Middle East Technical University

History

Foundation and vision

In 1954, Charles Abrams from the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, commissioned by the United Nations to study housing issues and the state of architectural, urban and regional planning education in the Middle East, visited Turkey. Upon completing his survey, Abrams submitted a report to the UN recommending the establishment of a technological institute in Turkey to provide education in architecture and planning. Subsequently, the UN assigned G. Holmes Perkins from the University of Pennsylvania to assist in establishing an institute that would train Turkish architects and urban-regional planners.

Middle East Technical University was founded under the name "Orta Doğu Teknoloji Enstitüsü" (English: Middle East Institute of Technology) on November 15, 1956, by then Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, the Director-General of Highways Vecdi Diker, and a group of academics. The university was established to contribute to the development of Turkey and the surrounding regions of the Middle East, Balkans, and Caucasus by fostering skilled professionals in the urban planning, engineering and social sciences. "Arrangements and Procedures as for the Foundation of METU, Law No 6213" was enacted on January 22, 1957, whereby the current name "Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi" (ODTÜ) was adopted. Finally, the "Foundation Act No 7907", setting forth the particular standing of METU and establishing it as a juridical entity, was enacted on May 27, 1959.

During the legislative discussions regarding METU, the establishment law was debated in parliament. Democrat Party deputy Münib Hayri Ürgüplü emphasized that "in a period marked by various ideological threats in the Middle East, the university would play a crucial role by educating young people armed with the profound truths of science to effectively confront these challenges". During the legislative discussions regarding the laws for Middle East Technical University, Zakar Tarver, a member of parliament, proposed that the university be exempt from all types of taxation.

The governance of METU was distinctively structured under a Board of Trustees, initially composed of five members, unlike any other institute managed by the Ministry of National Education. Temporary directorship was assumed by Thomas Godfrey until March 1959, with Marvin Sevely also part of the initial foreign faculty.

METU initially started with programs in Architecture and City Planning during the 1956–1957 academic year and expanded to include Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and programs under the Faculty of Administrative Sciences such as Business Administration, Public Administration, and Industrial Management in subsequent years. Classes were initially held in a small building owned by the Retirement Fund in Kızılay and barracks near the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

Early developments

In its early days, Middle East Technical University, initially heavily criticized due to its humble facilities resembling a middle school building, quickly embarked on efforts to establish its own campus. Although the campus location had not been finalized, a plan proposed by G. Holmes Perkins was accepted. Amid considerations to use either the lands behind Yalıncak Village or the buildings of the Etimesgut Sugar Factory for the campus site, the government pressed for immediate foundation laying. Consequently, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in Yalıncak Village on October 2, 1957, attended by nearly all ambassadors in Ankara, then-President Celal Bayar, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, and other ministers. The first chairman of the METU Board of Trustees, Vecdi Diker, had brought an excavator from the General Directorate of Highways to commence the digging. At the start of the 1957–1958 academic year, the Faculty of Architecture, the Faculty of Engineering, and the Faculty of Administrative Sciences were established. In 1959, the establishment of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences was completed. Within the framework of Perkins’ campus plan, the first building designated was the Faculty of Administrative Sciences, and in 1959, a Turkish team comprising Dr. Turgut Cansever, Ertürk Yener, and Mehmet Tataroğlu won an international design competition for it. However, the project was put on hold as the campus location was still not definitively established.

The 1960 Turkish coup d'état led to significant upheaval at METU. Then-Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, a member of the METU Board of Trustees, and MP Ahmet Tokuş were arrested and expelled from the board, spreading fears of the university's potential closure. Colonel Sami Küçük, a member of the National Unity Committee, opposed other junta members who wanted the university closed, arguing it was Adnan Menderes' project, and ensured that educational activities at METU continued. In March 1959, Willis Raymond Woolrich, who also served as the dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Texas, was dismissed as an advisory rector following a law passed in August 1960 that terminated the Board of Trustees' mandate. After Woolrich's rectorship, Edwin S. Burdell, who previously served as president of the Cooper Union for 22 years and as the first dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, took on the role of president at METU. After Burdell's period, Prof. Dr. Turhan Feyzioğlu was appointed as the first Turkish rector of METU. During his speech at the opening ceremony, Rector Feyzioğlu emphasized, "Middle East Technical University is entirely a Turkish university." In June 1960, METU graduated its first class, comprising 30 students including 11 from Mechanical Engineering and 19 from Architecture, and the top student was awarded a prize of 1000 lira along with a plaque.

