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Middle East Technical University
Motto	Metu Impact
Established	November 15, 1956
Type	Public
President	Ahmet Acar
Faculty	2,500
Students	23,000
Undergraduates	16,500
Postgraduates	6,500
Location	Çankaya/Ankara, Turkey
Campus	Suburban, 11,100 acres (45 km²)
Member of	EUA
Colors	Red and white
Nickname	-
Website	metu.edu.tr

Middle East Technical University (METU; in Turkish, Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ODTÜ) is a university of Turkey located in Ankara. The education conducted by the university has an emphasis on engineering and natural sciences. METU has more than 100K alumni worldwide.

The official language of instruction at METU is English.^[1] METU also manages Turkey's Country Code Top-level Domain (ccTLD) (the ".tr" domain).^[2]

History

An auditorium in METU

Middle East Technical University was founded by Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and the General Manager of State Highways Administration Vecdi Diker under the name "Orta Doğu Teknoloji Enstitüsü" (Middle East Institute of Technology) on November 15, 1956, to contribute to the development of Turkey and the countries of Middle East by creating a skilled workforce in the natural and social sciences. "Arrangements and Procedures as for the Foundation of METU, Law No 6213" was enacted on January 22, 1957. Finally, "Foundation Act No 7907", which sets forth the particular standing of METU and describes the conditions rendering METU as a juridical entity, was enacted on May 27, 1959.^[3]

METU's presence brought about new methods and introduced innovations to the Turkish higher education system, manifesting METU as a pioneer of modern education nationwide. In its earliest years, one part of METU was located in a small building that belonged to the Social Security Office of Retirees at Kızılay's Müdafaa Street; the other part was in the barracks behind the TBMM (Grand National Assembly of Turkey). In 1963, the university moved to its current location west of Ankara city center, creating the first university campus of Turkey.

In 1956, the Department of Architecture initiated the first academic program at METU. In the spring of 1957, the Department of Mechanical Engineering launched its academic program. At the onset of the 1957–1958 academic year, the faculties of Architecture, of Engineering, and of Administrative Sciences were established. In 1959, the establishment of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences was completed. The Faculty of Education launched its academic program in 1982. Today, there are a total of 41 undergraduate and 143 graduate programs taught in the faculties and graduate schools of METU.

METU celebrated 50 years of its existence on June 10, 2006 with great fanfare at Ankara. Thousands of alumni converged on the campus to honour their alma mater. A contingent of around 40 Pakistani alumni and their families also came to Ankara specially for this occasion to celebrate their strong bond with Turkey and METU.

Organization

Faculties and departments

METU has 42 academic departments, most of which are organized into 5 faculties. These are responsible for the undergraduate programs.

• Faculty of Architecture

Architecture, City and Regional Planning, Industrial Design

• Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Biology, Chemistry, History, Mathematics, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, Statistics

• Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences

Business Administration, Economics, International Relations, Political Science and Public Administration

• Faculty of Education

Computer Education and Instructional Technology, Educational Sciences, Elementary Education, Foreign Language Education, Physical Education and Sports, Secondary Science and Mathematics Education

• Faculty of Engineering

Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Engineering Sciences, Environmental Engineering, Food Engineering, Geological Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Mining Engineering, Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

In addition to these, there are the Department of Basic English and the Department of Modern Languages in the School of Foreign Languages, Technical Vocational School of Higher Education, and bound to the President's Office, the Department of Turkish Language and the Department of Music and Fine Arts.

Part of METU campus: METU Stadium, dormitories in the background.

Graduate schools

The 5 graduate schools present in METU are responsible for the graduate programs.

• Graduate School of Applied Mathematics
• Graduate School of Informatics
• Graduate School of Marine Sciences (Institute of Marine Sciences - IMS)
• Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences
• Graduate School of Social Sciences

Academics

Middle East Technical University (METU), currently (in 2009) has 24,622 students of which 4,538 are in masters and 2,685 are in doctorate programs, and 1,490 at the North Cyprus campus ^[4]. METU hosts about 1,430 international students from nearly 68 different countries studying toward myriad of academic degrees. METU, with 137 Erasmus agreements and 156 bilateral exchange and cooperation agreements with universities in third countries annually sends 350 students and hosts 250 students and 60 teaching staff/researchers. As of 2008, the university employs 2500 faculty (professors, associates professors etc.), 500 academic instructors, and over 2,000 research assistants. The number of the alumni exceeds 500,000 (about 350,000 having completed undergraduate programs).^{[citation needed]}

METU has 40 undergraduate programs within the faculties of Engineering, Architecture, Arts and Sciences, Economic and Administrative Sciences, and Education, and there are 93 masters and 51 doctorate programs available in the graduate schools of Natural and Applied Sciences, Social Sciences, Informatics, Applied Mathematics, and Marine Sciences. Marine Sciences conducts its academic program studies on the Mediterranean coast in Erdemli, near Mersin. Most of the engineering departments at METU are periodically reviewed and deemed "substantially equivalent to similarly titled and accredited programs in the U.S.A." by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the recognized U.S. accreditor of college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology.

