February 5, 2025 / Istanbul

Erol Özvar, President of the Council of Higher Education, announced the establishment of the Technical Universities Union consisting of 11 technical universities. He chaired the first meeting of the Union hosted by Istanbul Technical University.

The Technical Universities Union, which consists of 11 universities including Istanbul Technical University, Eskişehir Technical University, Gebze Technical University, Karadeniz Technical University, Middle East Technical University, Bursa Technical University, Erzurum Technical University, Izmir Institute of Technology, Konya Technical University, Yıldız Technical University and Iskenderun Technical University, aims for its member universities to develop joint projects, establish stronger ties with industry and interact more with each other.

The Technical Universities Union, which aims for technical universities to contribute to education, social contribution, internationalization, common research culture, quality and R&D activities and to join forces in all these areas, will contribute to Türkiye's scientific and technological development by increasing its competitiveness in the international arena.

In his opening speech, Özvar underlined that the universities in the Union should seriously consider creating joint courses, curricula and programs. He also said that the Council of Higher Education will provide all kinds of administrative and legal support to the Union.

Stating that rapid technological advancements in recent years, along with new automation and artificial intelligence solutions, have diminished the importance of some traditional professions, Özvar said, “The 2025-2028 National Employment Strategy Document published in the Official Gazette dated February 1, 2025 has drawn a crucial framework and set very important targets for solving structural problems in labor markets. These include green and digital transformation and improving skills alignment.” He added that CoHE has included green and digital transformation and enhancing skills alignment in its core policy documents for several years. Pointing out that new programs will be opened for the building of green and digital skills, Özvar said that technical universities have important duties to respond to the challenges that will arise at this point and to seize new opportunities.

Özvar mentioned the potential contribution of the Technical Universities Union to the internationalization mission of the Council of Higher Education. He emphasized that while ensuring diversity in Turkish higher education through mission differentiation and specialization, they also strive to establish a common understanding and vision among universities. “I consider the Union as a valuable initiative in this sense,” he said.

Stating that Turkish higher education has reached a very strong capacity in terms of the number of universities, academic staff and students, Özvar also provided information on technical universities.

“The number of students in 11 technical universities is 225 thousand and the number of academic staff is 12,295. The number of students per academic staff is 18.29. While the number of international students is 11,500, their ratio in total students is 5.1 percent. The average number of international publications per academic staff is realized as 1.20 for 2024. We need to further increase the number of international students and qualified international publications.”

The meeting, chaired by Özvar, President of the Council of Higher Education, was attended by the rectors of Istanbul Technical University, Eskişehir Technical University, Gebze Technical University, Karadeniz Technical University, Middle East Technical University, Bursa Technical University, Erzurum Technical University, İzmir Institute of Technology, Konya Technical University, Yıldız Technical University and İskenderun Technical University. Prof. Hasan Mandal, Rector of Istanbul Technical University, made a presentation at the meeting. After the presentation, other university rectors also took the floor and expressed their opinions.