September 16, 2025

Applications for the 2025-2026 Academic Year of the AI Academic Thesis Program (ATP), launched last year in collaboration between the Council of Higher Education and the Secretariat of Defence Industries, have begun.

The program aims to increase expertise in the field of AI in the defense industry, contribute to the need for qualified human resources, and establish strong cooperation between academia and industry.

With ATP, AI in the defense industry will be addressed as an undergraduate thesis project and a graduate thesis study. Students participating in the program will be provided with various opportunities such as internships, academic publication support, and meetings with industry representatives.

Applications for the ATP 2025–2026 period will be accepted online at https://atp.sayzek.org.tr/ until October 10, 2025.

The program is open to students majoring in Computer Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Software Engineering, AI engineering, AI and Data Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Communications Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Management Information Systems, Information Systems and Technologies (CTIS), Physics Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, Control and Automation Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Mathematical Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Space and Satellite Engineering, Aviation and Aerospace Engineering, and the programs of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Statistics in the Faculty of Science and Letters.

Students will apply by choosing from a total of 65 topics determined for this year. Students accepted into the program will be announced on November 3, 2025.

Turkish citizens who are in their final year of undergraduate studies working on a graduation project/thesis or who are in the thesis phase of a master's degree program with a minimum GPA of 2.20 may apply individually or in teams of up to three people. Applications will be submitted with the guidance of an academic advisor. The evaluation will be based on the overall grade point average, foreign language score, certificates, competition achievements, participation in TÜBİTAK projects, and national/international article studies. Last year, when the ATP was launched for the first time, 421 applications were received from 119 universities and 58 programs.