Istanbul Kültür University (İKÜ) 2023-2024 Academic Year was opened with a ceremony held at Akıngünç Auditorium and Art Center on Wednesday, October 4, 2023, at 09.30, with the participation of Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver, our Rector Prof. Dr. Fadime Üney Yüksektepe, our Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Gülce Öğrüç Ildız, academic-administrative staff and students.

The ceremony, to which Poet & Writer Sunay Akın was invited, started with the opening speeches of our Rector Prof. Dr. Fadime Üney Yüksektepe and our Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Bahar Günver Akıngüç.

Prof. Dr. Fadime Üney Yüksektepe, who took over her duties as a principal by the Presidential decision on September 14, 2023, gave the following message to students who have just started university: "You have turned the most beautiful page in your youth years in a very meaningful date for our country and university. You became a university student on the 100th anniversary of our Republic. We will celebrate the 30th anniversary of our university in 2027, which will coincide with the approximate graduation of our undergraduate students. It is very valuable to cross paths with you in two different periods of time that are so meaningful to us. I congratulate each of you with my sincerest wishes. Welcome to our Kültür family." Addressing students coming from earthquake areas in 2023, our Rector added that the University and the Founding Foundation will act together to heal the wounds caused in this process.

Orientation programs were organized by Istanbul Kültür University (İKÜ) Kültür Point in our Ataköy campus on 4-5 October 2023 for our new students who joined the İKÜ Family in the 2023-2024 Academic Year.

The "General Orientation Program" held at Akıngüç Auditorium and Art Center on Wednesday, October 4, 2023, opened with the speech of our Rector Prof. Dr. Fadime Üney Yüksektepe. The Rector gave the message to the students that they will feel the privilege of studying and graduating from a university established by a foundation that draws its strength and values ​​from a deep-rooted past and has love for people and country, throughout their lives.

The program continued with the speeches of "Meeting Life in Kültür" by Deputy Head of Career and Alumni Advisory Unit Doğa Kurtyiğit, "Informing Students about the Design Factory" by Design Factory Event Coordinator Bengisu Ankara, and BiP Senior Product Manager Sara Salihoğlu Oymak’s speech about the cooperation between our University and BİP. Following the speeches of our graduates Burak Er and our students Ömer Faruk Parlak and Hatice Taş, the "General Orientation Program" ended with the online impact assessment and award-winning competition moderated by Educational Activities Planning and Organization Assistant Specialist Mert Efe Anğın.

The program continued simultaneously with the "Student Clubs Orientation Days" held in the backyard of the Ataköy campus. During the two day orientation, 70 different clubs opened stands, promoted their clubs, and recruited members. More than 5 thousand students have become members of clubs that appeal to their interests. Our students had a fun time with the performances of Rock'n Culture, İKÜ Orchestra, Dance Club and Fizy DJ.

Istanbul Kültür University (İKÜ) became a project partner in the Sector on Campus Program, the digital learning platform of the National Technology Academy, initiated by the Ministry of Industry and Technology and established with the aim of aiding the education of young people who will lead the National Technology Scheme.

The Sector on Campus Program, established with the aim of increasing the number of people educated in key domains, aims to bring the university-industry cooperation together to an efficient and practical point by bringing together sector employees and university students, where students get to learn the most up-to-date information from sector professionals. With the Sector on Campus Program, which includes distance synchronous courses offered with credit at universities with the MTH code by leading companies of Türkiye such as Aselsan, STM, Turkcell, TUSAŞ and TÜBİTAK , the main objective is to develop an education model that is steeped in the business world in order to develop the skill set needed to bring forth new technological innovations through applied studies and to contribute to the mutual development of institutions by including the business world into the world of universities. In addition, this project offers a great opportunity for career advancement by providing easy access to internship and career opportunities for students who communicate directly with leading companies, while companies also have the chance to easily access and train qualified persons.

As a part of the project, the MTH0001-Introduction to Process Mining course will be offered at İKÜ Faculty of Engineering in the Fall Semester of the 2023-2024 Academic Year.  Offering more courses as a part of the program at IKU is among the future plans.