Recent history

In July 1987, following the completion of Rector Gönlübol's term, Prof. Dr. Ömer Saatçioğlu, a faculty member from the Department of Industrial Engineering, was appointed as the rector of METU. In 1988, the University Senate designated May 27 as "METU Day" based on the original enactment date of METU's founding law, and decided to celebrate this day annually with a ceremony. Since then, METU Day has been celebrated on the last working day of the week in which May 27 falls. In 1989, the first Alumni Day, which later became a tradition, was organized, honoring alumni who had reached the 30th anniversary of their graduation with plaques. That same year, the university significantly expanded its computing capacity, reaching a total of one thousand personal computers, established a fiber optic network, and connected to international networks.

In 1987, preliminary work began on establishing a science park, known as Teknokent, aimed at supporting technology-based companies. This initiative led to the opening of the Technology Development Center (TEKMER) in 1990, following a collaboration agreement with the Small and Medium Industry Development Organization.

On July 7, 1992, a law was passed to abolish the system of rector appointments by the Council of Higher Education, transitioning to the current electoral system for selecting rectors. Following the end of Ömer Saatçioğlu's term in September 1992, the first elections under this new system resulted in the appointment of Prof. Dr. Süha Sevük, a faculty member from the Department of Civil Engineering, as the rector. That year also saw the establishment of the BİLTİR Center, which included Turkey's first CAD/CAM Laboratory, under the auspices of the rectorate.

On April 12, 1993, Turkey's first internet connection was established through a 64 kbit/s leased line between Ankara and Washington, facilitated by the routers in the METU Computer Center. This achievement led to the creation of Turkey's first internet pages with a .tr domain. In 1994, with the support of Rector Sevük and Secretary-General Mehmet Çalışkan, efforts to establish Radio METU began, and broadcasting started in 1995 on frequency 103.1 FM. Rector Süha Sevük was reelected on June 25, 1996.

In 1998, the METU Development Foundation initiated a project to establish schools across Anatolia, starting with schools in Ankara, Kayseri, Denizli, Mersin and İzmir, with plans to increase the number of schools to between 10 and 12. On November 19, 1998, following a protocol signed with the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces and the Defence Industry Agency, the MODSİM-LAB was established. The laboratory, located in a new building on the campus, was operational by June 24, 1999, as a Research and Development Laboratory and later attained center status, becoming known as METU-Turkish Armed Forces MODSİMMER (Modeling and Simulation Applications Research Center).

Organisation

Faculties and departments

METU has 42 academic departments, most of which are organised into 5 faculties. These are responsible for the undergraduate programs.

Faculty of Architecture: Architecture, City and Regional Planning, Industrial Design

Faculty of Arts and Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, History, Mathematics, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, Statistics

Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences: Business Administration, Economics, International Relations, Political Science and Public Administration

Faculty of Education: Computer Education and Instructional Technology, Educational Sciences, Elementary Education, Foreign Language Education, Physical Education and Sports, Secondary Science and Mathematics Education

Faculty of Engineering: Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Engineering Sciences, Environmental Engineering, Food Engineering, Geological Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Mining Engineering, Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

In addition to these, there are the Department of Basic English and the Department of Modern Languages in the School of Foreign Languages; the Technical Vocational School of Higher Education; and, bound directly to the President's Office, the Department of Turkish Language and the Department of Music and Fine Arts.

Graduate schools

The 5 graduate schools present in METU are responsible for the graduate programs.

Graduate School of Applied Mathematics

Graduate School of Informatics

Graduate School of Marine Sciences (Institute of Marine Sciences – IMS)

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences

Graduate School of Social Sciences

Academics

As of 2020, METU has approximately 27,000 students, of which 19,700 are enrolled in undergraduate programs, 4,700 in masters, and 3,000 in doctorate programs. A further 1,500 students are attending programs in the new Northern Cyprus Campus. Over 40% of METU's students go on to graduate school. Each academic year, METU hosts over 1,700 regular international students from 94 different countries; and through 168 Erasmus Programme agreements and 182 bilateral exchange and cooperation agreements with universities abroad (e.g. in Central Asia, Middle East, North America, Australia, Far East and Pacific Region), it sends 350 students and receives 300 students and 50 researchers annually. As of 2023, the university employs 2,603 faculty (professors and associate professors), 479 academic instructors, and over 708 research assistants. The number of the alumni exceeds 500,000 (about 350,000 having completed undergraduate programs).

