Hacettepe University 2024-25 Academic Year Opening Ceremony was held

Within the scope of our university's 2024-2025 Academic Year Opening Ceremony, the first visit to Anıtkabir was held on Wednesday, October 30.

The ceremony, which continued at the Sıhhiye Campus Cultural Center, was attended by the President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) Prof. Dr. Numan Kurtulmuş, Minister of Health Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu, our Rector Prof. Dr. Mehmet Cahit Güran, Hacettepe University administration, academic and administrative staff and many students.

The ceremony began with a concert by the Hacettepe University Symphony Orchestra conducted by Conductor Prof. Burak Tüzün, with TRT Ankara Radio Artist Ahmet Tuzlu participating as a soloist, accompanied by Ministry of Culture and Tourism Artist Turgay Coşkun with Kanun.

Then, our university's Rector Prof. Dr. Mehmet Cahit Güran delivered the opening speech of the new academic year. In his speech, Prof. Dr. Güran stated that one out of every three students placed in Hacettepe chose the university as their first choice and that over 50 thousand students are studying there. Drawing attention to the importance of new generation technologies in education, Güran said, “The need for individualized learning models, distance education, artificial intelligence-supported evaluation systems and the management of higher education with data-based decision-making tools is increasing. We believe that we have to make very important breakthroughs in the field of higher education, both individually and institutionally, in the coming years. As the university administration, we will continue to increase our institutional capacity and take the steps we have taken in previous years in line with the digital university vision in a stronger way," he said.

Emphasizing the 101st year of the Republic, our Rector Güran wished the Republic to endure forever and celebrated the Republic Day.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Health Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu expressed his great pride in being a member of one of the deep-rooted universities that has almost reached 70 years, such as Hacettepe. Expressing that Hacettepe students will continue to develop national and international literature in academic terms and to raise successful students who work for Turkey and humanity, as they have done until today, Memişoğlu said the following:
“As the Ministry of Health, we want to seriously support our physicians not only in terms of surgery and treatment but also in terms of producing science. We will stand by our scientists who are conducting Phase 1 studies, especially with the ecosystem we will create through TÜSEB, and we will support our scientists. We will stand strongly behind our friends who say 'I will say something new, I will produce something new' in the field of medicine. As Turkey, we have to stand out with a more advanced claim in the field of health. We must now be the main player in the health sector in the world. For this, we will produce health knowledge, health technology, and say new things about health."

TBMM Speaker Prof. Dr. Numan Kurtulmuş drew attention to the importance of universities' goals of increasing their scientific level and internationalization in his speech. Kutulmuş said, “Today, we have 209 universities all over our country. In addition, we have a large educational army with a student population of 7.5 million. However, this level is not enough for us.” Stating that universities should not only follow scientific developments but also advance in all areas that concern society, Kurtulmuş said, “Yesterday, we celebrated the 101st Anniversary of the Republic. This means the first Republic Day of the second century of the Republic. God willing, the Republic of Turkey will exist until the end of time and we will leave a much stronger republic to the next generations.” He used the expressions.

Hacettepe Awards and Professorship Certificates were presented
Following the speeches, the “2023 Hacettepe Awards” were presented to scientists who made a difference with their work.

The Science Award in Medicine and Health was awarded to the following teams: Dr. Esra Büber, Dr. Deniz Ceyhan, Dr. Deniz Sarıgöl and Assoc. Prof. Ayşe Uzgören Baran, while Prof. Dr. Özlem Özgün was awarded the Science Award in Science and Engineering.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emre Ünal was awarded the Science Encouragement Award in Medicine and Health, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gülçin Bolat Topçu was awarded the Science Encouragement Award in Science and Engineering.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Songül Çınaroğlu was awarded the Science Encouragement Award in Social and Human Sciences.

Following the Hacettepe Awards, 54 faculty members who were appointed to professorship were awarded professorship certificates. Awards and Professorship certificates were presented by the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Prof. Dr. Numan Kurtulmuş and our Rector, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Cahit Güran.

Click to watch the Academic Year Opening Ceremony.