IKU Rector Prof. Dr. Fadime Üney Yüksektepe expressing their feeling that the project will prove to be beneficial in a very short time, said: “With the project, which will be carried out under the National Technology Academy and based on the principles of accessibility and equality of opportunity, students by coming together with leading figures from the sector while still pursuing their university education will get the chance to access rapidly developing current practices in the business world and take lectures from company professionals and will have the chance to prepare for business life.  As a part of the project , 151 elective courses that will be offered remotely and synchronously using the infrastructure of the National Technology Academy in the 2023-2024 fall semester and will be given by experts working in the top 40 companies in the sector.  After the courses, 5 percent of the students taking the course will be evaluated for the internship program and successful students will be able to do their internship in these organizations.  As İKÜ, we are very excited to be a project partner of the National Technology Scheme of the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Industry and Technology.  We will start off this semester with 1 course offered in the Faculty of Engineering.  The other faculties will also be included in the project in the future. I would like to thank Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Industry and Technology, Mehmet Fatih Kacır, for his support, as well as those who contributed and made this project possible, and I wish much success to the students who will take the course.”.

As a part of the international symposium "Republic, Architecture and City: 100 Years of Heritage" to be organized by the Faculty of Architecture, "Searching for Design in the Memory of the Republic: A Visual Reading Experience" and "Looking at the Republic from the Wall, Looking at the Wall from the Archive" workshops were held in Salt Galata on 29-30 September 2023.  In the workshops conducted by from the Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design Lecturer Elif Gelmez, Res. Assist. Armağan Gülhaş and Res. Assist. Furkan Evliyaoğlu and from the Department of Architecture. Assist. Prof. Ceren Göğüş, Lecturer Şeyda Şen, Res. Assist. Berkay Oskay and Res  Assist. Emine Merve Aksoy Oral, the traces of the design heritage of the period were examined using the rich Republic period archive within the Salt Research Center.

The works produced in the workshops will be displayed in the Akıngüç Auditorium foyer area on the ground floor of Istanbul Kültür University Ataköy campus during the international symposium "Republic, Architecture and City: 100 Years of Heritage" between 11-13 October.

T.R. Istanbul Kültür University Faculty of Law Dean & CEHAMER Director Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Bahri Öztürk, Faculty of Law academicians Assist. Prof. Özge Sırma Gezer, Assist. Prof. Yasemin Saygılar, CEHAMER International Cooperation Coordinator & Vice President of the International Federation of Women Lawyers Attorney Ayşen Önen represented our university by attending the health law meeting titled "Ri...nascere a Brindisi" held in Brindisi, Italy on 15-16 September 2023.

Students of Istanbul Kültür University (İKÜ) from the Department of Communication Arts, Şevval Şener, Betül Naz Yanardağ and İrem Özben were selected among nearly 4 thousand projects in the "TRT Communicators of the Future" competition, prepared under the consultancy of Lecturer Yakup Pera Sağıroğlu, which was held for the 9th time this year, and made it to the finals with the project titled "One Click to Heaven". Sağıroğlu and our students tasted the excitement of the finals at the award ceremony held at Ankara Arı Studios on Monday, October 2.

The training titled "Post-Earthquake Shelter Conditions", which was conducted by one of our faculty members of the Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, Assoc. Prof. Derya Adıgüzel Özbek, and hosted by Istanbul Kültür University within the scope of TUBITAK 2237-A Scientific Educational Activities Support Program was held online between 25-29 September 2023 with the support of Karadeniz Technical University, Arel University and Trakya University.

In the training program, space design proposals on "emergency shelter" and "temporary shelter" needed after the earthquake were developed. In these proposals, it was aimed to develop contemporary, innovative designs for post-earthquake shelter needs that are compatible with environmental factors, technical requirements, socio-cultural values, as well as designs that will allow the user to rebuild their own home. The training program, in which the subject was handled in a multi-dimensional manner, was supported by expert trainers, members of the regulatory and scientific committee. Forty-two undergraduates from architecture and interior architecture departments of 24 different universities in Türkiye and 9 postgraduates from architecture and interior architecture departments were eligible to participate in the training. 36 participants actively participated in the theoretical step of the training and 23 participants actively participated in both the theoretical and practical steps of the training.