METU is one of Turkey's most competitive universities. Each year, among the students taking the National University Entrance Examination, over 1/3 of the 1000 applicants with the highest scores attend METU. Due to the high demand towards METU is so great, most of the departments accept only the top 1% of the approximately 1.5 million applicants taking the National University Entrance Examination. Over 40% of METU's students go on to graduate school.

The language of instruction at METU is English. All enrolled students are required to have a degree of proficiency in English for academic purposes, and this is assured by a proficiency examination before the commence of studies. Students with unsatisfactory knowledge of English follow a preparatory English education for one year, given by the METU School of Foreign Languages.

Statue of "Tree of Science" (Turkish: Bilim Ağacı) by the main entrance to METU campus.

International perspective

Since its foundation, METU, actively took part in and managed many Med-Campus, MEDA, COST, Eureka, NASA, NATO, NSF, UN, World Bank, Jean Monnet, INCO, EUMEDIS, 6th Framework, Erasmus Mundus ECW, Leonardo and Socrates projects. METU has also involved in 55 different FP6 projects including coordination of 12 FP6 and 3 Networks of Excellence projects.^{[citation needed]} METU has 14 international joint degree programmes with European and American universities at undergraduate and graduate level.

English as the language of instruction in all its degree programs has greatly facilitated METU's efforts to accommodate international students and researchers. METU hosts about 1350 international students from nearly 65 different countries studying toward myriad of academic degrees.^{[citation needed]}

METU, with 137 Erasmus agreements and 156 bilateral exchange and cooperation agreements with universities in third countries (i.e., in Central Asia, Middle East, North America, Australia, Far East and Pacific Region), annually sends 350 students and 60 teaching staff and hosts 250 students and 50 teaching staff/researchers.

METU is a member of many associations and networks dealing with international education and exchange such as EUA, EAIE, IIE, GE3, CEASAR, SEFI, CIEE. METU actively participates in AIESEC and IAESTE summer internship programs.

METU has always sought external assessment, accreditation and certification by international organizations, and been committed to a "quality culture". The University has completed the process of "Institutional Evaluation" by the EUA in 2002. As a part of its efforts to ascertain world-quality education, in 1991 METU initiated a long-term program to have all its engineering programs accredited by ABET. The Engineering Faculty now has all its thirteen undergraduate programs declared as "substantially equivalent" to the ABET accredited programs in the USA.^{[citation needed]}

METU library

The library [1] has one of the largest collections in Turkey, containing nearly 350,000 books and 59,900 bound periodicals.^{[citation needed]} It has subscription to 11,000 electronic and 1,500 print journals. The library also provides access to 50 online databases, over 1,780 book and serial CDs, 1,300 doctoral dissertations and 11,600 masters theses. Collections are predominantly in English, but also in Turkish, German, and French.

Campuses

Part of METU campus, as seen from the MM Building (Turkish: Mühendislik Merkez Binası).

Main campus

METU main campus in Ankara, used by the university since 1963, is the first university campus of Turkey. It is situated about 20 km from central Ankara and encompasses an area of 6,100 acres (24.7 km²), of which 3,500 acres (14.2 km²) constitute the METU Forest. The campus grounds was transformed into a forest with the continuing help of students and volunteers since the foundation of the university. Lake Eymir, inside the campus, is used by the students and faculty for rowing and recreational activities. The campus is accessible by several types of public transport, and the construction of METU subway station on the entrance to the campus is near completion.

Erdemli campus

METU Erdemli campus in Mersin, used by the Deniz Bilimleri Enstitüsü (Institute of Marine Sciences / Graduate School of Marine Sciences) since 1975, is the first campus of METU (ODTU) out of Ankara. It is situated about 45 km from Mersin. Campus area is 660,000 square meters, close to the shore and surrounded by lemon trees. The laboratory space is about 700 square meters. METU - IMS Harbor is an important shelter for marine biological diversity on the Mersin coast. The harbor is the only intact rocky habitat along the long sandy coast.

