Istanbul Technical University ( tr, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ITU or The Technical University) is an international technical university located in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

. 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 142nd worldwide (1st nationwide) in the field of "Engineering & Technology", and 303rd worldwide (2nd nationwide) in the field of "Natural Sciences" by the

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for th ...

in 2022. The university has 99 undergraduate, 192 graduate programs, 14 faculties, labs with total 154,000 m² area, and 12 research centers. The lecturer / student ratio is 1/25. Acceptance to the university is competitive, and entrance to most of its departments require scoring among the top 1% of nearly 2 million applicants at the national university entrance examination known as "YKS" every year. Graduates of ITU have received many

TUBITAK The Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, TÜBİTAK) is a national agency of Turkey whose stated goal is to develop "science, technology and innovation" (STI) policies ...

science and

TUBA The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

awards. Numerous graduates have also become members of the academy of sciences in the USA, UK and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. The university's basketball team, İTÜ BK, is in the

Turkish Basketball Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities an ...

History

Ottoman Empire

Considered as the world's third institution of higher learning specifically dedicated to engineering education, Istanbul Technical University (ITU) has a long and distinguished history. ITU was founded in 1773 by Sultan

Mustafa III Mustafa III (; ''Muṣṭafā-yi sālis''; 28 January 1717 – 21 January 1774) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703–30), and his consort Mihrişah Kadın. He was succeeded by hi ...

, as an important institution in the Nizam-ı Cedid reforms, as the Imperial School of Naval Engineering (''Mühendishâne-i Bahrî-i Hümâyun''), in the Kasımpaşa quarter on the

Golden Horn The Golden Horn ( tr, Altın Boynuz or ''Haliç''; grc, Χρυσόκερας, ''Chrysókeras''; la, Sinus Ceratinus) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with t ...

, originally dedicated to train ship builders and cartographers for the Ottoman Navy. In 1795 the Imperial School of Military Engineering ( ota, script=Latn, Mühendishâne-i Berrî-i Hümâyun) was established in the nearby

Hasköy Hasköy may refer to the following places in Turkey: * Hasköy, Istanbul, a quarter or neighborhood of the district of Beyoğlu in Istanbul * Hasköy, Ardahan, a village in the district of Ardahan, Ardahan Province * Hasköy, Çınar * Hasköy, ...

quarter on the Golden Horn, and the scope of the school was broadened to train technical military staff for the modernization of the

Ottoman Army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

. 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 Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the li ...

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 Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

, civil, mechanical, and electrical

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

faculties. With its long history of 249 years, its modern teaching environment, and well-qualified teaching staff, Istanbul Technical University today is the personification of

and architectural education in Turkey. Istanbul Technical University not only played a leading role in the modernization movement of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

, 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 faculties, except the Faculty of Science and Letters, at ITU is comparable to those of "schools" in the U.S. institutions, where each faculty is composed of two or more departments in line with a comprehensive engineering field. For example, the Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering consists of the departments of

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

control engineering Control engineering or control systems engineering is an engineering discipline that deals with control systems, applying control theory to design equipment and systems with desired behaviors in control environments. The discipline of controls o ...

electronics and communication engineering Electronics engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current f ...

. ;Faculty of Civil Engineering *Civil Engineering *Geomatics Engineering *Environmental Engineering ;Faculty of Architecture *Architecture *Urban and Regional Planning *Industrial Product Design *Interior Architecture *Landscape Architecture ;Faculty of Mechanical Engineering *Mechanical Engineering *Manufacturing Engineering ;Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering *Electrical Engineering *Control Engineering *Electronics and Communication Engineering ; Faculty of Computer and Informatics *

Computer Engineering Computer engineering (CoE or CpE) is a branch of electrical engineering and computer science that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineers n ...

* Artificial Intelligence and Data Engineering (Undergraduate) *Information Systems Engineering (Joint programme with SUNY) ; Faculty of Mines *Mining Engineering * Mineral Processing Engineering *Geological Engineering *Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering *Geophysical Engineering ; Faculty of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering *Chemical Engineering * Metallurgical and Materials Engineering *Food Engineering *Bioengineering (UOLP) ; Faculty of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering *Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering *Shipbuilding and Ocean Engineering ;Faculty of Sciences and Letters *Mathematics Engineering *Physics Engineering * Chemistry *Molecular Biology and Genetics ; Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics *Aeronautical Engineering *Astronautical Engineering *Meteorological Engineering ; Faculty of Management *Management Engineering *Industrial Engineering *Economics ;Maritime Faculty *Marine Engineering *Maritime Transportation and Management Engineering ; Faculty of Textile Technologies and Design *Textile Engineering *Fashion Design *Textile Development and Management ITU-TRNC Education and Research Campuses * Computer Engineering * Electrical and Electronics Engineering * Economics and Finance * Architecture * Maritime Business Management * Maritime Transportation Management Engineering * Marine Engineering * Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering * Preparatory School of Foreign Languages

