4 December 2025

President of the Council of Higher Education (CoHE) Erol Özvar announced that Sakarya University has received the status of “research university”.

Following a careful two-year monitoring process, Özvar stated that Sakarya University—one of the six institutions included in the Candidate Research Universities Monitoring Program—has successfully advanced into the league of research universities. He congratulated Sakarya University for its achievement.

Meanwhile, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Istinye University, TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Istanbul Medipol University, and Özyeğin University qualified for the first time as “candidate research universities”.

With the addition of Akdeniz University, Dokuz Eylül University, Kocaeli University, Ondokuz Mayıs University, and Selçuk University, the total number of candidate research universities under monitoring increased to ten.

The “Research Universities Evaluation Meeting” was hosted by Yıldız Technical University.

During the meeting, President Özvar announced that Gazi University will open a Faculty of Education in Shymkent in cooperation with a university in Kazakhstan.

“Our universities will continue to establish units abroad”

Highlighting the significant steps taken toward internationalization, Özvar recalled the establishment of the Türkiye–Azerbaijan University in Baku and the International Turkic States University in Tashkent, emphasizing that the overseas activities and collaborations of Turkish universities are continuously expanding.

“In the upcoming period, we will continue implementing policies that support our universities in establishing academic units abroad, including the creation of additional joint universities,” he said.

“We will support universities wishing to launch programs abroad”

Stressing the importance of strengthening higher education cooperation, particularly with the Turkic world, Özvar continued:

“We expect our universities to intensify their efforts—especially in dual degree and joint degree programs—not only in education but also in cultivating a shared research culture and conducting joint scientific studies. We will provide full support to our research universities that wish to offer dual or joint degree programs abroad.

We also expect our research universities to carry the knowledge and experience they generate in Türkiye to the Turkic world, our broader geography of shared affinity, and beyond. As President of the Council of Higher Education, I would like you to know that we stand ready to provide every kind of support in this regard.”

“There has been a visible increase in performance for three consecutive years”

Expressing satisfaction with the performance improvements observed over the past three years among both research universities and candidate research universities, Özvar noted that they aim for universities to advance further not only in education and social responsibility but also in academic productivity.

“With these ranking efforts, our goal is to elevate the global quality and competitiveness of our universities,” he said.

Özvar emphasized that research universities—considered the locomotive of the higher education system—have been consistently rising in international rankings and that he wishes to see even greater global visibility.

Recalling that six Turkish universities ranked in the top 500 and eleven in the top 1000 in the QS 2026 World Rankings, Özvar stated that, in line with CoHE’s 2024–2028 strategic vision, the goal is for at least two universities to enter the top 100 and ten universities to be ranked among the top 500 within the next five years.

“A cooperation protocol with TUSAŞ will be signed”

Özvar highlighted the growing importance of university–industry collaboration and applied vocational training, noting that partnerships with the Presidency of Defense Industries, defense industry organizations, and professional bodies such as TOBB and ISO continue to expand.

He recalled the “Sector on Campus” initiative with the Ministry of Industry and Technology; the Defense Industry Artificial Intelligence Talent (SAYZEK) Academic Thesis Program with the Presidency of Defense Industries; and the Graduate Education Program launched with ASELSAN.

Özvar announced that a similar program will soon begin with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ): “The protocol has been prepared and will be signed shortly. Eight research universities will participate in the program as stakeholders.”

“Ensure strict attention to assignments under Articles 46 and 34”

Özvar shared that during the 2024–2025 period, research universities appointed a total of 105 researchers—91 Turkish citizens and 14 foreign nationals—under Article 46. He urged universities to exercise due diligence with assignments under Articles 46 and 34, to act more actively and decisively, and to increase the number of assigned researchers.

“We will expand ADEP and BAP to include foreign countries”

Referring to the budget allocated to the Research Universities Support Program (ADEP) by the Presidency of Strategy and Budget, Özvar noted that the support, which amounted to 100 million TL in 2022, rose to 250 million TL in 2023, 400 million TL in 2024, and nearly 1 billion TL in 2025.

Özvar stated that they aim to include foreign researchers—initially from African countries—in projects carried out under ADEP and Scientific Research Projects (BAP). Researchers from the Turkic world will later be incorporated into this process as well.

Noting that participating researchers will be able to join projects through international calls, he emphasized their intention to integrate researchers from various countries: “We sincerely wish to facilitate the mobility of these researchers to and from Turkish universities and to ensure their active participation in academic work here.”

Addressing global index systems used in monitoring and evaluation processes, Özvar said: “Beginning in 2026, we will continue with Scopus instead of Web of Science.”