Istanbul Technical University
Istanbul Technical University (, commonly referred to as ITU or The Technical University) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university dedicated to engineering sciences as well as social sciences recently, and is one of the most prominent educational institutions in Turkey. ITU is ranked 173rd worldwide (1st nationwide) in the field of "Engineering & Technology", and 307th worldwide (1st nationwide) in the field of "Natural Sciences" by the QS World University Rankings in 2016. The university has 99 undergraduate, 192 graduate programs, 14 faculties, labs with total 154,000  m area, and 12 research centers. The lecturer / student ratio is 1/25. Acceptance to the university is competitive, and entrance to most of its departments require scoring among the top 1% of nearly 2 million applicants at the national university entrance examination known as "YKS" every year. Graduates of ITU have received many TUBITAK science and TUBA awards. Numerous graduates have also become members of the academy of sciences in the U.S.A, Britain and Russia. The university's basketball team, ITUSpor, is in the Turkish Basketball Super League. History. Ottoman Empire. Considered as the world's third institution of higher  learning specifically dedicated to engineering education, Istanbul Technical University (ITU) has a long and distinguished history which began in 1773. ITU was founded by Sultan Mustafa III as the Imperial School of Naval Engineering (), and it was originally dedicated to train ship builders and cartographers. In 1795 the scope of the school was broadened to train technical military staff for the modernization of the Ottoman army. In 1845 the engineering function of the school was further widened with the addition of a program devoted to the training of architects. The scope and name of the school were extended and changed  again in 1883 and in 1909 the school became a public engineering school which was aimed at training civil engineers who could provide the infrastructure for the rapidly developing country. Modern Turkey. By 1928 the institution had gained formal recognition as a university of engineering which provided education in both engineering and architecture. In 1944 the name of the institution was changed to Istanbul Technical University and in 1946 the institution became an autonomous university with architecture, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering faculties. With its long history of 243 years, its modern teaching environment, and well-qualified teaching staff, Istanbul  Technical University today is the personification of engineering and architectural education in Turkey. Istanbul Technical University not only played a leading role in the modernization movement of the Ottoman Empire, but has also maintained its leadership position in the changes and innovations taking place in the construction, industrialization, and technological realms during the modern days of the Turkish Republic. Engineers and architects trained at Istanbul Technical University have played significant roles in the construction of Turkey. Alumni also played a significant role in Turkish politics. Academics. The structure of faculties, except the Faculty of Science and Letters, at ITU is  comparable to those of "schools" in the U.S. institutions, where each faculty is composed of two or more departments in line with a comprehensive engineering field. For example, the Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering consists of the departments of electrical engineering, control engineering, electronics and communication engineering Institutes and Research Centers. There are several Research Groups in ITU, including: Planned Research Center Projects: Finally, ITU also has the following departments / educational institutes that are not tied to any of the faculties, but serve as independent departments. These include International perspective and rankings. 25 engineering departments of ITU are accredited  by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Also ITU's Faculty of Architecture is accredited by NAAB and the Faculty of Maritime is accredited by IMO. Minimum score of 79 from TOEFL IBT, or success in the English proficiency exam is one of the prerequisites to register the Bachelor, Master, or Doctorate level courses at ITU. Instruction is both in English and Turkish (roughly 30% and 70%, respectively or 100% in English for some disciplines). Master and Doctorate courses are mostly held in English. ITU is highly reputable institution in the area of engineering sciences within the Europe. Therefore , the university provides a broad range of options, that involve highly reputable institutions, to its students for the Erasmus Mobility. In the QS World University Rankings 2022, ITU is ranked within the top 200 universities in the subject areas "Engineering - Petroleum", "Engineering - Mineral & Mining", "Engineering - Civil and Structural", "Engineering - Electrical and Electronics", "Engineering - Mechanical", "Engineering - Chemical", "Architecture & Built Environment", and it is ranked within the top 350 universities in the subject areas "Computer Science and Information Systems", "Environmental Sciences", "Material Sciences", "Mathematics", "Physics & Astronomy", "Chemistry". Campus. ITU is a public (state) university. It has five campuses, which are located in  the most important areas of Istanbul. Among ITU's five campuses, the main campus of Maslak, in