Northern Cyprus Campus

The new METU Northern Cyprus Campus, about 50 km west of Lefkoşa (Nicosia) on the island of Cyprus, admitted its first students during the academic year 2002 - 2003, but the doors were officially opened in Cyprus in September 2005.

Live footage from both campuses can be accessed via METU-CAM, a collection of 6 webcams in METU main campus, 1 in METU Northern Cyprus Campus, and 1 in the Graduate School of Marine Sciences, in Erdemli , Mersin.

Accomplishments

METU strives to maintain a high standard of education by international standards. All 13 departments of the Faculty of Engineering have been evaluated, at METU's request, by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and their programs were given approval by this board.^{[citation needed]} Because of METU's effort to maintain international standards, the Faculty of Engineering was awarded in 1977 the "Silver Badge of Honor" by the UNESCO International Center for Engineering Education and the "Meritorious Achievement Award in Accreditation Activities" by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

Environmental issues are among the serious concerns of the university. METU was awarded the International 1995 Aga Khan Award for Architecture for its Forestation Program. This prize, coincidentally, was received when the 40th anniversary of METU was being celebrated.

METU-Technopolis

METU-Technopolis is the first science and research park of Turkey.^{[citation needed]} Founded within the campus, it aims to facilitate the development of companies that conduct substantial research and development to produce high-tech products and services through benefiting from METU's research capacity and information pool. Priority is given to companies executing research and development work on IT, advanced materials, energy, automotive, chemistry, biology and environment technologies.

METU-Technopolis project were started in 1987 to support the formation and development of high-tech using-producing firms to ensure the development of technology, and to maximize the university-industry cooperation. In addition to that making contributions to the studies that aim to enable the transmission of the results of university research into economic values and to contribute the improvement of international competitive power of the country by way of increasing the economic and technological level were also targeted.

METU-Technopolis's existing company profile is based on software development and electronics industry. METU-Technopolis, which has reached an enormity of 2451 personnel, 2073 of which are the researchers (86% of the total staff are university graduates, and 20% of which have Ms, Ma, or PhD degrees.) in 157 firms 90% of which are SMEs and including multinationals such as SBS, MAN, Siemens on the 60.000 sq m closed area, is the biggest and the most successful science park of Turkey. To promote entrepreneurship, innovation; the incubation centre of METU-Technopolis serves 38 start-ups and micro sized companies; most of which are the spin offs from METU.

Student life and culture

A view from 17th METU Spring Festival (Turkish: Bahar Şenliği), May 2003.

The student life at METU is marked with the activities of student societies, political protests and festivals. The main campus hosts the annual METU Spring Festival, which is a five day long series of concerts and exhibitions.

There are various traits shared by METU students, including the usage of an English - Turkish jargon (apparently stemming from the fact that English is the language of instruction) covering academic processes and student life, which might not be liked much by the students of other schools, and the omnipresent "hocam" (meaning "my teacher"), which is used by METU students to address anyone from bus drivers to senior faculty members. Underneath this phrase lies the philosophy that everyone has something to learn from each other.

Student societies

There are numerous student societies active in METU. The most important and active societies are:

• METU Aerospace Students Society (EUROAVIA Ankara)

is the aerospace interested students society of METU. It is one of the biggest members of the European Association of Aerospace Students EUROAVIA, and it organises local events(i.e. Seminars, Parties, BBQs, Speechs, Scaled-Model Aircraft Courses, Aviation History lectures) and international events of EUROAVIA (i.e. Congresses, Fly-Ins, Symposia).

• IEEE

which stands for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is one of the most active student society in METU. Having twelve student sub-branches, IEEE METU Student Branch involves in both technical and social activities. The society is also active in European-wide projects and organizations such as EESTEC. IEEE METU publishes the magazine Biltek four times a year.

• VT

METU Productivity Club(Odtü Verimlilik Topluluğu) which was founded in 1992, has been a willing and active group aiming to foster relationships between the students, academics and business world. With 70 enthusiastic active members and lots of beneficial projects, the club reaches a large student profile, especially to the engineering and management students. METU Productivity Club is the first Turkish member of ESTIEM (European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management) which connects the club to Europe since 1996.

• SDT

Metu Socialist Thought Club Socialist Thought Club (Sosyalist Düşünce Topluluğu) is one of the oldest society of METU. It was originally founded in 1965 by 12 socialist students. During the beginning of 1970s, it was holding more than 400 members. It was closed by rectorship in 1971, as a part of the oppressive policy of the oncoming Military Coup in the country. SDT was refounded in 2002 by students with massive events in the campus.