Institutes and Research Centers

There are severa
Research Groups in ITU
including: * Energy Institute * Institute of Science and Technology * Social Sciences Institute * Institute of Informatics * Eurasia Earth Sciences Institutes * Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and Genetics Research Center (MOBGAM) * ARI Technopolis * Center for Satellite Communications and Remote Sensing * National Center for High Performance Computing * Rotorcraft Center of Excellence (ROTAM) * Mechatronics Education And Research Center (MEAM) * Center of Excellence for Disaster Management * Prof.Dr. Adnan Tekin Materials Science and Production Technologies Applied Research Center (ATARC) * Housing Research and Education Center * Women's Studies Center in Science, Engineering and Technology Planned Research Center Projects: * Vehicle Technology Research Center * Rf/Mixed Signal Processing Research Center * Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Advanced Research Center 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 * School of Foreign Languages * School of Fine Arts * School of Athletic Education * State Conservatory of Turkish Classical Music * Advanced Musical Sciences Research Institute * Polar Research Center

International Perspective and Rankings

25 engineering departments of ITU are accredited by

Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology The ABET (incorporated as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.) is a non-governmental organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied and natural sciences, computing, engineering and engineeri ...

(ABET). 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 Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL ) is a standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enroll in English-speaking universities. The test is accepted by more than 11,000 universities a ...

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 (roughly 30% and 70%, respectively or 100% in English for some disciplines). 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. In the

2022, ITU is ranked within the top 200 universities in the subject areas "Engineering - Petroleum", "Engineering - Mineral & Mining", "Engineering - Civil and Structural", "Engineering - Electrical and Electronics", "Engineering - Mechanical", "Engineering - Chemical", "Architecture & Built Environment", and it is ranked within the top 350 universities in the subject areas "Computer Science and Information Systems", "Environmental Sciences", "Material Sciences", "Mathematics", "Physics & Astronomy", "Chemistry". Maslak Skyline

Istanbul Technical University walkway with trees

Campus

ITU is a public (state) university. It has six campuses, five of which are located in the most important areas of

and one is located in

Famagusta Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under t ...

. Among ITU's six campuses, the main campus of

Maslak Maslak is one of the main business districts of Sarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European side of the city. It was formerly an exclave of the municipality of Şişli, though being far north and actually closer to the municipalities ...

, 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

, which is a dockyard area. The three urban campuses are near to one another and are situated close to

Taksim Square Taksim Square ( tr, Taksim Meydanı, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the ...

. Taşkışla campus is where the Faculty of Architecture is located. The

Taşkışla Taşkışla () is neighborhood and building complex in Istanbul. It takes its name ''Stone Barracks'' from its use as a military establishment in the Ottoman period also known as Mecidiye Kışlası. It is located in close proximity to Beyoğlu a ...

building is one of the most renowned historical buildings in Istanbul. It dates backs to the Ottoman era and was used as

military barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

. Gümuşsuyu (Mechanical Engineering Faculty) and Maçka (Management Faculty) campuses are also among the important historical buildings of Istanbul. The Famagusta campus at

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a '' de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Rec ...

is currently the first and only campus that hosts the ITU-TRNC Education and Research Campuses faculty.

Library Services

* ITU's library roughly holds 533,000 books, 500,000 volumes of book periodicals and 6000 rare Ottoman/Latin books. ITU Library has access to international libraries and online databases. It has the largest collection on technical materials (science and engineering) in Turkey. Mustafa Inan Library named after Mustafa İnan, a former rector of the university, is the central library, the coordination center, of the library services of the Technical University. ITU Library Services' history goes back to 1795, the printing house of the Mühendishâne-i Berrî-i Hümâyun of Ottoman Empire. * ITU Mustafa Inan Library's Rare Books Collection

Triga Mark-2 Nuclear Reactor

ITU's

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat fr ...

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

NHPCC
is located in 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 (240th).

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 Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile tha ...