Sarıyer, is a suburban campus, covering a total area of 2.64 km². The University Rectorate, swimming pool, stadium, along with most of the faculties, student residence halls and the central library of ITU are located there. Another suburban campus of ITU is the Tuzla Campus. It serves the Maritime Faculty students and faculty members. It is located in the Tuzla district of Istanbul, which is a dockyard area. The three urban campuses are near to one another and are situated close to Taksim  Square. Taşkışla campus is where the Faculty of Architecture is located. The Taşkışla building is one of the most renowned historical buildings in Istanbul. It dates backs to the Ottoman era and was used as military barracks. Gümuşsuyu (Mechanical Engineering Faculty) and Maçka (Management Faculty) campuses are also among the important historical buildings of Istanbul. Triga Mark-2 Nuclear Reactor. ITU's nuclear reactor of Triga Mark-2 is in the Maslak campus. It is located at the Energy Institute. Arı Technopolis. Since the foundation in 2003 Arı Technopolis, which is located at the Ayazağa Campus, provides companies with research, technology development  and production opportunities at the university, in cooperation with the researchers and academicians. The technopolis have two buildings:Arı-1 and Arı-2. Arı-3 building in Maslak and another building in Floria are announced to build. Arı Technopolis has the 49% of export among technopolises in Turkey. National High Performance Computing Center. NHPCC, is located in the Ayazağa Campus. It is the national center for high performance computing. The super computer of this center was one of the world's top 500 list super computers (240th). Student life. Athletics. Having a suburban campus like Maslak has created the opportunity of building many  sports areas. Ayazağa Gymnasium is the center of sports in ITU. Ayazağa Gymnasium also has a stadium with a seating capacity of 3500 for basketball and volleyball matches. A fitness center is also located there. Basketball matches are among the most important sports activities in ITU. The ITU basketball Team, which won the Turkish Basketball League Championship five times, currently plays in the Turkish Basketball League's Second Division (TB2L). Ayazağa Gymnasium is the home of the ITU Basketball Team. Despite the successes in basketball, the football team of ITU plays in the amateur league. A football stadium is also  located in Ayazağa, where the football team plays its matches. Tennis courts and an indoor Olympic swimming pool, which is opened in May 2007, are also available in the Ayazaga Campus. An open-air swimming pool serves the ITU faculties. ITU's American football team ITU Hornets has won the Unilig (Turkish University Sports Leagues) Super League of American football in the 2013-2014 season and in 2014-2015 season. Other sports clubs/activities in ITU are: Badminton, ultimate, fencing, diving, winter sports, dancing and gymnastics, tennis, paintball, aikido, athletics, mountaineering, bridge, swimming, cycling and triathlon, skiing, parachuting, korfball, handball , iaido, capoeira, wrestling, archery, ultimate frisbee and sailing. Social life. ITU offers many options to students who like doing extra-curricular work during their studying years. The most popular ones are Rock Club, Cinema Club, Model United Nations, EPGIK, International Engineering Club. Also ITU has an option for those who like to organise events and socialise with people from various European countries in the Local Board of European Students of Technology Group which had 40 members in 2007. Despite all these, it can still be a little quiet in the campus from time to time because students can choose the  city of Istanbul over the campus life. ITU Model United Nations (ITUMUN). Model United Nations Society of ITU is one of the most active student clubs in the University. Participating in MUN conferences regularly, both domestic and international, MUN society offers an opportunity for personal development. Model United Nations is a conference where students participate as United Nations delegates. Participants research and formulate political positions based on the actual policies of the countries they represent. Housing. ITU dormitories have a capacity of 3,000 students. They include Lakeside Housings, IMKB Dormitory, Verda Urundul, Ayazaga Dormitory and Gumussuyu dormitory. Additional dormitories are  planned. Radio ITU. Radio ITU (or Technical University Radio) is the first university radio station in Turkey. Radio ITU is located in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering building on Maslak campus. Entertainment. ITU Stadium is one of the most popular locations in Istanbul for concerts and such those performances. For instance, Metallica (in 2014), Justin Timberlake (in 2014), and Roger Waters (in 2013) gave concerts at the ITU stadium. Lady Gaga also performed at the stadium on September 16, 2014 to a sold-out crowd of 19,157 people as part of her . Notable alumni. Many of the graduates  take role in the development of Turkey, with many of them playing significant roles in constructing bridges, roads and buildings. For instance, Emin Halid Onat and Ahmet Orhan Arda are architects of Anıtkabir. Süleyman Demirel (civil engineer) and Turgut Özal (electrical engineer) are the two former presidents of Turkey. Necmettin Erbakan (mechanical engineer) and Binali Yildirim (naval architecture and ocean engineering) were former prime ministers of Turkey.