25/12/2025
The Sabancı University Awards in Arts and Sciences, which aim to make the university's academic output and social contribution visible, were presented at a ceremony held for the first time this year as part of the Sabancı University Year-End Program. The ceremony, held within the framework of the year-end program, marked the beginning of a new award tradition that highlights Sabancı University's achievements in academic and research fields.
The awards were presented by President Prof. Dr. Yusuf Leblebici, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meltem Müftüler-Baç, Dean of Sabancı Business School Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Toker, and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Prof. Dr. Erkay Savaş.
Before the award ceremony, Sabancı University President Prof. Dr. Yusuf Leblebici addressed the audience, giving a presentation to comprehensively evaluate the university's academic, research, and institutional development for the year 2025. Leblebici, who shared up-to-date data on student profiles, graduation figures, research outputs, and international collaborations, provided information about the Sabancı University Awards in Arts and Sciences, which were held for the first time this year, in the final part of his presentation.
In his speech, President Leblebici touched upon the process of the creation of the Awards in Arts and Sciences, stating that the program was brought to life as a result of a participatory process that began in December 2023 and took shape with the active participation of faculty members over approximately one year. He stated that the program design was developed by a working group established within the University Research Council (URC), and that the process was fine-tuned with feedback from relevant boards and officially approved in January 2025. He emphasized that the awards aim to make visible not only individual academic achievements but also works that prioritize interdisciplinary interaction and societal impact.
Shaped within this framework, the Sabancı University Awards in Arts and Sciences stand out as a holistic program reflecting the university's research-oriented vision, both in its scope and evaluation approach. The aim, categories, and evaluation process of the award are defined as follows:
The aim of the Sabancı Awards in Arts and Sciences.
Sabancı University Awards in Arts and Sciences aim to encourage and reward research excellence in the fields of Arts and Sciences, highlighting scholarly contributions that have a global impact. This program, which aims to publicize groundbreaking research to national and international audiences and ensure its visibility, awarded prizes in three categories this year, selected with the highest academic rigor, as follows:
Outstanding Scholar Award: Erhan Budak
Lightning Scholar Award: Nur Mustafaoğlu
Societal Impact Award: A. Betül Çelik and Özge Akbulut
Award Categories and Amounts
- Outstanding Scholar Award – 10.000 $
- Lightning Scholar Award– 5.000 $
- Societal Impact Award – 5.000 $
(Two awards were given in this category this year.)
Evaluation Process
A shortlist is created based on field and category from among the applicant faculty members by the Evaluation Panel consisting of a chairperson and a minimum of five and a maximum of seven university members. Three members of the Evaluation Panel are selected by the Faculty Boards, and the remaining members are selected by the University Research Council. To ensure an objective and independent assessment, the evaluation panel considers the opinions of three internationally recognized experts in the relevant field for shortlisted candidates.
This year's Evaluation Panel consists of seven highly productive and recognized members of the university: Zehra Sayers, Ayşe Kadıoğlu, Nihat Kasap, Mehmet Baç, Yusuf Menceloğlu, Ferruh Özbudak, and Nebi Sümer.
Award Design
During the award design process, Onur Yazıcıgil and Christopher Çolak from Sabancı University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences supported us by contributing to the conceptual design of the awards and designing the typography of the inscriptions featured on them. Building on this contribution, we aim to collaborate with a different artist each year to create a distinctive award. This year, we worked with glass artist Kadriye Camcı to shape the award’s artistic interpretation.
About the award winners:
Outstanding Scholar Award: Erhan Budak
Prof. Dr. Erhan Budak is a globally recognized leader in machining and machine tools. A distinguished Fellow of CIRP (Collège International pour la Recherche en Productique) and AET (Academy of Engineering and Technology), Prof. Dr. Budak has produced pioneering research that advances science and influences industry and engineering education. He has secured significant research funding from national and international sources and has transformed his research into successful technological innovations through entrepreneurial activities and start-ups.
The establishment of the Manufacturing Research Laboratory and the development of the Manufacturing Engineering Program at Sabancı University, among other lasting academic contributions, are tangible evidence of his scientific and institutional leadership.
Lightning Scholar Award: Nur Mustafaoğlu
The main goal of the research conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Nur Mustafaoğlu, a faculty member at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, is to decipher the blood-brain barrier (BBB). To this end, she utilizes organ chip models, stem cell technologies, and nanotechnology. By uncovering the unknown aspects of the interaction between the BBB and brain diseases such as epilepsy, cancer, and Alzheimer's, she aims to pave the way for the development of innovative strategies for the treatment of these diseases.
The research conducted in Mustafaoğlu's laboratory is progressing within the framework of international collaboration. Three of the original projects supported by national and international funds have been completed, and 11 are ongoing. Most recently, the META-Brain Project received €1.5 million in funding from the European Research Council (ERC). This project investigates how lung cancer cells metastasize to the brain by crossing the BBB.
Societal Impact Award: A. Betül Çelik
Dr. Çelik is a nationally and internationally recognized academic working in the field of peace-making and conflict resolution, one of the most pressing issues of our time. Her work stands out for transforming academic knowledge into practical proposals and concrete initiatives; particularly empowering the voices of marginalized communities such as displaced refugees and victims of war.
In this process, she places special emphasis on empowering women and ensuring their active participation in conflict resolution initiatives. She conducts her work in alignment with concrete goals such as gender equality and the establishment of peace, justice, and strong institutions.
Overall, Prof. Dr. Betül Çelik's work has played a decisive role in improving the lives of numerous people to date. This clearly demonstrates her strong social contribution and her ability to translate her scientific research into long-term public benefit.
Societal Impact Award: Özge Akbulut
Dr. Özge Akbulut, as one of Sabancı University's first graduates, is an academic who has attracted attention with her successful work on national and international platforms. Since the beginning of 2012, she has been demonstrating an exemplary entrepreneurial approach in transforming the research outputs she has been conducting in the field of materials science and engineering at our university into tangible products. Her work on the design of breast simulators, or silicone-based composite breasts, for the training of young surgeons who want to specialize in breast-conserving surgery (oncoplasty), at the request of the instructors of the Turkish Senology Academy (SENATÜRK), stands out.
Dr. Akbulut founded Surgitate, a company producing synthetic breast models developed through collaboration between surgeons, designers, and industrial mold makers. Surgitate's breast model is considered the gold standard globally today and holds 75% of the breast model market. Surgitate touches the lives of 50,000 women worldwide every year.
Her initiatives to raise public awareness about breast cancer are also noteworthy. Posters explaining how women can perform self-examination and tactile breast models pave the way for early detection.
As an academic CEO and Chief Scientific Officer at Fark Labs, Dr. Akbulut continues her work with the goal of "improving human life and the environment through science and technology." She is a valuable scientist who has succeeded in building a strong bridge between academia and the business world.
