THE Awards Asia 2024

IZTECH was recently honored by the distinguished “Leadership and Management Team of the Year Award” at THE Awards Asia 2024. Often referred to as the Oscars of Higher Education, this award celebrates IZTECH’s exceptional commitment to institutional transformation and its strategic vision. The award, personally presented by the Queen of Malaysia, Raja Zarith Sofiah, was accepted by our Rector Prof. Dr. Yusuf Baran. The jury highlighted IZTECH’s outstanding leadership and strategic vision in transforming itself into an innovation center, emphasizing the institution as a growing hub of innovation in Turkey and the region. This achievement reflects IZTECH’s increasing global presence and its dedication to innovation. Rector Prof. Dr. Yusuf Baran expressed pride in receiving this award, thanking the jury, faculty staff, students, and stakeholders for their contribution to IZTECH’s success. He underlined the Institute’s ongoing commitment to advancing Turkey’s presence at the global scientific stage, aiming to improve IZTECH’s role in international higher education.

A Sustainable Solution To Global Water Problem From IZTECH: WATER4ALL

 

As the demand for sustainable water solutions grows globally, WATER4ALL, a PhD Program in Sustainable Water Management, offers unique opportunities for researchers in Sustainable Water Management. The program is coordinated by the Izmir Institute of Technology, partnered with three leading Turkish universities, and aims to train 20 doctoral candidates with interdisciplinary and international training, and research experience. To learn more about this innovative program, we interviewed its coordinator Prof. Dr. Orhan Gündüz, who provided valuable information on the new initiative.

 

 

Can you tell us about the vision behind the WATER4ALL PhD Program, and what makes this initiative unique to the field of Sustainable Water Management?   

Water management is crucial for addressing global environmental challenges such as climate change, water scarcity, and pollution, which impact ecosystems, human health, and economies. The Water4All program aims to develop a unique and state-of-the-art vision for Sustainable Water Management training, allowing PhD candidates to simultaneously develop soft and hard skills in a highly multidisciplinary environment. The program addresses the critical challenges of sustainable water management from multiple perspectives, including the Environment, Electronics, Planning, Material Science, and Energy.

 

How does WATER4ALL encourage global cooperation, and what advantages will doctoral students derive from this multifaceted partnership?

The Water4All program seeks to advance scientific knowledge and innovation in multidisciplinary areas by equipping 20 doctoral candidates with advanced training in both academic research and practical skills. Structured training modules are designed to cover different aspects of Sustainable Water Management, enabling candidates to translate scientific research into real-world solutions. The inclusion of secondments at renowned national and international academic institutions, private companies, and public utilities further enhances the professional development of the participants, ensuring that they gain diverse experiences and foster international collaborations.

 

What kinds of research projects or specific topics within Sustainable Water Management will PhD candidates be able to explore, and how does the program prepare them to address the current global water challenges?

 This program includes a wide array of projects on numerous topics. The main module includes the environment with specific topics on treatment Technologies for specific contaminants, climate change science, watershed management, recovery-recycle-reuse technologies, and phytoremediation of contaminants. The energy module includes projects related to renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and off-grid applications. The electronics module includes projects on digital water, sensor technologies, software development, and smart irrigation planning. The material module covers areas such as the membranes, resins, polymers, and coatings. Finally, the planning module of the program includes topics of sustainable urbanization, nature-based solutions to water problems, urban governance and management, land use development and management, and water allocation.

Dr. Atakan Ekiz Received The Prestigious EMBO Grant

 

 

 

We are excited to interview Assist. Prof. Dr. Atakan Ekiz has recently been awarded a prestigious European Molecular Biology Organization, EMBO, Installation Grant. His research covers the role of long non-coding RNAs in skin cancer progression and immune evasion. This project  has the potential to significantly contribute to the field of cancer biology. Through this interview, we gained insights into the research, as well as the effect of this grant on his future research.

 

 

 

What motivated you to study long non-coding RNAs and their role in skin cancer?

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are kind of the black box of the genome. There are thousands of long non-coding RNAs in the genome, and their functions are unknown. Recent studies have shown that long non coding RNAs have important functions in health and disease, especially in cancer. They can regulate many cellular processes through a variety of mechanisms, but much remains to be deciphered. One of the main motivations for my research on lncRNAs in skin cancer is the findings that I obtained during my postdoctoral research in the US. Using machine learning, we identified numerous lncRNAs that could reveal heterogeneity in skin cancer samples. We found that immune-enriched or immune-devoid cancer samples differ in terms of their Lnc RNA landscape, and these differences may explain why some tumors are more aggressive than others. We wanted to further explore these lncRNAs in the context of clinical outcomes and therapeutic response. The lncRNAs in our genome may hold the key to understanding the complexity of cancer and may help identify disease biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

 

The EMBO Installation Grant is very prestigious and competitive. How will this grant advance your research goals in your academic journey? 

 The EMBO installation grant provides flexible funding for expenses in the lab, as well as numerous opportunities for networking with people in Europe and beyond. This grant also helps me and my lab members to attend symposia at conferences and share our scientific research with our peers. Becoming a member of the embo community unlocks numerous opportunities for finding like-minded people and performing collaborative research in the future.

 

What do you foresee that exploring the connections between non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and cancer progression will contribute to the field of cancer biology?

A better understanding of ncRNAs in the context of cancer biology will help us to characterize the mechanisms by which cancer cells progress and evade the natural defense mechanisms of our bodies. ncRNAs can regulate many cellular processes and serve as therapeutic targets. To provide a context, we have approximately 20,000 protein-coding genes in our genomes, but more than 50,000 non-coding elements. The functions of these non coding genes remain largely unknown. Research on non-coding ironies, specifically long non-coding ironies, can lead to the identification of new disease mechanisms. In turn, the findings in this field can help categorize patients better, devise more effective therapeutic approaches, and identify molecular targets for improved clinical outcomes.

 

The EMBO Installation Grant places significant emphasis on connecting with the EU research community. How would you anticipate that this partnership will benefit and advance your scientific research?

The embo installation grant provides ample opportunities to connect with the EU research community. E MB O Organizes numerous trainings and symposia to facilitate scientific research and knowledge sharing. It also provides training opportunities for laboratory management and research integrity. I anticipate that this grant will open doors for us to find new collaborators and launch international research partnerships. We are excited to be a part of this community, and we look forward to contributing to its mission of excellence in science.

IZTECH Was Granted The HR Excellence In Research Award

 

Human Resources for Research strategy aims to enhance research institutions by aligning with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (Charter & Code). Since receiving HRS4R recognition in early 2023, IZTECH has embarked on a new journey to implement an Action Plan tailored to our unique strengths, development areas, and weaknesses. This includes enhancing recruitment practices, supporting researchers’ career growth, and promoting ethical research standards. Our commitment to these principles not only strengthens our internal culture, but also solidifies our standing as a dynamic, researcher-centered institution on the international stage. Our efforts began with a Kick-off Meeting on April 26, 2023, engaging participants across the Institute. Since then, implementation, career development, supervision, research environment, and human resources working groups have been actively advancing initiatives in line with Charter & Code standards. Through their hard work and commitment, IZTECH has made substantial progress in enhancing our research environment and advancing our vision of excellence.