Sabancı University 22nd-year undergraduate and 25th-year graduate students commencement ceremonies were held on the Tuzla campus. Güler Sabancı, Founding Chair of the Board of Trustees of Sabancı University, said, “In the new century of our Republic, the duty of all of us, especially you, the young people, is to continue to progress in the light of science, with the ideal of a better future. No matter how difficult the conditions you face, no matter how difficult times you go through, you should always be on the side of human rights, the rule of law, equality, and peace."
Sabancı University's 22nd-year undergraduate and 25th-year graduate students commencement ceremonies were held on the university's Tuzla campus. Sabancı University Founding Chair of the Board of Trustees Güler Sabancı, Sabancı University President Prof. Dr. Yusuf Leblebici, faculty members, and families of the graduating students attended the ceremony where a total of 977 students graduated from the Faculties of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences and Sabancı Business School.
In her speech to the graduates, Güler Sabancı, Founding Chair of the Sabancı University Board of Trustees, recalled her speech prepared by artificial intelligence last year and continued as follows:
“This year, we asked artificial intelligence, “What advice should I give to young people in my graduation speech?”. I came across a very long list. I chose 1 or2 of them, and I would like to share with you some of the answers that I find important. As you all know, our world is going through a great transformation, it is becoming digital, and this transformation radically changes all needs. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and automation are revolutionizing the business world. The interdisciplinary thinking ability you gain as Sabancı University graduates allows you to move away from vicious cycles and develop more comprehensive, creative solutions. For this, always make decisions based on scientific data, maintain your data-based thinking habit, and do not hesitate to do research. While you make the most of the opportunities brought by technology, you should also be prepared for possible threats. Be sensitive to the ethical use of artificial intelligence, data privacy, and cybersecurity.”
Continue to progress in the light of science
In her speech to the new graduates, Güler Sabancı stated that they are transitioning to a different world and a new life, and said, "You have all the necessary knowledge and equipment to be successful in such an environment where there are multiple crises and wars. In your long life, you will experience many transitions. The way to make these transitions successful throughout your life is to stick to the power and guidance of science, be open to change and learning, be flexible, and be solution-oriented."
Adding that former graduates have achieved great success internationally, Sabancı said, “I am sure that you, like all other Sabancı University graduates, will achieve great success in the future. In the new century of our Republic, the duty of all of us, especially you, the young people, is to continue to progress in the light of science, with the ideal of a better future. And remember, in the most difficult times and the most difficult decisions, universal values will always light your way: You should be on the side of human rights, the rule of law, equality, and peace.”
Our goal is to become one of the world's leading research universities
Güler Sabancı continued her speech by adding that she remembered the late Sakıp Sabancı, the Honorary Chair of the university, with great love and respect:
“This year is the 20th anniversary of his passing away. We will always continue to keep him alive with his ideas. Sakıp Bey said at the opening of our university in 1999, “We are late, but we will turn this into an advantage. We will build a university that is assertive in education with the latest technologies and the most advanced thoughts.” Today, we are a young but extremely experienced institution, 25 years old. At this point, we have more than 11 thousand undergraduate graduates. The number of our master's and doctoral graduates is over 6 thousand. As an institution that has implemented the best examples of academy and industry collaborations in our country, we have carried out more than 2 thousand projects so far. As a university, we have invested in nearly forty startups. We have always been a pioneer, exemplary and innovative in Turkey in the field of academic and scientific research, both with our understanding of education and our university structure. Sabancı University increases its success every semester with the aim of becoming one of the world's leading research universities.”
The number of students we admit from the top 1000 is increasing greatly
In his speech at the graduation ceremony, Sabancı University President Prof. Dr. Yusuf Leblebici said: “It gives us great happiness and pride to see the most successful students from all corners of Turkey in the ranks of Sabancı University every year. According to the university exam results, we managed to more than double the number of students we admitted from the top 1000 in 5 years. More than 50 percent of our newly enrolled students come from the first 20 thousand, and more than 90 percent come from the first 100 thousand. Knowing that our female student ratio has reached 40 percent increases our pride even more".
The new data science and analytics program will be a groundbreaking step in the field
"In addition, starting next year, we will begin to offer our undergraduate students a brand new, completely interfaculty and interdisciplinary program option called Data Science and Analytics. We anticipate that this new program, which will focus especially on the application of big data and artificial intelligence technologies to fields such as management sciences, finance, social sciences, economics, and psychology, will be a groundbreaking step in its field.”
97 percent of our graduates find employment as soon as they receive their diploma
Leblebici continued as follows: “We are pleased to observe that 97 percent of our graduates start business life in the sectors they prefer as soon as they receive their diplomas or continue their postgraduate education in the country of their choice. Today, more than 23 percent of Sabancı University graduates successfully continue their work abroad, in various countries around the world, in the most prominent companies and organizations. We are proud of our graduates who, after graduating from Sabancı University, established their own businesses, achieved worldwide success, and are at the forefront of the world of science and art."
Our rise in research quality continues in international rankings
"Our goal is not only to be the best in Turkey, but also to become a real research university that is recognized and appreciated all over the world. According to independent data provided by international evaluation organizations, we can proudly say that we are now ahead of the Technical University of Vienna and the University of Stuttgart, for example, in the field of research quality. Similarly, in terms of international visibility, we are ahead of the Technical University of Milan, the Technical University of Turin, and the University of Stuttgart. These results are an indication that at Sabancı University we are achieving the ambitious goals we set for ourselves. The fact that we have an active project budget of nearly 60 million dollars to support our currently ongoing research projects also strengthens us. We form strong collaborations in the field of research with leading universities abroad and well-established institutions such as Stanford, Cambridge, Imperial College, Edinburgh, EPFL, Singapore Nanyang, Leuven, and Turin. In recent months, we have been invited to the Venice International University consortium, formed by 25 of the world's leading universities, and we have joined this consortium as a full member."
At the ceremony, the top students of the faculties were also given awards provided by the fund established in the will of the late Sakıp Sabancı, Honorary Chair of the Board of Trustees. Özgür Yılmaz Beker, Ege Demirci, Efe Tüzün, Görkem Yar, Ege Zorlutuna and Eylül Öykü Şen from the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Hikmet Nazan Denktaş from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and Berk Sezer from Sabancı Business School, were presented their awards by Güler Sabancı, Founding Chair of the Sabancı University Board of Trustees. Sabancı University 2024 graduates showed their happiness by throwing their caps into the air at the end of the ceremony.
