Being two of the leading institutions of Turkey in medical and physical sciences and engineering Bilkent University UNAM and Hacettepe started together a partnership to leverage the efforts in translational medicine and medical devices in the country via a program called Bilkent University UNAM \u2013 Hacettepe University Health Sciences and Technologies (HST) Program.<\/p>\n
On 23 December 2018, a joint workshop as part of the strategic plan of this partnership was held. The talks of Prof. Haluk \u00d6zen, Rector of Hacettepe University, and Prof. Adnan Akay, Provost of Bilkent University, opened the workshop. The mechanisms of the strategic partnership, including the introduction of seed funds for collaborative research partnerships and Sancar Fellows, a fellowship program for postdoctoral scientists, have been introduced by UNAM Director Prof. H. Volkan Demir, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Department of Physics and Materials Science and Nanotechnology Graduate Program of Bilkent University and Vice-Rector Prof. Bur\u00e7in \u015eener of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Prof. Adil Denizli of the Department of Chemistry, both of Hacettepe University.<\/p>\n
Short talks were also presented to give an opportunity for scientists from both partner institutes to introduce their current research activities which may trigger faster collaborations between the research groups of both institutions. The talks by researchers from Bilkent-UNAM and Hacettepe covered diverse research fields from medicine to biology and pharmaceuticals, from medical devices to engineering sciences, consistent with its aim of forming interdisciplinary collaborations. Over 50 researchers and graduate students attended the workshop which is intended to continue annually.<\/p>\n
Bilkent University UNAM \u2013 Hacettepe University Health Sciences and Technologies program is the first-of-its-kind program that aims to transform the nature interdisciplinary research in the country as well. This transformation has ambitious goals to provide an area without borders for researchers from various disciplines from two distinct institutions and from a number of different academic departments.\u00a0 A more detailed information about the program and opportunities can be found in the following web site:<\/p>\n