Research Opportunities

Koç University’s research mission is to contribute to the universal body of knowledge and influence intellectual, technological, economic and social developments on a global scale. Faculty members contribute to their fields both individually and in strategically designed cross-disciplinary teams.

Conducting scientific and applied research, proposing policies in various arenas and disseminating academic knowledge in social, economic and legal spheres, Koç University’s research centers are a uniquely powerful dimension of the institution’s emphasis on research.

Most of our faculty members have received their PhD degrees from the top universities in the world. Most of them worked as faculty members in leading American and European universities before coming to Koç University.

Admittance to Suna Kıraç Library is restricted by University regulations to Koç University students, faculty, administrative staff and family members of faculty and staff.

Supported Research Programs

Koc University organizes research programs for high school, undergraduate and graduate students to conduct research with Koc University Faculty Members. Koc University Postdoctoral Fellowship program supports post doctoral fellows. The program is designed to support the scholarly development of all qualified candidates who are committed to university careers.

Research Projects At Koç University

There were 141 externally funded projects in 2022 with a total budget of 302.8 Million TL. 2 ERC Project (80.4 Million TL), 1 EIC (32.2 Million TL), 1 Twinning (25 Million TL), 5 Cooperation Projects (13.1 Million TL), 3 Erasmus projects (8 Million TL) 2 ERC PoC Projects (8 Million TL), 11 TÜBİTAK 2247 projects (24 Million TL), 2 Marie Curie Projects (6.6 Million TL), are the most significant additions to the external funding portfolio. Between January-April 2023, 24 projects have been funded with a present value of 154.7 Million TL. As of April 2023, the total number of ongoing projects is 307 with a present value of 919.6 Million TL.

At end of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme of Koç University is the most successful organization in Turkey (with 51 projects with a total European budget contribution of 23.1 Million EUR). Koç University received 27 of the 47 ERC awards received in Turkey since 2012. 8 of these awards are ERC Proof of Concept grants awarded to active ERC grant holders for the commercialization of the technologies researched.

As of December 2022, Koç University researchers have been awarded 16 projects, totalling university contributions about 14.9M €, under Horizon Europe. Our first Horizon Europe grant agreement (a coordinatorship under EIC Transition Challenges 2021) was signed on 26.03.2022. So far KU has participated in 122 Horizon Europe proposals, with 41 of them still under evaluation.

Prof. Sedat Nizamoğlu is now among Türkiye’s first two researchers who have received two ERC grants (STG-2014 and COG-2021), both hosted at KU.

Assoc. Assoc. Prof. Elif Nur Fırat Karalar is now Türkiye’s first woman researcher who has received two ERC grants (STG-2015 and STG-2022), both hosted at KU.

Following the Novermber 2022 funding decisions of 4 new ERC Starting Grant projects (PIs (Assoc. Prof. Elif Nur Fırat Karalar, Asst. Prof. Barış Yıldız, Assoc. Prof. Selim Erdem Aytaç, Dr. Erkan Aydın), Koç University has received a total of 7 new ERC projects (3 POC, 4 STG) in 2022.

Committee On Human Research

Koç University Committee on Human Research serves to design, conduct, record, report and provide scientific and ethical standards on related issues, and to protect the rights of volunteers in the research process, within the framework of universal ethical principles of all research that will be conducted by the members of Koç University.