• KGT

METU Classical Guitar Society Classical Guitar Society (Klasik Gitar Topluluğu) is one of the oldest student society of METU. Founded by Ahmet Kanneci in 1975, it is Turkey's first guitar society and the Ankara's first serious guitar education organization. The society aims to introduce and spread classical music culture. The society has raised some of the most talented artists (such as Ahmet Kanneci, Cem Duruöz,Orhan Anafarta, Emre Sabuncuoğlu, Gutay Yıldıran...) and been an active supporter of classical music with its voluntary classical guitar lessons, continuous music activities and annual International Classical Guitar Festival (which is also the longest classical guitar festival in Turkey)

• Capoeira

is the student society that deals with martial art capoeira. The student society was founded in 2000.

• THBT

THBT Turkish Folklore Club (Türk Halk Bilimi Topluluğu) is one of the oldest student societies in METU. It is founded in 1961. Turkish Folklore Society engages in mainly folk dance and folk music. It opens free courses for Turkish folk instruments and folk dances. Anatolian Musical Festival and Folklore Days are the organizations that the society organizes annually.

• Robot Society

is a technical student society. Robot Society organizes free technical courses to METU students. The society enters Formula-G in Turkey every year. MEŞ-e, the solar car built by Robot Society won the Formula-G 2005.

• Atatürk's Thought Club

is a student society which involves in political activities. The group organizes panel discussions and debates on various aspects of politics.

• ILKYAR

is a student society which aims to bring moral and material aid to the Elementary and High School Students. The society organizes activities to raise money for these aids and it cooperates with many other companies and charities.

• Mountaineering & Winter Sports Club - DKSK Dağcılık ve Kis Sporları Kolu

Society is an important sports society in METU. This society became famous after their trip to the peak of Everest. The first Turkish female summitter, Eylem Elif Maviş is from Mountaineering Society of METU.

• KTMT

Turkish Classical Music Club (Klasik Türk Müziği Topluluğu) is another society on music. The scope of KTMT is mostly on classical Turkish Music instruments. Like THBT, KTMT also organizes free courses to students.

• Book Club

is a student society about literature, books and reading. The society organizes reading sessions every term and aims to increase students' scope of reading and intellectual abilities. Apart from organizing seminars about writers and literature, the society hosts renowned authors for panels.

• SFFS

Science Fiction and Fantasy Society is a student club that unites students who are interested in Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Cinema, Comic Books, Role Playing Games etc... The two major activities of the club are Treasure Hunt, which is one of the oldest and most popular activities of METU Spring Fest, and METUCON, a science fiction and fantasy convention held annually. Apart from TH and METUCON, the club organizes seminars and reading groups on science fiction and fantasy genre and film shows. Also a library dedicated to science fiction and fantasy literature is formed by the members of the club in years and everyone in the university can utilize it.

• Chess Club

METU Chess Club is a student society with real chess-lover members. The club organizes several tournaments and activities about chess.

• METU KARATE-DO Club

Founded in 1984. Member of WKF and WSKF. Since 1984, members of club been training Shotokan style of Karate. Web page of club: http://www.kdo.metu.edu.tr

• METU Bridge Club

is a student society dedicated to introduce the game of bridge to the students of METU and eventually develop them into strong players. The club supplied a considerable number of young players to the Turkish Youth Bridge Teams (U21, U26 and Girls) over the last decade.

• METU Music Societies

METU Music Societies is a student society, whose mission is primarily to support amateur music (especially rock and related genres) since late 80's. The Music Societies (namely ODTU MT in Turkish) is a very active society with events like Lake Festival, Metal Days, Amateur Music Days, Rock'n Blues Days, Rock Festival and part of METU Spring Festival with no major sponsorship supoort and with fully voluntary work of society members. The society acts like school for amateur musicians and in related fields for music mainly in genres of Rock, Metal and Blues.:[2]

• METU Classical Music Society

METU Classical Music Society aims organising concerts and recitals related to classical music.

• Metu Players (ODTÜ Oyuncuları)

Metu Players is a university theatre club.It is established at 1960.