Training Event Conductor
Assoc. Prof. Derya Adıgüzel Özbek (Istanbul Kültür University)

Trainers
Prof. Dr. Gülay Usta (İstanbul Kültür University)
Prof. Dr. Didem Baş (Trakya University)
Prof. Dr. Mete Tapan (Arel University)
Prof. Dr. Işık Görker (Trakya University)
Assoc. Prof. Derya Adıgüzel Özbek (İstanbul Kültür University)
Assoc. Prof. Armağan Seçil Melikoğlu Eke (Trakya University)
Assoc. Prof. Özge Sever İslamoğlu (Karadeniz Technical University)
Assoc. Prof. Hilal Keklicek (Trakya University)
Assist. Prof. D. Ferhan Yalçın (Arel University)
Assist. Prof. Aliye Rahşan Karabetça (İstanbul Kültür University)
Specialist Physiotherapist Büşra Mehder (Trakya University)
Civil Engineer Fatih Mehmet Sarıca (Ibb-3rd Regional Deputy Manager)
Dr. Architect Cem Ilhan (Tece Architecture)

Organizing Committee
Assoc. Prof. Derya Adıgüzel Özbek (Istanbul Kültür University) (Coordinator)
Prof. Dr. Gülay Usta (Istanbul Kültür University)
Prof. Dr. Didem Baş (Trakya University)
Assoc. Prof. Armağan Seçil Melikoğlu Eke (Istanbul Kültür University)
Assoc. Prof. Özge Sever İslamoğlu (Karadeniz Technical University)
Assist. Prof. D. Ferhan Yalçın (Arel University)
Master Interior Architect Özge Ilık Saltık
Master Interior Architect Sedef Sav Özerenler 

Science Committee
Prof. Dr. Gülay Usta (Istanbul Kültür University)
Prof. Dr. Didem Baş (Trakya University)
Prof. Dr. Ayhan Usta (Istanbul Kültür University)
Prof. Dr. Kağan Günce (Eastern Mediterranean University)
Prof. Dr. G. Deniz Dokgöz (Dokuz Eylül University)
Prof. Dr. Burçin Cem Arabacıoğlu (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University)
Prof. Dr. Mete Tapan (Arel University)
Prof. Dr. Tülay Zorlu (Karadeniz Technical University)
Prof. Dr. Özge Cordan (Istanbul Technical University)
Assoc. Prof. Derya Adıgüzel Özbek (Istanbul Kültür University) (Coordinator)
Assoc. Prof. Armağan Seçil Melikoğlu Eke (Istanbul Kültür University)
Assoc. Prof. Özge Sever İslamoğlu (Karadeniz Technical University)
Assist. Prof. D. Ferhan Yalçın (Arel University)
Assist. Prof. Aliye Rahşan Karabetça (Istanbul Kültür University)

You can access detailed information about the "Post-Earthquake Sheltering Conditions Training" on the following website and social media accounts.

https://www.barinmahalleri.com/, https://instagram.com/barinmahalleri

The short film "Our Hell in Our Plastic World,” written and directed by Emre Arslan, one of our students from the Faculty of Art and Design, Department of Radio, Television and Cinema, has been selected as one of the ten films to compete in the "Student Films" category of the Kocaeli Film Festival, which will be held for the second time on November 3-9, 2023 with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The film, which offers a perspective on the global problems caused by humanity in today's world through the language of experimental cinema, recently made it to the finals of the TRT Communicators of the Future Competition.

The cast and technical team of Emre Arslan and the film included Elif Bozduman, Hakan Karan and Arca Batuğ Sınmaz from the Department of Radio, Television and Cinema, Mustafa Arıcan from the Department of Communication Arts and Zülal Sıla Erk from the Department of Electrical Engineering.

We sincerely congratulate all our students who contributed to the film.

Three "TÜBİTAK 2209-A" project applications for the first semester of 2023, in which our Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics (MOBIGEN) students Özgenur Öztürk and Duru Karakuş, under the supervision of Res. Assist. Dr. Sinan Meriç; Sude Şengül, Nisa Yücel, Emircan Demir and İrem Çütçü, under the supervision of Res. Assist. Tamer Gümüş, were accepted. We congratulate our advisors and students and wish them continued success.

The results of the applications made as a part of the “2209-A University Students Research Projects Support Program” 2023/1 period carried out by TÜBİTAK Scientist Support Programs Directorate (BİDEB) have been announced. The students of IKU Guidance and Psychological Counselling Program Nurcan Bozali with their project titled, “A Psycho-Educational Program Application to Examine the Relationship Between Women’s Self-Confidence and Self-Efficacy Levels and Family Functions According to Their Working Status: A Mixed Method Research”; and  Özge Temel Kumru with their project titled “An Intervention Application of the Psychological Resilience Psycho-Education Program on the Cognitive Structures and Emotion Regulation Skills of Gifted Students for Natural Disasters” have been granted monetary support.   We congratulate the IKU faculty member and students for both projects, which will be carried out under the supervision of Assist. Prof. Hatice Leblebici, and wish them further success.