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. The ITU basketball Team, which won the Turkish Basketball League Championship five times, currently plays in the Turkish Basketball League's Second Division (TB2L). Ayazağa Gymnasium is the home of the ITU Basketball Team. Despite the successes in basketball, the football team of ITU plays in the amateur league. A football

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

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 (Turkish University Sports Leagues) 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 An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activities is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Such activities a ...

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

over the campus life.

ITU Model United Nations (ITUMUN)

Model United Nations Society of ITU is one of the most active student clubs in the University. Participating in MUN conferences regularly, both domestic and international, MUN society offers an opportunity for personal development. 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 3,000 students. They include Lakeside Housings, IMKB Dormitory, Verda Urundul, Ayazaga Dormitory and Gumussuyu dormitory. Additional dormitories are planned.

Radio ITU

Radio ITU (or Technical University

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

) is the first

university radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produce ...

station in

. Radio ITU is located in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering building on

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-li ...

Entertainment

ITU Stadium is one of the most popular locations in Istanbul for concerts and such those performances. For instance,

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

(in 2014),

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

(in 2014), and

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-s ...

(in 2013) gave concerts at the ITU stadium.

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

also performed at the stadium on September 16, 2014 to a sold-out crowd of 19,157 people as part of her artRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball.

Notable faculty

Cahit Arf Cahit Arf (; 24 October 1910 – 26 December 1997) was a Turkish mathematician. He is known for the Arf invariant of a quadratic form in characteristic 2 (applied in knot theory and surgery theory) in topology, the Hasse–Arf theore ...

* Fatih Birol - Economist and Energy expert *

Aykut Barka Aykut Barka (December 16, 1951, Fatih, Istanbul – February 1, 2002) was a Turkish earth scientist specialized in earthquake research. He is best known for his contributions to understanding the behaviour of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NA ...

- Geologist *

Rudolf Belling Rudolf Belling (26 August 1886 – 9 June 1972) was a German sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Artistic theories At the very beginning of the 20th century Rudolf Bell ...

- Sculptor * Ratip Berker - Mechanical engineer * Nihat Berker - Physicist * Abdulşahap Cengiz - Art historian * M. Cengiz Dökmeci - Applied mathematician * Kerim Erim * Bülent Evcil - Flutist * İstar Gözaydın - Political scientist * Hakan B. Gülsün - Art historian * Mustafa İnan - Civil engineer-mechanics, Rector * İhsan Ketin - Geologist * Y. Doğan Kuban - Architect, historian of architecture * Emin Halid Onat * Zekai Şen - Civil engineer, hydrologist * Erdoğan Şuhubi - Mathematician * Karl von Terzaghi - Civil engineer, Founder of soil mechanics * Yusuf Yağcı - Chemist *

Celâl Şengör Ali Mehmet Celâl Şengör (born 24 March 1955) is a Turkish geologist. He is currently on the faculty at Istanbul Technical University, Department of Geological Engineering. Şengör is a (foreign) member of the American Philosophical Society ...

- Geologist

Notable alumni

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 Anıtkabir is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of the Turkish War of Independence and the founder and the first President of the Republic of Turkey. It is located in Ankara and was designed by architects Professor Emin On ...

Süleyman Demirel Süleyman Sami Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Turkey seven times betwee ...

(civil engineer) and Turgut Özal (electrical engineer) are the two former presidents of Turkey.

Necmettin Erbakan Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician, engineer, and academic who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was later ban ...

(mechanical engineer) and Binali Yildirim (naval architecture and ocean engineering) were former prime ministers of Turkey. Image:Turgut Özal cropped.jpg, Turgut Özal, 8th president of

Image:Suleyman Demirel 1998.jpg,

, 9th president of

Image:Necmettin Erbakan.jpg,

, 23rd prime minister of

Image:Binali Yıldırım.jpg,

Binali Yıldırım Binali Yıldırım (; born 20 December 1955) is a Turkish politician who served as the 27th and last Prime Minister of Turkey from 2016 to 2018 and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 2018 to 2019. He was Leader of the Justice and Deve ...

, 27th prime minister of

Notes and references

External links

ITU Homepage
interactive
Radio ITU
official website
Radio ITU Notable people

Photos of radio ITU
* {{Coord, 41, 06, 18, N, 29, 01, 30, E, display=title Technical universities and colleges in Turkey Engineering universities and colleges in Turkey Şişli Educational institutions established in 1773 1773 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Campus, college, student and university radio stations Istanbul Central Business District