Sabancı University Leads with 27 New TÜBİTAK 1001 Projects

23/01/2026

The results of the 2nd term of the TÜBİTAK-ARDEB 1001 Program for 2025 once again revealed the universities with the top research performance in Türkiye. Sabancı University became the university receiving the most support within the scope of the program, with 27 new projects approved in this call and a budget of approximately 62 million TL. It also stood out with highest project productivity per faculty member, when considering the number of its academic staff.

According to the evaluation results of the 2025 - 2nd term of the 1001-Scientific and Technological Research Projects Support Program, 17 projects from the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, 4 from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, 1 from Sabancı Business School, 2 from EFSUN, 1 from SUNUM, and 2 from TÜMER were found deserving of support.

The program will also support 9 postdoctoral researchers, 28 doctoral students, 26 master's students, and 1 undergraduate student as scholarship recipients. This demonstrates Sabancı University's strong performance not only in terms of the number of projects but also in developing qualified human resources and sustainable research capacity.

Our projects that received TÜBİTAK 1001 support in the 2nd period of 2025:

SABANCI UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND NATURAL SCIENCES

The project “A Fully Decentralized and Scalable Federated Learning Infrastructure with Fair Participation that Protects Data Privacy and Model Integrity for Health and Finance Applications”, of which our faculty member Albert Levi is the principal investigator, with Beyhan Adanur Dedetürk from Abdullah Gül University as researcher.
The project “High Accuracy Modeling of Machining Processes with Physics-Based Machine Learning”, of which our researcher Arash Ebrahimi Araghizad is the principal investigator, with our faculty members Erhan Budak and Kemal Kılıç, and Umut Karagüzel from Yıldız Technical University as researchers.
The project “Determination of Trajectory Parameters of X-ray Binaries and Temporal and Spectral Analysis of Their Long-Term Variations”, of which Can Güngör from Istanbul University is the principal investigator, with our faculty member Ersin Göğüş as researcher.
The project “Dynamics of Weighted Shifts on Directed Graphs”, of which our faculty member Dimitrios Papathanasiou is the principal investigator.
The project “Understanding the Physics of Jet Formation and Disappearance in Black Hole Binary Systems by Studying Flare Emissions and Decays with Multiband Observations and the Most Advanced General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations,” of which our faculty member Emrah Kalemci is the principal investigator.
The project “Non-Equilibrium Dynamics of Open Quantum Systems,” of which our faculty member Göktuğ Karpat is the principal investigator, with Barış Çakmak from SUNY Farmingdale as researcher.
The project “Diffusion-Assisted Nucleated Ray Tracing for New Appearance Synthesis with Gaussian Interdivision,” of which our faculty member Hüseyin Özkan is the principal investigator, with our faculty member Erchan Aptoula as researcher.
The project "Innovative Soft-Legged Mobile Robot Design and Development", of which our faculty member Melih Türkseven is the principal investigator, with our faculty member Ezgi Karabulut Türkseven and Ali Fallah from Atılım University as researchers, and our faculty members Kemalettin Erbatur and Bahattin Koç as advisors.
The project "FlexiCampus: Integration of Behavior, Prediction and Optimization for Sector-Integrated Smart Campuses", of which our faculty member Nikolaos Koltsaklis is the principal investigator, with our faculty member Erdal Aydın as researcher.
The project "Decomposition and Combination of Twisted Functions", of which our faculty member Nurdagül Anbar Meidl is the principal investigator, with Buket Özkaya from METU as researcher, and Enes Pasalic from Primorska University as advisor.
The project "Development of LLM-Supported Dynamic Web Honeypots and Analysis of Aggressive Behaviors", of which our faculty member Orçun Çetin is the principal investigator.
The project "Time-Dependent Transportation Durations and Double-Visit Service Logistics", of which our faculty member Ömer Erhun Kundakcıoğlu is the principal investigator.
The project "Heterogeneous Convolutional Neural Network Accelerator Design for Resource-Constrained Edge-Based Computing Applications", of which our faculty member Özcan Öztürk is the principal investigator.
The project “New Synthesis Strategies, Microstructural Design, and Capacitive Energy Storage Performances of Chromium, Nickel, and Molybdenum-Containing Borocarbide and Borosilisite-Based Advanced Functional Materials”, of which Özge Balcı Çağıran from Izmir Institute of Technology is the principal investigator, with our faculty member Emre Erdem as researcher.
The project “MSN-BRAIN: Biocompatible Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Precise Drug Delivery in Breast Cancer Brain Metastases”, of which our researcher Sahar Porrang is the principal investigator, with our faculty member Nur Mustafaoğlu as advisor.
The project “Broadband Front-End Circuit Design for Dual-Band 60/77 GHz FMCW Automotive Radars”, of which our postdoctoral researcher Samira Firouz is the principal investigator, with our faculty member Yaşar Gürbüz as advisor.
The project “Computational Cognitive Mediation Model (HCM) for Adaptive Interaction in Augmented Reality”, of which our faculty member Selim Balcısoy is the principal investigator.
The project “Development of Phononic Sandwich Composite Structures with Adaptive Band Gap Behavior through Innovative Integrated Design and 4D Printing”, of which our faculty member Bekir Bediz is the principal investigator, with our faculty member Bahattin Koç as researcher, and our faculty member Kamer Kaya as advisor.
The project “Effect of Electrode Thickness on Electric Vehicle Battery Performance: Model-Based Evaluation and Long-Term Simulation”, of which our faculty member Tuğçe Yüksel Bediz is the principal investigator, with Elif Ceylan Cengiz from Siro Energy and Recep Önler from Gebze Technical University as researchers, and Damla Eroğlu Pala from Boğaziçi University as advisor.

