# Bilkent University

Bilkent University (Turkish: Bilkent Üniversitesi) is a private non-profit research university located in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded by İhsan Doğramacı, the first president of the Council of Higher Education and the head of the prominent Doğramacı family, with the aim of creating a center of excellence in higher education and research in 1984. It has constantly been ranked among the top Turkish universities since its establishment. In 2011, it was ranked 112th in the world by The World University Rankings. Bilkent University was modeled after Harvard University and was the first non-profit private university established in the country. The name Bilkent is an abbreviation of bilim kenti, meaning "city of science" in Turkish.

## History

Preparations for the establishment of the university began in 1967, with the purchase of a tract of land to the west of Ankara. In the late 1970s the foundations of the buildings which now house administrative offices, the faculty of engineering, and the library, were laid. Construction of residences for academic staff, cafes, student dormitories, and various academic buildings followed rapidly.

## Campus

The university occupies three campuses. They are located about 12 km west of the center of Ankara, and cover a total area of more than 300 hectares.

### Library

The university library houses a large collection of books with annual acquisitions valued at over 3 million U.S. dollars. As of 2017, Bilkent University Library is the largest university library of Turkey, and it is the only university library to rank in the top 10 libraries in the country.
In addition to books, the collection includes periodical subscriptions, microforms, access to numerous online databases and electronic journals. Sheet music and sound recordings are available in the music rooms. The library also hosts a number of private collections and an exhibition hall.

## Academics

The university offers 33 undergraduate majors, together with 32 graduate programs spanning 22 different fields.

### Faculties

* Faculty of Applied Sciences
* Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture
* Faculty of Business Administration
* Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences
* Faculty of Education
* Faculty of Engineering
* Faculty of Humanities and Letters
* Faculty of Law
* Faculty of Music and Performing Arts
* Faculty of Science

### Schools

* Graduate School of Education
* School of Applied Languages
* School of Applied Technology and Management
* Vocational School of Computer Technology and Office Management
* Vocational School of Tourism and Hotel Services

## Rankings

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings consistently ranks Bilkent University as one of the top universities in Turkey.
| Year | Turkey | In Asia | In the World |
| 2010-11 | 1st | 14th | 112th |
| 2011-12 | 1st | 21st | 201-225th |
| 2012-13 | 2nd | 27th | 226-250th |
| 2013-14 | 4th | 31st | 226-250th |
| 2014-15 | 5th | 25th | 201-225th |
| 2015-16 | 3rd | 45th | 351-400th |
| 2016-17 | 3rd | 46th | 351-400th |
| 2017-18 | 3rd | 54th | 401-500th |
| 2018-19 | 3rd | 82nd | 501-600th |
| 2019-20 | 3rd | n/a | 501-600th |
Bilkent, as a university with less than 50 years of history, is also ranked as one of the most prestigious younger universities in the world:
| Year | Turkey | In the world |
| 2012 | 1st | 32nd |
| 2013 | 2nd | 39th |
| 2014 | 1st | 31st |
| 2015 | 2nd | 28th |
| 2016 | 3rd | 76th |
THE powered by Thomson Reuters ranked Bilkent in the category BRICS & Emerging Economies as follows:
| Year | Turkey | In the world |
| 2014 | 4th | 12th |
| 2015 | 5th | 19th |
| 2016 | 3rd | 41st |
Bilkent University is particularly noted for the quality of its Faculty of Engineering. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings rank Bilkent among the top 100 universities for Engineering and Technology, as follows:
| Year | Turkey | In the world |
| 2013-14 | 1st | 98th |
The Faculty of Business Administration of Bilkent University was the first business school in Turkey to be accredited by AACSB; less than 5% of the business schools around the world have received this accreditation. The business school has been ranked by Eduniversal among the best business schools of the Eurasia region for international influence.
According to the QS World University Rankings of 2012 and 2013 the university ranks in the 151–200 range in the subject of "Economics & Econometrics".

## Student life
### Sports

Students can participate in many sports courses and be trained by university staff, mostly for free. The university presents many individuals and teams in different sports in varsity competitions. The most well-known sport teams of the university are the Bilkent Goats and the Bilkent Judges, the ultimate team and the football team, respectively.

### Student unions and clubs

The board and the departmental members of the Bilkent Student Union are chosen annually among all registered university students. The Student Union is the main sponsor and the organizer of Mayfest, the traditional Bilkent University summer festival. Various student clubs organize regular activities every day on and off the campus, mostly open to everyone. All students are allowed to join, or participate in the events and activities of any club they wish to. Student union and club activities are coordinated under the supervision of Student Events Center of Bilkent.

