Istanbul Technical University


Istanbul Technical University is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university dedicated to engineering sciences as well as social sciences recently, and is one of the most prominent educational institutions in Turkey. ITU is ranked 173rd worldwide in the field of "Engineering & Technology", and 307th worldwide in the field of "Natural Sciences" by the QS World University Rankings in 2016.
Acceptance to the university is competitive, and entrance to most of its departments requires scoring among the top 1% of the nearly 2 million applicants in the national university entrance examination known as "YKS". Graduates of ITU have received many TUBITAK science and TUBA awards. Numerous graduates have also become members of the academy of sciences in the U.S.A, Britain and Russia. The university's basketball team, ITUSpor, is in the Turkish Basketball Super League.
The university has 39 undergraduate, 144 graduate programs, 13 faculties, 346 labs and 12 research centers. Its student-to-faculty ratio is 12:1.

History

Ottoman Empire

Considered as the world's third institution of higher learning specifically dedicated to engineering education, Istanbul Technical University has a long and distinguished history which began in 1773. ITU was founded by Sultan Mustafa III as the Imperial School of Naval Engineering, and it was originally dedicated to the training of ship builders and cartographers. In 1795 the scope of the school was broadened to train technical military staff for the modernization of the Ottoman army. In 1845 the engineering function of the school was further widened with the addition of a program devoted to the training of architects. The scope and name of the school were extended and changed again in 1883 and in 1909 the school became a public engineering school which was aimed at training civil engineers who could provide the infrastructure for the rapidly developing country.

Modern Turkey

By 1928 the institution had gained formal recognition as a university of engineering which provided education in both engineering and architecture. In 1944 the name of the institution was changed to Istanbul Technical University and in 1946 the institution became an autonomous university with architecture, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering faculties.
With its long history of 243 years, its modern teaching environment, and well-qualified teaching staff, Istanbul Technical University today is the personification of engineering and architectural education in Turkey. Istanbul Technical University not only played a leading role in the modernization movement of the Ottoman Empire, but has also maintained its leadership position in the changes and innovations taking place in the construction, industrialization, and technological realms during the modern days of the Turkish Republic. Engineers and architects trained at Istanbul Technical University have played significant roles in the construction of Turkey. Alumni also played a significant role in Turkish politics.

Academics

The structure of each "faculty" at ITU is comparable to those of "colleges" in the U.S. institutions, where each faculty is composed of two or more departments. For example, the Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering consists of the departments of electrical engineering, control engineering, electronics and communication engineering
;College of Civil Engineering
;College of Architecture
;College of Mechanical Engineering
; College of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
; College of Computer and Informatics
; College of Mines
; College of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering
; College of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
;College of Sciences and Letters
; College of Aeronautics and Astronautics
; College of Management
;Maritime College
; Technologies and Design
There are several , including:
Planned Research Center Projects:
Finally, ITU also has the following departments / educational institutes that are not tied to any of the faculties, but serve as independent departments. These include
25 engineering departments of ITU are accredited by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. Also ITU's Faculty of Architecture is accredited by NAAB and the Faculty of Maritime is accredited by IMO. Minimum score of 79 from TOEFL IBT, or success in the English proficiency exam is one of the prerequisites to register the Bachelor, Master, or Doctorate level courses at ITU. Instruction is both in English and Turkish. Master and Doctorate courses are mostly held in English. ITU is highly reputable institution in the area of engineering sciences within the Europe. Therefore, the university provides a broad range of options, that involve highly reputable institutions, to its students for the Erasmus Mobility.
202020192018201720162015
QS World Rankings651-700651-700601-650651-700551-600501-550
QS Engineering & Technology218256231242173138
QS Natural Sciences324342311321307237
THE World Rankings601-800601-800601-800501-600501-600165
THE Engineering & Technology501-600401-500401-500
CWTS Leiden World RankingsTBA556572
CWTS Leiden EngineeringTBA291296
USNWR World Rankings424376
USNWR Engineering223182

Campus

ITU is a public university. It has five campuses, which are located in the most important areas of Istanbul. Among ITU's five campuses, the main campus of Maslak, in Sarıyer, is a suburban campus, covering a total area of 2.64 km². The University Rectorate, swimming pool, stadium, along with most of the faculties, student residence halls and the central library of ITU are located there.
Another suburban campus of ITU is the Tuzla Campus. It serves the Maritime Faculty students and faculty members. It is located in the Tuzla district of Istanbul, which is a dockyard area.
The three urban campuses are near to one another and are situated close to Taksim Square.
Taşkışla campus is where the Faculty of Architecture is located. The Taşkışla building is one of the most renowned historical buildings in Istanbul. It dates backs to the Ottoman era and was used as military barracks.
Gümuşsuyu and Maçka campuses are also among the important historical buildings of Istanbul.

