviation, which was the first of the five laboratories to be put into service in the first stage, and that five other laboratories would be opened in the coming days.
“We are making our cooperation between two critical sectors more systematic”
He noted that they attached great importance to the joint works to be carried out with the Presidency of Defence Industry in two respects. “First of all, we prioritize contributing to increasing Türkiye's defense power. Secondly, thanks to these works, which are intertwined with R&D, production and advanced technology, I believe that the Turkish higher education institutions will become more productive and increase our international competitiveness,” he said.
- Career, internship and workplace training opportunities in the defense industry sector for students
“We will ensure the common use of infrastructure through the protocol. In this framework, we will ensure the joint use of laboratories by researchers, the development of new projects, the opening of special-purpose departments at universities, and the joint use of databases. We will also support the postgraduate education of personnel in the field of defense industry.
Increasing R&D studies in the field of defense industry is another important topic of the protocol. For this purpose, joint projects will be developed by universities and the affiliated or related organizations of the Presidency of Defence Industries and industrial organizations to ensure their active participation in research and technology development activities.
Providing scholarships to students, increasing career and internship opportunities is another remarkable topic. The protocol will increase career and internship opportunities in the defense industry sector for scholarship students.
Within the scope of promotional activities, in-service training and publication activities, joint promotional activities will be held and publications will be made between the parties to raise awareness for high quality technological products on a national and international scale. In this framework, model training courses and programs will be prepared for the relevant personnel,” he said.
- Working Journalists' Day
Before the signing ceremony, CoHE President Özvar congratulated journalists on January 10 Working Journalists' Day and wished them success.
- Cooperation between CoHE and SSB
With the signed protocol, cooperation will be made in the areas of shared-use mobility of infrastructure, R&D, scholarships for students, increment of career and internship opportunities, promotional activities, in-service training and publication.
The protocol will ensure the implementation of the needs of the national defense industry, provision of training and research based on R&D and P&D, opening of programs to form specialization groups and to reinforce these groups and strengthening of university-industry cooperation models.
As a result of the cooperation, it is aimed to increase R&D and especially P&D activities focused on the needs of the defense industry, ensure their sustainability, help university students and academic staff focus on high value-added works in the field of defense industry, organize motivational activities for the field, and train competent manpower needed by the sector.