10/11/2025
Sabancı University organized a joint workshop with Imperial College London, one of the top universities in Europe and the world, on November 2-3. At the event, held on the Tuzla Campus, important decisions were made between Sabancı University and Imperial College London regarding seed funding, student exchanges, and research collaborations.
Sabancı University continues to foster international collaborations as part of its internationalization strategy. Our university held a workshop to discuss new collaboration opportunities with Imperial College London, ranked second in the world and first in Europe in the QS 2026 World University Rankings.
Guests at the two-day event held at the Sabancı University Tuzla Campus included Sabancı University Founding Chair of the Board of Trustees Güler Sabancı, Eczacıbaşı Holding Chair of the Board Bülent Eczacıbaşı, Eczacıbaşı Holding Executive Board Member Emre Eczacıbaşı, Sabancı University President Yusuf Leblebici, and Imperial College Provost and Deputy President Peter Haynes.
The first day of the event began with presentations by faculty members from Sabancı University and Imperial College London. Nur Mustafaoğlu, Canan Atılgan, Onur Varol, Dilara Keküllüoğlu, Ali Rana Atılgan, Polat Göktaş, Sinan Yıldırım, Umut Şahin, Duygu Kuzuoğlu Öztürk, Mehmet Emre Özfatura, Burç Mısırlıoğlu, Öznur Taştan, Mina Namvari, Tülay İnan, and Özge Akbulut from Sabancı University presented their ongoing projects and research.
Representing Imperial College London were Fırat Güder, Periklis Pantazis, Lucia Lombardi, Cariny Polesca, Sergei Kucherenko, Shahin Jalili, Arnab Majumdar, Mengxing Tang, and Brenna Parke, who also gave research presentations. At the end of the day, the delegation visited the Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM).
Many other academics and administrators from Sabancı University, including Cem Güneri, Mehmet Yıldız, Erkay Savaş, Yusuf Menceloğlu, İnanç Arın, Mehmet Ali Gülgün, Alpagut Kara, Fevzi Çakmak Cebeci, Levent Öztürk, Serkan Ünal, Burcu Saner Okan, and Mert Umut Özkaynak, also participated in the workshop. The British Consulate General in Istanbul was represented at the event by Ece Tanış, the Consulate’s Science and Technology Officer.
President Leblebici delivered the opening remarks.
The second day of the workshop began with an opening speech by Sabancı University President Yusuf Leblebici, who stated that Sabancı University attaches great importance to international collaborations with the goal of strengthening its position among the world’s leading research universities. He pointed out that the long-term visions of the two institutions regarding interdisciplinary research and internationalization are complementary, and stated his belief that a very productive collaboration can be achieved. Underlining the fact that productive academic collaborations are usually not the result of top-down roadmaps imposed from above, but rather the result of a bottom-up, mutual understanding and agreement between the academics who will actually conduct the work, Leblebici emphasized that the workshop was a very important step in this direction.
Bülent Eczacıbaşı: I believe that long-lasting bridges will be built.
Bülent Eczacıbaşı, an Imperial College graduate, stated, “I believe this meeting will mark the beginning of a journey bringing together two universities dedicated to science, engineering, and discovery.” Eczacıbaşı emphasized that Imperial’s interdisciplinary approach, which brings together physicists and biologists, data analysts, and engineers, is reflected in the fact that it ranks second in the QS rankings. Regarding Sabancı University, he said, “Since its founding 25 years ago, Sabancı University has earned a special place among universities characterized by innovation, technology, and excellence. Its interdisciplinary education model has eliminated departmental boundaries, given students the freedom to explore their own academic paths, and fostered strong collaborations between academia and industry. Sabancı University has earned a well-deserved reputation among Turkish universities for its research quality and societal impact.” Eczacıbaşı added, “I believe that this collaboration between Sabancı University and Imperial College will build long-lasting bridges that will bring together young scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to address the world’s needs.”
Peter Haynes: Two universities are collaborating to share the future.
In his speech, Imperial College Provost and Deputy President Peter Haynes said, “This collaboration between Imperial College and Sabancı University will open a path for researchers in various fields to realize their potential and create new opportunities for them. It will create opportunities for both parties to share networks. Our collaboration, which begins today, is not merely an academic one; it is part of the investments made by both universities to share the future.”
Within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by both institutions in recent weeks, concrete steps were also taken for establishing seed funding mechanisms, student exchanges, and collaboration agreements aimed at supporting research between Sabancı University and Imperial College. The event concluded with a visit by a delegation from Sabancı University and Imperial College to the Composite Technologies Center of Excellence in Istanbul Teknopark.