SABANCI UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
The project “Smart and Selective Memory Activation Model”, of which our faculty member Eren Günseli is the principal investigator.
The project “Mobility and Urban Settlement Patterns, Experiences, and Practices of Syrians Amidst Return Expectations: A Translocal Study from Türkiye and Syria”, of which our faculty member Kristen Biehl is the principal investigator, with our faculty member Aslı İkizoğlu Erensu as researcher and scholarship recipient Samer Sharani as contributor.
The project “The Effect of Semantic Relationship and Context on Episodic Memory Performance and Misremembering”, of which our faculty member Nihan Alp is the principal investigator.
The project “Optimism Bias and Positive Mood Panel Studies”, of which our faculty member Robert Booth is the principal investigator.

SABANCI BUSINESS SCHOOL
The project “Investigation of Academic Entrepreneurship Processes Through Entrepreneurial Learning Approaches: The Case of Türkiye”, of which our faculty member Berna Beyhan is the principal investigator, with İ. Semih Akçomak from METU as researcher.

EFSUN
The project “Development of a Next-Generation Needleless Injection Device with Hydrodynamic Cavitation Effect for Cisplatin Treatment of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells”, of which our faculty member Gül Kozalak is the principal investigator, with our faculty member Ali Koşar and SUNUM researcher Özlem Kutlu as researchers, and our faculty member Morteza Ghorbani, Merva Soluk Tekkeşin from Ankara University, Özkan Alan from Istanbul University, and Hüseyin Üvet from Yıldız Technical University as advisors.
The project "Continuous Exfoliation of 2D Nanomaterials with a Three-Stage Rotating Hydrodynamic Cavitation Reactor", of which our faculty member Morteza Ghorbani is the principal investigator, with our faculty member Ali Koşar and Iakovos Tzanakis from Oxford Brookes University as researchers, and our faculty member Fevzi Çakmak Cebeci as advisor.

TÜMER
The project “Carbon Fiber/PEEK and Carbon-Aramid/PEEK Intraply Composites Functionalized by Cold Spraying: A Holistic Approach from Production to Repair”, of which our faculty member Burcu Saner Okan is the principal investigator, with our Vice President for Research and Development Mehmet Yıldız, Hasan Ulus from Selçuk University, and Bertan Beylergil from Alaattin Keykubat University as researchers.
The project “Development of Hybrid Steels and Additive Manufacturing Applications by Cold Spraying Process”, of which Syamak Hossain Nedjad is the principal investigator, with our Vice President for Research and Development Mehmet Yıldız as advisor.

SUNUM
The project “Development of Dispense-Printed Lithium-ion Batteries and Perovskite Solar Cells for Photo-Rechargeable Energy Storage Systems”, of which our researcher Serap Hayat Soytaş is the principal investigator.