### Recreation

Bilkent University is host to numerous events regarding music and the performing arts. The university also sponsors frequent lectures, art exhibitions, and literary evenings throughout the academic year. During the first week of may, each year Mayfest is held. Mayfest is a well-known festival among the youth of Ankara, consisting of a large number of activities, as well as open-air concerts where renowned Turkish pop and rock bands and singers take the stage every night throughout the week.

## Affiliations
### Centers

* National Research Center for Magnetic Resonance (UMRAM)
* Bilkent University Center for European Union Affairs
* Ahmed Adnan Saygun Center for Music Research and Education
* Bilkent Center for Advanced Studies (BICAS)
* Center for Mind, Language & Culture
* Center for Brain Research
* Center for Environmental Sciences
* Center for International Economics
* Center for Russian Studies
* Center for Studies in Society and Politics
* Center for Turkish Language and Speech Processing
* Center for Turkish Politics and History
* Center for Research in Transitional Societies (CRTS)
* Center for Turkish Literature
* Communications and Spectrum Management Research Center (ISYAM)
* Genetics and Biotechnology Research and Development Center (BILGEN)
* Halil Inalcık Center of Ottoman Studies
* Nanotechnology Research Center (NANOTAM)
* National Nanotechnology Research Center (UNAM)
* Bilkent University Computational Electromagnetics Research Center (BiLCEM)

### Cyberpark

Bilkent Cyberpark, founded in 2002, is the fastest growing techno park in Turkey serving with 240 technology-based companies, one micro nano chip factory, five research centers, and 4,00 personnel.

### Institutes

* Institute of Economic and Social Sciences
* Institute of Engineering and Science
* Institute of Fine Arts
* Institute of Music and Performing Arts
* Institute of World Systems, Economies and Strategic Research
* Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology

## Notable people
### Faculty

* István Aranyosi - Faculty of Humanities and Letters
* Gürer Aykal - Faculty of Music, conductor
* Suna Kan - Faculty of Music, violinist
* Gülsin Onay - Faculty of Music, pianist
* Fazıl Say - Faculty of Music, pianist
* Jason Hale - Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, Theatre Department Chair, actor and director
* Talat Sait Halman - Dean of the School of Humanities and Letters, first Minister of Culture of Turkey
* Stanford J. Shaw - Faculty of History
* Halil İnalcık - Faculty of History
* Norman Stone - Faculty of International Relations, and History
* Hikmet Sami Türk - Faculty of Law, former Minister of Justice of Turkey
* İlber Ortaylı - Faculty of Law
* Sami Selçuk - Faculty of Law, former Head Judge of the Supreme Court of Turkey
* Abdullah Atalar - Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
* Orhan Aytür - Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
* Erdal Arıkan - Founder of Polar Codes, Faculty of Engineering, Department in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
* Mustafa Akgül - School of Applied Technology and Management, Department of Computer Technology and Information Systems
* Hilmi Volkan Demir - Faculty of Science, Department of Physics, and Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Director of UNAM

### Alumni

* Başak Köklükaya - Actress
* Binnur Kaya - Actress
* Demir Demirkan - Rock musician
* Emrah Yücel - Graphic designer and president of the Turkish Film Festival
* Erdem Başçı - Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey
* Esra Bilgiç Töre - Actress
* Mete Atatüre - Turkish physicist
* Gizem Girişmen - Disabled female archer and gold medalist at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
* Gizem Memiç - Former Miss Turkey titleholder who represented Turkey both in Miss Universe and Miss World in 2010
* Hakan Fidan - Minister of Foreign Affairs, former soldier, academic and the head of the National Intelligence Organization
* Haluk Akakçe - Painter and audiovisual artist
* Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu - Diplomat and politician; current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey
* Hande Dalkılıç - Pianist
* Seth Ariel Tongay - Material Scientist
* Ibrahim Sirkeci - Professor of Transnational Studies and Marketing at Regent's University London
* Kaan Tangöze - Rock musician as known from Duman
* Murat Han - Actor
* Nasuh Mahruki - Mountaineer, first Turk to climb Mount Everest and the founder of search and rescue team, AKUT
* Nevşin Mengü - News reporter
* Orkut Büyükkökten - Employee of Google who developed the social networking service called Orkut
* Şahan Gökbakar - Comedian
* Tamer Karadağlı - Actor
* Tarkan Gözübüyük - Musician as known from Pentagram, producer
* Vuslat Doğan Sabancı - Former chairwoman of Hürriyet
* Yasemin Mori - Musician
* Yiğit Bulut - Journalist and a senior advisor to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
* Hatice Özer Ballı - Professor of applied econometrics in New Zealand