METU has about 40 undergraduate programs within the faculties of Engineering, Architecture, Arts and Sciences, Economic and Administrative Sciences, and Education, and there are 97 masters and 62 doctorate programs available in the graduate schools of Natural and Applied Sciences, Social Sciences, Informatics, Applied Mathematics, and Marine Sciences. METU commonly ranks close to the top among research universities in Turkey, with over one third of the 1,000 highest scoring students in the national university entrance examination choosing to enroll; and most of its departments accepting the top 0.1% of the nearly 1.5 million applicants. In the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities published in July 2009, aiming to measure through web-based publications the institution size, research output, and impact, METU ranked as the world's 435th (1st place within Turkey) among 15,000 universities, being the only university from Turkey to get included among the top 500. Recently, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings published in September 2016 placed METU at the 501–600th position worldwide based on indicators of teaching, research, influence, innovation, and international character, making it one of the six universities from Turkey listed among the top 600 (the other being Bilkent University at number 351–400). The QS World University Rankings 2010 by Quacquarelli Symonds ranked METU as 185th worldwide in the field of engineering and technology, and as 333rd in the field of natural sciences.

The language of instruction at METU is English. All enrolled students are required to have a degree of proficiency in English for academic purposes, and this is assured by a proficiency examination before the commence of studies. Students with unsatisfactory knowledge of English follow a preparatory English education for one year, given by the METU School of Foreign Languages. Two exceptions instructed in Turkish are the Turkish language and the history of Turkish revolution courses mandated by the Council of Higher Education.

International perspective

Researchers from METU actively take part in many COST, EUREKA, NASA, NATO, NSF, UN, World Bank, Jean Monnet, Erasmus Mundus, Leonardo and SOCRATES projects. METU has been involved in 56 European Union 6th Framework Programme (FP6) projects, including the coordination of 12 FP6 and 3 Networks of Excellence projects. Within the 7th Framework Programme (FP7), 33 research projects involve participation of METU, since 2007.

As of 2020, METU has 22 international joint degree programmes with European and American universities at the undergraduate and graduate levels. METU is a member of various associations and networks dealing with international education and exchange, including EUA, EAIE, IIE, GE3, SEFI, and CIEE. The university also actively participates in AIESEC and IAESTE summer internship programs. English as the language of instruction in all its degree programs has greatly facilitated METU's international involvements and accommodation of international students and researchers.

METU continually goes through external assessment, accreditation, and certification by international organizations. In 1991, METU initiated a long-term program to have its engineering programs evaluated by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), the recognized U.S. accreditor of college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology. This process was concluded with the Faculty of Engineering having all its thirteen undergraduate programs declared as "substantially equivalent" to the ABET accredited programs in the USA. The university has completed the evaluation process of Institutional Evaluation Programme (IEP) of the European University Association (EUA) in 2002.

Because of METU's effort to maintain international standards, the Faculty of Engineering was awarded in 1977 the "Silver Badge of Honor" by the UNESCO International Center for Engineering Education and the "Meritorious Achievement Award in Accreditation Activities" by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). METU was awarded the international Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1995 for its forestation program.

Being the pioneer institution of the country to connect to the Internet backbone in the early 1990s, METU also manages Turkey's Country Code Top-level Domain (ccTLD) (the ".tr" domain).

METU library

The METU Main Library has one of the largest collections in Turkey, containing over 500,000 books classified according to the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) scheme. The library subscribes to 1,500 print journals (170,270 volumes) and it provides access to 76,671 electronic journals, 587,493 electronic books, and 66 electronic reference sources. The library collections also hold over 1,780 book and serial CDs, 1,300 doctoral dissertations and 11,600 masters theses. Abstracts for doctoral dissertations and some master theses from North American colleges and universities and some accredited international universities are also provided, starting from 1861, with full texts available from the year 1997. The library's collections are predominantly in English, but there are also items in Turkish, German, and French. The library also has an exhibition space named after Furuzan Olşen. The exhibition space is approximately 100 m2 located at the entrance of the library. It hosts exhibitions, talks, and other cultural events, and is open to visitors during the library's regular opening hours.

Campuses

Ankara campus

METU main campus in Ankara, used by the university since 1963, is the first university campus of Turkey. It is situated about 10 km west of central Ankara and encompasses an area of 11,100 acres (4,500 ha), of which 7,500 acres (3,000 ha) constitute the METU Forest. The campus grounds was transformed into a forest with the continuing help of students and volunteers since the foundation of the university. The creation of this distinctive campus with its forest was spearheaded by the METU rector from 1961 to 1969, Kemal Kurdaş.

Lake Eymir near Gölbaşı, located 15 kilometers from the academic portion of the campus, is used by the students and faculty for rowing and recreational activities. The campus is accessible by several types of public transport, and the construction of METU subway station of the Ankara Metro on the main entrance to the campus (gate A1) was completed in 2014.

Northern Cyprus campus

The METU Northern Cyprus Campus, the first overseas campus of a Turkish university, 50 km west of North Nicosia in Northern Cyprus, admitted its first students during the academic year 2002–2003, but the doors were officially opened in Northern Cyprus in September 2005.

