TÜBA- GEBİP 2015 Annual Assessment Meeting was Held
The Turkish Academy of Sciences Young Scientist Outstanding Achievement Award Program (TÜBA-GEBİP) 2015 Annual Assessment Meeting was held at the Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş University (NEU).
The Meeting, which commenced at the NEÜ – Culture and Conference Center at 15:00, was attended by TÜBA President Prof. Dr. Ahmet Cevat Acar, Deputy President Prof. Dr. Ahmet Nuri Yurdusev, TÜBA members, GEBİP Award recipients, academicians, scientists and students.
TÜBA President Prof. Dr. Acar gave the opening speech for the GEBİP Annual Assessment Meeting, in which he started out by providing information about the Academy’s establishment and operations. Pointing out that he had been serving as the academy President for 3 years, Prof. Acar continued: “With an approach that considers diversity to be wealth, we continue to do the work that we are responsible for in our role, not just in science but in every field that helps our country to develop.”
38 young scientists from 24 different universities…
Pointing out that 373 scientists have been given support to date, by TÜBA in the scope of GEBİP, Prof. Acar said; “In 2015 this support reaches 80 thousand liras. The winners of the TÜBA-GEBİP Award are also making other achievements in our country and abroad. This year 38 of our young scientists from 24 different universities were deemed deserving of the GEBİP Award. The number of awards we have given in the scope of the Turkish Academy of Sciences Copyright and Translation Works Program TÜBA–TEÇEP has reached 180 since 2008 including the 19 awards we presented this year. The main objective of this award is to increase the number and quality of Turkish scientific publications.
Prof. Dr. Acar also said; “This year we have activated our Academy Awards as well. We will determine the recipients at the end of the year. I would like to emphasize that the 2016 GEBİP and TEÇEP applications will continue through to December 21.”
NEU Rector Prof. Dr. Filiz Kılıç said it was an honor to be hosting the meeting and added: “Curiosity, one of the emotions bestowed on humans, is vital in the development of science and technology. Curiosity, which has a great capacity in terms of learning and teaching, is a type of guide in understanding people and responding to their needs. What is important here is that this sentiment is guidable. If this sentiment can be guided and used by the right path and means, it can be made closer to everything in the concept of people. As a sentiment that has an important place in the name of science, curiosity can eliminate barriers when combined with knowledge and the excitement of youth”. Rector Prof. Dr. Kılıç concluded her speech with information about NEU.
After the opening, TÜBA President Prof. Dr. Ahmet Cevat Acar presented a plaque of gratitude to Rector Prof. Dr. Filiz Kılıç for hosting the TÜBA-GEBİP Annual Assessment Meeting. In return, rector Kılıç presented a plaque to President Prof. Dr. Acar to commemorate the day.
The meeting continued with TÜBA Honorary Member Prof. Dr. Metin Balcı’s conference titled “Should Nobel Prize Winner Prof. Dr. Aziz Sancar Retire?”. This was immediately followed by TÜBA Council Member Prof. Dr. Reşat Apak’s conference titled “A Collective Look at Antioxidant and Explosive Determinations at the Istanbul University”.
The TÜBA 2015 Annual Assessment Meeting, which started on Saturday October 24 at 10:00 and continued at the NEU – Tafana Facility, included 6 simultaneous sessions in engineering, science, social and life and health studies attended by academy members and 34 GEBİP award recipients. Award recipient young scientists introduced their own fields and presented the studies they have been conducting over the past year. Subjects on the evaluation and development of projects were discussed in the sessions.
During the General Assessment Meeting that was held after the projects in 4 fields were presented and evaluated, the projects were evaluated by the Academy President and field moderators and their suggestions were presented. TÜBA Principle Member Dr. Mustafa Reşat Apak in the field of chemistry and Principle Member Dr. Metin Arık in physics-mathematics, who served as guides and president to award recipients in the meeting, made assessments of the work that stood out. In Engineering Sciences, Principle Member Prof. Dr. Ahmet Murat Tekalp and Principle Member Prof. Dr. Fikrettin Şahin provided their views. In Social Studies TÜBA Deputy President Prof. Dr. Ahmet Nuri Yurdusev took the stage and in Health and Life Studies Principle Member Prof. Dr. Mustafa Solak spoke.
TÜBA President Prof. Dr. Ahmet Cevat Acar, who spoke at the General Assessment Meeting said: “Our program is continuing successfully. Attracting scientists abroad to Turkey in recent years was an important agenda issue. Actually when this is considered, GEBİP has been quietly doing this for the past 14 years because, as you know, it is a requirement that the work be done in Turkey in order to benefit from our program. Therefore we can say that the program has taken on an important role. It appears that the issue of ceasing or freezing the grant in the event of working or going abroad needs to be reevaluated. At the moment we have not made any permanent or radical decisions on this subject but I would like to point out that we are favoring an approach that will enable exits from the country in a way that will not interrupt the work of our members or GEBİP Award recipients, also taking into account the regulation conditions, to maintain the continuation of the program as much as possible. The decisions made by our council in some individual cases comply with this general approach which I have explained.
In the meetings I attended I saw how impressive the presentations of our colleagues even if they were not in my own field. This is something to be very pleased about in terms of Turkish Science and scientific development. I would like to point that we will try to reward even more of our young scientists, who are deserving of these grants to the extent of our resources, not compromising on selection criteria and related evaluations”.
We must increase the demand for basic sciences
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Cevat Acar, who continued by pointing out that basic sciences are an important issue, said the support of the Science and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for basic sciences was positive but not enough for the solution to this issue. Acar said, "When we consider that first you produce information, then R&D followed by transforming it into innovation and a commercial product, the source of this work lies in basic sciences. We are facing the problem of increasing both quantitative and qualitative demand for basic sciences. In the physics department it appears that the year 2015 quota has fallen below 1000 which is not a very good prospect. This is why changes need to be made in the regulations by public administration and the personnel regime to make the demand for graduates of these departments more equal.”
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Cevat Acar, who also expressed his wishes to increase scientific events, emphasized that TÜBA members must serve as role models to the community as select scientists.
Following the speeches by TÜBA President Acar and session president, grant recipient young scientists conveyed their requests and appreciation for GEBİP.