Notable members

Faculty

• Cahit Arf (1967–1980) Mathematician
• Halil Berktay (1992–1997) Historian, currently at Sabancı University
• Ordal Demokan (1966–2004) Physicist, electrical engineer

• Feza Gürsey (1961–1974) Mathematician and physicist
• Erdal İnönü (president 1970–1971, faculty 1964–1974) Physicist and former politician
• Oktay Sinanoğlu Chemist
• Kemal Karpat (1958–1959, 1968–1971) Historian, currently at University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Behram Kurşunoğlu (1956–1958) Physicist
• Mübeccel Belik Kıray Sociologist
• Hasan Ünal Nalbantoğlu Sociologist and Philosopher
• Johann Otto von Spreckelsen Architect

Alumni

• Elif Şafak Best-selling Turkish novelist
• Şebnem Ferah Rocker, musician
• Taner Akçam (B.S. 1976) Historian, sociologist and author
• Alev Alatlı (B.S. 1963) Writer
• Ali Babacan (B.S. 1988) Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey
• Erol Kalkan (B.S. 1998 M.S. 2001), Scientist at US Geological Survey
• Ragıp Buluç (B.Arch.) Architect
• Soner Büyükatalay Mountaineer, Mt. Everest summiter
• Svante Cornell (B.S.) Academic
• Vedat Çakmak (B.S.) Lecturer, Universite Galatasaray
• Yasemin Dalkılıç (B.S.) Holder of world records in free diving
• Mustafa Dirilten Prominent Real Estate Developer, Chicago, USA
• Can Dündar (M.S. 1988, Ph.D. 1996) Journalist
• Ahmet Kanneci Classical guitar virtuoso and educator
• Erol Gelenbe Computer scientist, engineer, applied mathematician, ACM Fellow
• Serkan Girgin (B.S., M.S.) Mountaineer, Mt. Everest summiter
• Tunç Hamarat (B.S.) Grandmaster and International Correspondence Chess Federation World Champion in 2004
• Kadir Semih InceDayi, (B.S.) CTO of Turkcell Technology
• Derya Köroğlu (B.Arch. 1979, M.S. 1983) Musician, Yeni Türkü
• Javaid Laghari Senator in Pakistan Senate, Acting President & Project Director SZABIST, Pakistan
• Haluk Mesci (B.S., M.S.) Advertiser & Writer
• Bora Maviş (B.S., M.S.) Mountaineer, summiter of Mt. Everest
• Eylem Elif Maviş (B.S., M.B.A.) Mountaineer, first Turkish female summiter of Mt. Everest
• Amir Farshad Ebrahimi (Ph.D)Human Rights Activist in Iran , Journalist
• Asu Ozdaglar, (BS), Associate Professor, MIT EECS
• Tamer Ozsu, (B.S., M.S.), Computer Scientist, ACM Fellow
• Burçak Özoğlu Poçan (B.S.) Mountaineer, one of the four Turkish female summiters of Mt. Everest
• Doruk Pamir (B.Arch.) Architect
• Serhan Poçan (B.S.) Mountaineer, summiter of Mt. Everest
• Süreyya Serdengeçti (B.S. 1979) Economist, former governor of the Central Bank of Turkey
• Ziya Tanalı (B.Arch.) Architect
• Mehmet Ali Talat (M.S. 1977) the current President of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
• Kürşad Tüzmen (B.S. 1981) Former Minister of International Trade and Customs
• Turgay Uzer (B.S.) Theoretical physicist at Georgia Institute of Technology
• Suna Yılmaz (B.S.) Mountaineer, one of the four Turkish female summiters of Mt. Everest
• Kazi Zulkader Siddiqui: CEO and Founder, Techcorp Group of Companies & Emerging Energy Systems, Pakistan/Bangladesh/UAE/China
• Irfan Burney Chairman, NESCOM, Pakistan ==

See also

• Institute of technology
• List of universities in Turkey

References

External links

General

• Middle East Technical University (official web site in English)
• Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi (official web site in Turkish)
• METU Northern Cyprus Campus (official web site)
• METU-Technopolis (official web site)
• radyo ODTÜ (METU Radio) (official web site)
• METU Academic Units
• METU International Students and Study Abroad Office
• METU Library
• List of METU Student Clubs and Societies
• METU Campus Map
• Country Code Top-level Domain ".tr" managed by METU
• Middle East Technical University - Department of Aerospace Engineering
• Middle East Technical University - Graduate School of Marine Sciences (Institute of Marine Sciences)

Online communities

• ODTÜ Mezun Portalı (METU Alumni Portal)
• ODTÜ Robot Topluluğu (METU Robotics Society)
• ODTÜ Satranç Topluluğu (METU Chess Club)
• IEEE METU Student Branch
• ODTÜ-DKSK Dağcılık ve Kış Sporları Kolu (METU Mountaineering & Winter Sports Club)
• "The Company" ODTÜ Müzikal Topluluğu (METU Musicals Society)

Coordinates: 39°53′29″N 32°47′05″E / 39.89139°N 32.78472°E / 39.89139; 32.78472