Erdemli campus

The METU Erdemli campus in Mersin Province on the Mediterranean coast, used by the Middle East Technical University Institute of Marine Sciences since 1975, is the first campus of METU outside of Ankara. It is situated about 45 km from Mersin. The campus area is 660,000 m2, close to the shore and surrounded by lemon trees. The laboratory space is about 700 m2. METU-IMS Harbor is an important shelter for marine biological diversity on the Mersin coast. The harbor is the only intact rocky habitat along the long sandy coast.

METU Teknokent

METU Teknokent, or ODTÜ Teknokent, is the first science and research park in Turkey.

As of 2009, the METU Teknokent project employs about 3,300 personnel, approximately 2,700 of whom are researchers (86% of the total staff are university graduates, and 23% have MSc, MA, or PhD degrees), working in 240 firms. Around 90% of the firms are small and medium enterprises (SMEs), 65% of these are specialized in information and communication technologies, 25% in electronics, and 15% in other sectors such as aerospace, environment, bio-technology, nanotechnology, and advanced materials.

METU Teknokent hosts partners to several European Union Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) projects, such as NICE, SINCERE, ReSIST, SmeInnov8gate and IP4INNO.

Notable people

Faculty

Aptullah Kuran (1927–2002) – Historian of architecture, B.Sc. and M.Sc. at Yale University, Ph.D. at Ankara University. Dean of the Faculty of Architecture (1960–1968), later served as the founding rector of Boğaziçi University

Behram Kurşunoğlu (1956–1958) – Physicist, B.Sc. and M.Sc. at University of Edinburgh and Ph.D. in University of Cambridge, best known for his works on unified field theory and participated in the discovery of two different types of neutrinos in the late 1950s

Bilge Demirköz – Physicist, B.Sc. at MIT, Ph.D. at the University of Oxford

Cahit Arf (1967–1980) – Known for Arf invariant, B.Sc. and M.Sc. in mathematics at École Normale Supérieure

Charles E. Tucker Jr. – Retired United States Air Force general, executive director of the World Engagement Institute

Çiğdem Kağıtçıbaşı (1940–2017) – Social psychologist, formerly at Boğaziçi University and Koç University

Denis Alexander – Molecular biologist, emeritus Fellow of St. Edmund's College, Cambridge

Dilhan Eryurt (1926–2012) – Astrophysicist, formerly worked for NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Apollo 11

Erdal İnönü (President 1970–1971, Faculty 1964–1974) – B.Sc. in physics at Ankara University and Ph.D. at California Institute of Technology and former Interim Prime Minister of Turkey

Ferdan Ergut – Historian, B.Sc. at METU, M.Sc. and Ph.D. at the New School for Social Research

Feza Gürsey (1961–1974) – Theoretic physicist, B.Sc. in mathematics and physics at Istanbul University and Ph.D. at Imperial College London and receiver of Wigner Medal in 1986

Alumni

Abdullah Atalar (B.Eng.) – M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Stanford University, former president of Bilkent University

Abzal Saparbekuly (B.S.) – Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Turkey

Ahmet Bozer (B.BA.) – Vice president of The Coca-Cola Company

Alev Alatlı (B.S. 1963) – Economics, economist, writer and columnist

Ali Babacan (B.S. 1988) – Politician and former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey

Ali Yaycıoğlu (B.S. 1994) – Historian, currently at Stanford University

Amir Farshad Ebrahimi (Ph.D.) – Human rights activist in Iran, journalist

Arda Denkel (B.S. 1972) – Philosopher, D.Phil. at the University of Oxford

Ataç İmamoğlu (B.Eng.) – Electrical engineer, Ph.D. Stanford University, former researcher at Harvard University and currently head of Quantum Photonics Group and professor at ETHZ

Aylin Nazlıaka (B.S.) – Economist, businesswoman and politician, Emerging Leaders program at Harvard Kennedy School and former lecturer at Bilkent University, member of Republican People's Party

Bilal Akin (B.S., M.Sc.) – Electrical engineer, faculty member of The University of Texas at Dallas, recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and fellow of the IEEE

Boğaç Ergene – Historian, B.Sc. at METU, M.Sc. at LSE, Ph.D. at Ohio State University. Currently at University of Vermont

METU International Advisory Board

Prof. Alexander Lenz – Chair of the Particle Physics Department at the University of Siegen

Prof. Dr. Nurcan Baç (METU '80) – Deputy Dean of the Whitacre College of Engineering at the Texas Tech University

Prof. Dr. Oya Atalay Franck (METU '89) – Dean of the ZHAW School of Architecture, Design, and Civil Engineering

Prof. Dr. Oya I. Tukel (METU '88) – Dean of the NJIT Martin Tuchman School of Management

Prof. Peter Agre – Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2003)

Dr. William Colglazier – Former US Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State

Prof. Dr. Eng. Yusuf Altıntaş – Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia