Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı, Rector of Atatürk University, attended the Research Universities Support Programme (RUSP) evaluation meeting held at Hacettepe University Sıhhiye Campus Cultural Centre with the participation of HCE President Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar.

Stating that the Research-Oriented Mission Differentiation and Specialisation Programme, which was determined by the Council of Higher Education (HCE) in 2021, has been successfully carried out with 23 universities, Prof. Dr. Özvar reminded that the performances of the universities within the scope of the programme are monitored annually by the Monitoring and Evaluation Commission established within the board and stated that the rankings are shared with the public in November every year.

Özvar stated that they are pleased to see that the sweet competition among research universities has been reflected positively in the world university rankings published annually by international university rating agencies, especially in the last two years, and thanked those who contributed to this.

Özvar stated that one of the targets in the 12th Development Plan regarding higher education is to increase the number of universities ranked in the top 500 in the World Academic Achievement Rankings to 10 in 2028: ‘I believe that all of our research universities have the potential to be among the top 500 in the next 5 years with their physical infrastructure and academic human resources. We see that such evaluations are extremely important in the increasing international student mobility in recent years.’

President Özvar: ‘We Will Persistently Continue the Support Programme Implementation’

Stating that 400 million liras were allocated to universities within the scope of ADEP in 2024, Özvar stated that a budget transfer of 503.9 million liras will be made to 327 projects with the figures that universities will transfer from their own resources.

Emphasising that as the Council of Higher Education, they have adopted a quality-oriented approach as their main mission and that they will persistently continue to implement support programmes for research universities for this purpose, Özvar continued his words as follows: ‘The research capacity and quality of all our universities need to be increased. The data of the last 5 years show that there has been a significant increase in the number of more qualified publications. However, when compared to major scientific circles in the world, we still need to make serious progress, especially in Q1 and Q2 publications. There is a need to increase the number of scientific documents, which is around 45-46 thousand per year, without compromising on publication quality. Our research universities are the leading institutions that will do this.’

Senel: ‘We want our universities to expand their R&D activities’

İbrahim Şenel, Presidential Strategy and Budget Chairman İbrahim Şenel, who reminded that they allocated resources to research universities for scientific research projects by taking into account their annual performance with ADEP, stated that within this framework, they increased the amount of appropriation allocated to research universities from 100 million liras in 2022 to 250 million liras in 2023 and continued as follows: ‘For this year, this figure was determined by the Budget Law as 400 million liras. With the approval of our President, we plan to realise the appropriation allocations and transfer the appropriation to our universities in the near future, taking into account the performances and implementation results of our universities. With the increase in appropriations, we expect our research universities to expand their opportunities for R&D activities and training qualified manpower, and to continue their work to serve our national policies and goals.’

Rector Çomaklı: ‘We continue our work with the title of Research University with determination’

Making a statement regarding the meeting, Atatürk University Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı said: ‘The Research Universities Support Programme (RUPP) is an important initiative that aims to increase the research and development potential of our country, support scientific productivity and increase competitiveness at national and international level. The evaluation meeting organised in this context offers the opportunity to evaluate the work of the participating universities in the field of research and to determine their future strategies. Atatürk University, as a nationally and internationally recognised institution in the field of science and research, acts in accordance with the main objectives of ADEP and contributes to the scientific development of our country. Our university has gained a solid place in the world of science with its comprehensive research projects, international collaborations and innovative studies.’
Emphasising the achievements of Atatürk University in the field of research, Çomaklı said: ‘We continue our work with all our members to increase the scientific productivity of our university and to strengthen its competitiveness at the national level. The rights granted by the Research University status both financially and academically enable us to work in an even wider range. In this respect, in line with the decisions taken at the ADEP Evaluation Meeting and the strategies determined, Atatürk University will carry its success in the field of research even further and will continue to make significant contributions to the scientific and technological development of our country.’
The meeting ended with the participants sharing information about research policies and strategies.
DIRECTORATE OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION - 02.05.2024