09/01/2026
The application period for the Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards, established according to the will of Sakıp Sabancı, Honorary Chair of Sabancı University, has been extended. Applications for the 2026 award program, the theme of which is "Planetary Realities: Rethinking Governance Beyond Borders", can be submitted until February 17, 2025.
Organized by Sabancı University and being the first international award program in Türkiye in the field of social sciences, the Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards are accepting articles related to the theme "Planetary Realities: Rethinking Governance Beyond Borders" this year. The award program, which has attracted great interest from researchers working in the field of social sciences, will accept applications until February 17, 2025. The Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards will present a Special Jury Prize of USD 25,000 to a researcher who has made outstanding contributions to the 2026 theme. Three researchers under the age of 45 will receive Article Awards. The authors of the three selected articles in the article category will each receive an award of USD 10,000.
This year's award theme focuses on Sakıp Sabancı's legacy of values.
The Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards, the first international award program in Türkiye in the field of social sciences, have been held every year since 2006. The theme chosen for 2026 draws attention to the fact that in our world, redefined by borderless problems such as the climate crisis, digital information regimes, pandemics, and the sharing of space resources, these problems are still mostly addressed with fragmented and inadequate, nation-state-centric responses. Researchers are invited to reflect on questions such as: "How can new forms of governance be shaped in the face of planetary problems?", "How can information flows be democratized in the digital world?", "How can new ethical frameworks (justice, rights, equality) be established between local and global?", "Are governance models that prioritize public benefit possible against profit-oriented global platforms?", "How should collective responsibility be defined in the face of planetary problems such as the climate crisis, space pollution, and pandemics?". The 2026 theme aligns strongly with Sakıp Sabancı's legacy of values in today's world, where younger generations are calling for not only national but also global responsibility.
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