TUBITAK Support for 8 Projects of OzU in the Last 3 Months!

Since December 2021, eight projects from Özyeğin University have been supported in TUBITAK ARDEB 3501-Career Program, TUBITAK ARDEB 1002- Short‐Term R&D Funding Program, TUBITAK ARDEB 1001- The Scientific and Technological Research Projects Funding Program and TUBITAK BİDEB 2232-B International Fellowship for Early Stage Researchers Program. According to the results of the evaluation, Prof. Dr. Safiye Feyza Cinicioglu, Asst. Prof. Nevset Gul Canakcioglu, Asst. Prof. Derya Deniz, Asst. Prof. Ramazan Unal, Asst. Prof. M. Selenga Gurmen, Asst. Prof. Ismail Akturk, Instructor Dr. Ozkan Akpınar and Instructor Dr. Basak Akgul Kovankaya’s below projects are considered worthy  to be supported. We congratulate our researchers whose projects will be supported and wish them an efficient project implementation process.

• Arching Mechanism with Special Reference to Embankments Resting on High Modulus Columns

The goal of this project is to investigate the arching mechanism that affects the design and performance of a multitude of geotechnical structures and to develop methods for its realistic implementation into design and application. Among all problems affected by arching, embankments of transportation systems are prominent owing to their sizes, economic magnitudes, and their direct influence on human life. That is why in this project, the focus is on embankments of transportation systems.

Project Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Safiye Feyza Cinicioglu/ Faculty of Engineering/ Department of Civil Engineering

Program Name: TUBITAK ARDEB 1001 The Scientific and Technological Research Projects Funding Program

• Analysis of the Effect of Syntactic Characteristics of Science Centers on the Spatial Preferences and Learning Levels of Middle School Students

Within the scope of this research, it is discussed that the layout of science centers in terms of architecture, circulation scheme and interactive education tools are as important as the educational content of the science centers. In this context, the research focuses on the fact that the architectural organization of science centers should be inviting to participate in the learning experience, positively stimulating to the senses, and being free from environmental stressors that hinder the learning experience, which can increase the motivation of the students.

Project Coordinator: Asst. Prof. Nevset Gul Canakcioglu/ Faculty of Architecture and Design/ Department of Architecture

Program Name: TUBITAK ARDEB 3501 Career Development Program

• Multi-hazard Impact and Mitigation Decision-making Models for Industrial Buildings

For industrial zones in Turkey, it is very crucial to understand multi-hazard impacts and to take the most “useful” hazard-mitigation actions. This project aims to develop “holistic” models that can first assess multi-hazard impacts and then support decision-making on hazard-mitigation for industrial buildings under earthquakes and their triggered hazards such as liquefactions and fires. With the proposed models, this project will greatly contribute to decision-making processes by different stakeholders, including industrial building owners and industrial zone representatives seeking to make the most effective hazard-mitigation planning; and insurance companies seeking to improve their hazard insurance policies for industrial buildings.

Project Coordinator: Asst. Prof. Derya Deniz/ Faculty of Engineering/ Department of Civil Engineering

Program Name: TUBITAK ARDEB 3501 Career Development Program

• Design, Control and Development of an Energy-Recycling Active Transfemoral Prosthesis

In this research, it is aimed to design, control, develop and evaluate a robotic transfemoral prosthesis that can provide movements such as sit-to-stand, stair ascending and descending and can adapt to different speeds, inclinations and surfaces in a natural way. It is aimed that the proposed design of the prosthesis will be energy efficient and energy-recycling in order to reduce the metabolic energy consumption of the user and increase the quality of movement.

Project Coordinator: Asst. Prof. Ramazan Unal/ Faculty of Engineering/ Department of Mechanical Engineering

Program Name: TUBITAK ARDEB 3501 Career Development Program

• Couples Therapy Effectiveness and Change Process Research in Turkey

In the presented project proposal, the effectiveness of couples therapy and therapeutic change context and mechanisms will be investigated with qualitative and quantitative data collected over 24 months from 100 couples who come to couples therapy. To date, there are few studies in the international literature and no studies in Turkey that show the effectiveness of couple therapy at the couple level and/or investigating the change mechanisms and contexts of couple therapy. The current project will contribute to the literature and the practice hence will enable couples who have difficulties in their relationships to benefit from couple therapy in the best possible way. Benchmarking part of the project proposal will make a significant contribution not only to the literature in Turkey, but also to the literature in general.

Project Coordinator: Asst. Prof. M. Selenga Gurmen/ Faculty of Social Sciences/ Department of Psychology

Program Name: TUBITAK ARDEB 3501 Career Development Program

• Hardware/Software Innovations and Optimization for Heterogeneous High-Performance, Energy-Efficient Computing Platforms

The main goal of this project is to develop an adaptive management framework for heterogeneous computing systems that would orchestrate the pool of approximate accelerators and dynamically optimize performance, energy and accuracy trade-offs via approximation knobs (that allow to calibrate the approximations at runtime) both in SW and HW. Exploiting spatio-temporal impact of approximations would allow to make timely decisions and finer-grained adjustments to optimize performance, energy and accuracy trade-offs.

Project Coordinator: Asst. Prof. Ismail Akturk/ Faculty of Engineering/ Department of Computer Science

Program Name: TUBITAK BIDEB 2232-B International Fellowship for Early Stage Researchers Program

• Reclamation of Rivers in the Mediterranean Anatolia: Environment, Politics, and Society in the late Ottoman Empire, 1850-1914

This project proposal discusses rivers in western and southern Anatolia and the Ottoman state’s attempts to reclaim them in the late Ottoman period. The Ottoman state followed various policies to reclaim rivers, especially starting from the 1850s when rivers and river basins gained importance because of the commercialization of agriculture. Discussing reclamation projects in Gediz, two Menderes, Seyhan, and Ceyhan rivers, the project focuses on how the Ottoman state’s policies for rivers transformed and which political, economic, and social impacts did this transformation led to. Instructor Dr. Basak Akgul Kovankaya will take part in the project as a researcher.

Project Coordinator: Instructor Dr.  Ozkan Akpinar/ Faculty of Social Sciences/ Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

Program Name: TUBITAK ARDEB 3501 Career Development Program

• Bureaucracy, Capital, and Labour in Ottoman Forestry, 1839-1914

This project examines the social and ecological impact of modern forestry practices in the late Ottoman Empire. The project focuses on the power struggles among officials, investors, and forestry labourers in the western and southern Anatolia. The project aims to analyse the disputes and negotiations over forests from an environmental perspective and visualize the role that the local actors played in the commercialization and centralization of forestry.

Project Coordinator: Instructor Dr. Basak Akgul Kovankaya/ Faculty of Social Sciences/ Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

Program Name: TUBITAK ARDEB 1002 Short‐Term R&D Funding Program