Koç University Hospital Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) was established to offer technical assistance, logistical support, and academic guidance for clinical trials, whether industry-driven or investigator-initiated. CTU’s role extends to generating scientific knowledge, enhancing patient accessibility to novel treatments, and positioning Türkiye on the global stage of advanced clinical trials. In an exclusive interview for Frontier, we spoke with Prof. İhsan Solaroğlu, Founding Director of CTU, to gain insights into its academic assistance, interdisciplinary engagements, and collaborative ventures.

Roughly half of cancer patients experience significant weight loss due to the depletion of adipose and skeletal muscle tissues, a condition known as cachexia. This progressive illness not only reduces the quality of life for cancer patients but also poses a substantial threat to their treatment. Until now, ongoing research has failed to yield a viable therapeutic approach to mitigate or halt this wasting phenomenon. However, research led by Asst. Prof. Serkan Kır of Koç University’s Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics has identified a crucial molecular mechanism that holds the potential to bring about change in this process. Read more about this study on KURIOUS, Koç University’s platform for curious minds.

KOÇ UNIVERSITY once more has been recognized as Türkiye’s leading research institution in the 2021-2022 call of Horizon Europe, the world’s most significant innovation and research program. Koç University secured a total of EUR 14.4 million in funding for 19 projects, including nine ERC (European Research Council) grants, one EIC (European Innovation Council) grant, one Twinning project, four Consortium projects, three Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions postdoctoral fellowships, and one doctoral scholarship program.

ASST. PROF. FATMA GÜNEY from the Department of Computer Engineering and KUISAI has been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC), with her project titled “ENSURE: Enabling Self-Driving in Uncertain Real Environments.” In ENSURE, Dr. Güney aims to anticipate uncertain scenarios that autonomous vehicles may encounter in the future and take them into account while taking action.

PROF. UMRAN S. İNAN from the Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Physics departments and former President (2009-2021) has been honored with the John Adam Fleming Medal by the American Geophysical Union (AGU), presented to one esteemed scientist every year since 1962.

PROF. ÖZLEM KESKİN from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, has been elected to the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), one of Europe’s most prestigious organizations in the field of molecular biology. EMBO shapes the direction of science worldwide with over 2,000 members, including Nobel Prizewinning researchers. The organization supports exceptional researchers who have achieved remarkable success in their fields, Türkiye counts five members among them.

PROF. CANER SÜSAL from the School of Medicine received the Hans Grosse- Wilde Award from the German Society for Immunogenetics (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immungenetik - DGI) in acknowledgment of his invaluable contributions to transplantation immunology.

ASSOC. PROF. GÜNEŞ ERTAN and ASST. PROF. NAZLI GÜRDAMAR from the College of Administrative Sciences and Economics and DR. SEBİLE GÜLER ÇEKİÇ from Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Koç University Hospital, have received recognition for their outstanding research proposals. They have been awarded the Return-to-Research Grant, which is a new addition to Koç University’s internal research and innovation funding program, the Seed Research Fund. The initiative, developed by Koç University’s Gender Equality Office in collaboration with VPRD, is designed to support female academics reentering academia after career breaks.

The 6ᵗʰ International Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium was organized by Koç University’s Sevgi Gönül Center for Byzantine Studies (GABAM) on June 22, 23, and 24, 2023. In commemoration of the centenary of the Turkish Republic, the symposium’s theme was “A Century of Byzantine Studies in Türkiye.” The symposium, open for participation and free of charge, examined and discussed the historical development and current state of Byzantine studies in Türkiye within the context of international research. The symposium encompassed three primary thematic threads: “Byzantine Studies in Türkiye from a Global Perspective,” “Cultural Heritage and Public Perception,” and “Byzantine Archaeology in Türkiye.” In addition, GABAM curated an exhibition titled “The Odyssey of Byzantine Studies in Türkiye” to coincide with the event. Hosted at the ANAMED Gallery, this exhibition covers a wide array of topics ranging from education to field studies. It will remain open until March 31, 2024.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has invited Assoc. Prof. Mert Kuşkucu of Koç University’s İşbank Center for Infectious Diseases, to serve as one of the trainers following a meeting titled “Developing Genomic Surveillance Infrastructure in Türkiye,” a collaborative effort between WHO and the Ministry of Health in Ankara. Dr. Kuşkucu’s role will entail contributing as a bioinformatics trainer to the Genomic Surveillance in Türkiye project (2023-2028).

Koç University and the İşbank Artificial Intelligence Center (KUIS AI) presents the KUIS AI Talks, which are available both on Zoom and in person. These talks feature special guests from various universities and industries worldwide, sharing their experiences and knowledge on the subject. Recently on June 6, Vicky Kalogeiton (École Polytechnique) discussed the importance of multimodality in computer vision. On July 18, Hwee Kuan Lee (A*STAR Singapore) talked about the crucial role of accurate molecular simulations. Then on August 18, Maks Ovsjanikov (École Polytechnique) shared different ways to learn about curved surfaces undergoing non-rigid deformations.

The interdisciplinary research initiative known as BRIA (The Landscape and Rock-cut Architecture of Medieval Thrace), which is supported by the Koç University Seed Fund, has successfully carried out its second fieldwork campaign from May 30 to June 7, 2023. This phase involved an international team comprising twenty scholars and Ph.D. students from Koç University, alongside other prominent universities and research institutions in Türkiye, Bulgaria, Greece, North America, and Canada. The focus of this endeavor was the historical region of Thrace, extending beyond its contemporary boundaries. Building upon the insights gained during the initial fieldwork trip in June 2022, the team embarked on a journey to twenty-five sites spanning from Istanbul and Edirne to Bulgarian Thrace and the Black Sea. The outcome of this expedition is an exceptional visual documentation.

Ph.D. STUDENT MUSA DIRAK (Chemistry) was awarded the best poster presentation with his poster titled “A Hydrogen Sulfide Responsive and Mitochondria Targeted Chemiluminescent Probe for Tumor Imaging” at 19ᵗʰ the Asian Chemical Congress.

MS STUDENT TUĞÇE ÜSTÜNEL (Materials Science and Engineering) was awarded the second-best poster presentation in the category of Physical Sciences at Symposia at Microscopy & Microanalysis conference.

Ph.D. STUDENTS MEHMET FUAT KINA (Sociology), BURCU ARSLAN (Psychology), and ZEYNEP YILDIZ (Design, Technology and Society), and MA STUDENT ONAT OZAN ATA (Comparative Studies in History and Society) are the recipients of the 2023 Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities (GSSSH)  Academic Excellence Awards.

Ph.D. STUDENTS, ŞEVVAL BİLGİÇ (Molecular Biology and Genetics), ONURALP KARATÜM (Electrical and Electronics Engineering), EBRAHİM SADEGHİ (Materials Science and Engineering), and MS STUDENTS BARIŞCAN BOZKURT (Electrical and Electronics Engineering) and HAMZA ÇOBAN (Physics) received the Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering (GSSE) Academic Excellence Awards 2023.

This video series introduces Koç University projects that have received grants through the TÜBİTAK 2247-A National Leader Researchers Program. In this video, one of the recipients, Asst. Prof. Safacan Kölemen from the Department of Chemistry, explains his project titled “Tumor-targeted in vivo Chemiluminescence Imaging Studies with Selective Metabolic Glycan Labeling Method.”

In this intriguing podcast aired by the Suna Kıraç Library, Prof. Elçin Macar from Yıldız Technical University explains the impact of the White Russians who took refuge in Istanbul due to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. This migration significantly enriched Istanbul’s cultural and artistic landscape, leaving an indelible mark during the country’s Early Republic era.