Türkiye's Researchers Will Be Trained at Bahçeşehir University!

Bahçeşehir University is adding an ambitious new link to the investments it is making on its way to becoming one of the world's top 500 universities by 2023: it is launching the NYU-Bahçeşehir Joint Research Project, with a total budget exceeding 660 thousand TL, led by New York University (NYU) faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Selçuk R. Şirin. From now on, Türkiye's researchers will be trained at Bahçeşehir University.

The first signature of the project was made at Bahçeşehir University. The signing ceremony was attended by New York University Head of the Department of Applied Psychology Jacqueline Mattis, Bahçeşehir University Acting President Prof. Dr. Hasan Şimşek and New York University faculty member Selçuk Şirin.

FROM NOW ON, RESEARCH WILL NOT BE THE SAME

Beginning her remarks by stating that they were very excited about the project, Jacqueline Mattis said, "This project will deepen the relationship between the NYU Department of Applied Psychology and Bahçeşehir University. We are very pleased about this." Mattis explained the importance of the project as follows: "From now on, research will no longer remain abstract as before; it will be more transformative. Our research will be work carried out to transform the lives of students, families and communities for the better."

3 YEARS OF PREPARATION

Joint Research Project Chair Assoc. Prof. Dr. Selçuk Şirin began his speech by recalling that NYU is the largest private university in the USA.

Stating that they had spent 3 years preparing for this project, Şirin said, "Our sole aim with the Joint Research Project is to increase research capacity in Türkiye in both quantity and quality, and to build research know-how for those who want to collect data in many sectors, from finance to education and from politics to marketing..."

TÜRKİYE'S FIRST RESEARCH METHODS SCHOOL

Şirin described the project as follows:

"Knowing that every decision made without relying on data is incomplete, we are setting out to fill an important gap. Our claim is ambitious, but we have many reasons to succeed, because two important universities and many scientists are coming together for this project. With this project, on the one hand we are opening Türkiye's first Research Methods School with a faculty of the world's leading researchers, and on the other hand we are enabling both our academics and our students interested in research to benefit from NYU's resources."

4 DIFFERENT PROGRAMS

In a first for our country, Bahçeşehir University is sending a significant fund abroad solely to train researchers. In addition to academic support from NYU, Bahçeşehir students and faculty members will have the opportunity to use NYU's campus in New York City within this project, 75 percent of whose budget will be covered by Bahçeşehir University and the rest by New York University (NYU). With a total implementation period of 3 years, the NYU-BU Joint Project will consist of 4 different programs:

1. NYU Research Methods Workshops at Bahçeşehir: Rapidly developing and dynamic Türkiye needs data today more than ever. To meet the need for researchers in every sector from business to academia, Bahçeşehir University, with the support of New York University experts, is opening Türkiye's first and only research methods school. The faculty of the Bahçeşehir Research Methods School, which will offer intensive weekend and summer programs to participants of all levels, consists of academics teaching at the world's leading research universities, including NYU, Michigan, Brown, Harvard and the Graduate Center (CUNY). At this school, students will be able to take seminars on qualitative, quantitative and mixed research methods as well as beginner and advanced statistics.

2. UniverCITY Exchange Programs: Over the next 3 years, a group of NYU students will come to our country to take courses on the Bahçeşehir campus, and during the same period a group of Bahçeşehir students will be able to participate in intensive programs in finance, psychology, communication and architecture in New York. Thanks to this agreement with NYU, NYU dormitories in the heart of New York will also open their doors to Bahçeşehir students. Through the NYU-Bahçeşehir Research Fellowship program launched two years ago within the UniverCITY Exchange Programs, 3 Bahçeşehir students will also have the opportunity to participate in research projects at NYU during one summer term each year.

3. Scholarly Meetings: Academics conducting research at NYU and BU will have the opportunity to develop joint projects and present their findings to the public in New York and Istanbul. Each year, two scholarly meetings will be organized, one in Istanbul and the other in New York. The first planned scholarly meeting, titled "Social, Psychological and Biological Approaches to Human Health," will be held in Istanbul on 26-27 November 2011 by NYU Dean for Doctoral Studies and Research Dr. Perry Halkitis. BU academics attending the next meeting in New York will be hosted at the NYU Steinhardt Guest House, specially allocated for them.

4. NYU-BU Youth Research Project: More than half of Türkiye's population is under the age of 30. Understanding Türkiye's future requires understanding this young population well. Dr. Selçuk Şirin will carry out the 3-year research project launched for this purpose together with a research team he will establish at Bahçeşehir University. This project will be a continuation of the Young Identities research Dr. Şirin previously conducted in cooperation with NYU and Bahçeşehir, which attracted wide attention in the national and international press.