Mustafa İnan Library

ITU's nuclear reactor of Triga Mark-2 is in the Maslak campus. It is located at the Energy Institute.

Arı Technopolis

Since the foundation in 2003 Arı Technopolis, which is located at the Ayazağa Campus, provides companies with research, technology development and production opportunities at the university, in cooperation with the researchers and academicians. The technopolis have two buildings:Arı-1 and Arı-2. Arı-3 building in Maslak and another building in Floria are announced to build. Arı Technopolis has the 49% of export among technopolises in Turkey.

National High Performance Computing Center

, is located at the Ayazağa Campus. It is the national center for high performance computing. The super computer of this center was one of the world's top 500 list super computers.

Student life

Athletics

Having a suburban campus like Maslak has created the opportunity of building many sports areas. Ayazağa Gymnasium is the center of sports in ITU. Ayazağa Gymnasium also has a stadium with a seating capacity of 3500 for basketball and volleyball matches. A fitness center is also located there.
Basketball matches are among the most important sports activities in ITU. ITU Basketball Team, which won the Turkish Basketball League Championship for 5 times, currently plays in the Turkish Basketball League's 2nd Division. Ayazağa Gymnasium is the home of the ITU Basketball Team. Needless to mention that the students are the team's biggest supporters.
Despite the successes in basketball, the football team of ITU plays in the amateur league. A football stadium is also located in Ayazağa, where the football team plays its matches.
Tennis courts and an indoor olympic swimming pool, which is opened in May 2007, are also available in the Ayazaga Campus. An open-air swimming pool serves the ITU faculties.
ITU's American football team ITU Hornets has won the Unilig Super League of American football in the 2013-2014 season and in 2014-2015 season.
Other sports clubs/activities in ITU are: Badminton, ultimate, fencing, diving, winter sports, dancing and gymnastics, tennis, paintball, aikido, athletics, mountaineering, bridge, swimming, cycling and triathlon, skiing, parachuting, korfball, handball, iaido, capoeira, wrestling, archery, ultimate frisbee and sailing.

Social life

ITU offers many options to students who like doing extra-curricular work during their studying years. The most popular ones are Rock Club, Cinema Club, Model United Nations, EPGIK, International Engineering Club. Also ITU has an option for those who like to organise events and socialise with people from various European countries in the Local Board of European Students of Technology Group which had 40 members in 2007. Despite all these, it can still be a little quiet in the campus from time to time because students can choose the city of Istanbul over the campus life.

ITU Model United Nations (ITUMUN)

Model United Nations Society of ITU is one of the most active students club in the University. Participating in MUN conferences regularly, both domestic and international, MUN society offers an unrejectable opportunity for personal development with great fun.
Model United Nations is a conference where students participate as United Nations delegates. Participants research and formulate political positions based on the actual policies of the countries they represent.

Housing

ITU dormitories have a capacity of 3000 students. They include Lakeside Housings, IMKB Dormitory, Verda Urundul, Ayazaga Dormitory and Gumussuyu dormitory. Additional dormitories are planned.

Entertainment

gave a concert at the ITU stadium on July 13, 2014. Later in that year, Lady Gaga also performed at the stadium on September 16, 2014 to a sold-out crowd of 19,157 people as part of her.

Noted faculty and alumni

Faculty

Many of the graduates take role in the development of Turkey, with many of them playing significant roles in constructing bridges, roads and buildings. For instance, Emin Halid Onat and Ahmet Orhan Arda are architects of Anıtkabir. Süleyman Demirel and Turgut Özal are the two former presidents of Turkey. Necmettin Erbakan is a former prime minister of Turkey. Binali Yıldırım is the current prime minister of Turkey.