The Department of International Trade and Finance will organize an orientation program for newly registered students in the 2023-2024 Academic Year on Monday, October 9, at 11:00 in the Basın Ekspres Campus Conference Hall.

To welcome the 2023-2024 academic year, the Department of Architecture will organize the "Department of Architecture Opening Ceremony" event on Monday, October 9, at 13.00 in Seminar Hall 2 in our Ataköy campus.

The Department of Industrial Engineering will organize an orientation program for newly registered students in the 2023-2024 Academic Year on Monday, October 9, at 15.00 in Ataköy Campus Lecture Hall B1-3.

Kültür Point will organize "Turkish Sign Language Training" to raise awareness about deaf and hearing impaired people in society and to contribute to the personal and professional development of our students. The training, which will be given by instructor Eser Dalyan, will be held on 9-10 October 2023 between 15.00-18.00 in the 1st floor multi-purpose hall in our Ataköy campus.

The Department of Basic Education will organize an orientation program for newly registered students in the 2023-2024 Academic Year on Tuesday, October 10, between 11.30-13.00 at Basın Ekspres Campus Z-05.

Kültür Point will organize the "Etiquette Workshop" to support learning the etiquette rules that must be followed in society and making them a way of life. The workshop, which will be given by instructor Güneş Tulga under the title "First Impression, Boundaries, Forms of Address", will be held on Wednesday, October 11, between 12.00-15.00 in the 2nd floor multi-purpose hall in our Ataköy campus.

The Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering will organize an orientation program for newly registered students in the 2023-2024 Academic Year on Wednesday, October 11, between 12.00-14.00, at the Ataköy campus mezzanine floor laboratory.

In cooperation with the Faculty of Architecture and the Fine Arts Application and Research Center (GSUAM), a panel and exhibition titled "Modern Architecture in Türkiye and DOCOMOMO_TÜRKİYE on the 100th Anniversary of the Republic" will be organized. Following the panel to be held at Akıngüç Auditorium and Art Center at 13.00 on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, the exhibition will be opened at İKÜ Art Gallery at 15.00. The exhibition can be visited until November 8, 2023.

The Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation will organize an orientation program for newly registered students in the 2023-2024 Academic Year, on Wednesday, October 11, between 13.00-14.30, in the lecture hall on the first floor Şirinevler Campus C Block B1.

The Department of English Language and Literature will organize an orientation program for newly registered students in the 2023-2024 Academic Year on Wednesday, October 11, at 15.00, at the Erdal İnönü Seminar Hall in our Ataköy campus.

"Diction and Effective Physical Language Training" will be organised by Kültür Point in order for the participants to speak Turkish effectively and use their body language correctly. The training, which will be given by Özlem Berkit, will be held on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, between 15.00-18.00 on the 2nd floor multi-purpose hall in our Ataköy campus.

Kültür Point will organise the "Turkish Sign Language Training" in order to raise awareness about deaf and hearing-impaired people in the society and to contribute to the personal and professional development of our students. The training, which will be given by the instructor Eser Dalyan, will be held on 11-12 October 2023 between 15.00-18.00 in the classroom numbered 2A-08 in our Incirli campus.

A symposium titled "The Republic, Architecture and the City: The Legacy of 100 Years (RAC)" will be held by Istanbul Kültür University Faculty of Architecture as part of the centenary of the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye. Our Ataköy campus will host the symposium, where paper presentations, exhibitions, panel and workshop sessions will be held, on 12-13 October 2023 between 10.00-18.00.

In cooperation with Kültür Point and Vision Brand, the "Motivation Meetings" event will be held in the backyard of Ataköy campus between 10.00-16.00 on Thursday, October 12. Rock'n Culture Club and Dance Club will also perform at the event.

Kültür Point will organise "Addictive Relationships Addicted Personalities Workshop: Who Does My Body Belong To?" to inform participants about addiction. The first of the training "Who Owns My Body?", which will be given by Psychologist Dr. Serap Duygulu, will be held on Thursday, October 12, between 15.00-18.00 in the Seminar 2 hall in our Ataköy campus.

In cooperation with the Department of International Trade and Finance and Kurtsan Holding, "Evaluation of Customer Complaints Training" will be organised in order to transfer the sector experience to the students. The training, which will be given by Ebru Mert from Kurtsan Holding, will be held on Friday, October 13 between 09.30-18.00 in our Basın Ekspres campus.