Turkish-German University Continues to Add Value to the R&D Studies Sector

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The opening speech of the program attended by Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank, Deputy Governor of Istanbul Dr. M. H. Nail Anlar, Mayor of Beykoz Murat Aydın, Secretary General of Istanbul Development Agency Dr. İsmail Erkam Tüzgen was made by the Rector of Turkish-German University Prof. Dr. Cemal Yildiz.

A New Page in Industry-University Collaboration
Rector Yıldız said, “As Turkish-German University, our vision is to make our university an outstanding, innovative and excellent university, to intensify industrial and international cooperation with our German partner universities, and to establish new collaborations.. To accomplish this, we strive to operate in many areas to advance priority field profiles in research and to promote excellence in education and research. Indeed, our projects such as ISRC, the International Surface Research Centre are concrete proof of this intention and effort.”  Rector Yıldız concluded his speech by stating that TGU- ISRC, which will serve Istanbul and Turkey, has a strategic importance and said that “On behalf of myself and my institution and the Turkish-German Consortium, I would like to express my gratitude to our project owner, who contributed to the realization of our center, to all our valuable teachers in the project team, to our sector stakeholders, to the Istanbul Development Agency and the Ministry of Industry and Technology for providing financial support to our project.”
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank referred to the role of Turkish-German University in industry cooperation and said that “The Turkish-German University really pleases us with the work it has done, the collaborations it has provided and the projects it has carried out since the day it was founded.” Minister Varank stated, “With the start of the activities of ISRC, 75% of which will be financed by our Istanbul Development Agency, our country will achieve significant gains. The centre, which will be established with a total investment of more than 26 million liras, will also have a closed laboratory area of 2000 square meters.
Noting that the centre will include coating, heat treatment, borehole, microstructure analysis, mechanical, physical, chemical characterization and sectoral innovation laboratories, Minister Varank said that the centre will bring universities and industry together with the help of EU projects based on the model of the world-famous Fraunhofer community with the support of the Turkish-German University Consortium. "  Varank explained “R&D studies based on P&D will be carried out with university-industry cooperation. Domestic and national value-added products can be developed here. At the same time, this centre will provide sectoral trainings and consultancy services to those who want it. The important needs of many sectors, especially automotive, iron-steel, metal and white goods, which are concentrated in Istanbul and its surroundings, will begin to be met from here.” Emphasizing that the construction of strong superstructures is only possible with the construction of strong infrastructures, he added that important steps have been taken in terms of R&D, innovation and test centres, and that 84 thousand researchers have made R&D and innovation in 94 techno parks today.
After the speeches, TGU Rector Prof. Dr. Cemal Yıldız and Istanbul Development Agency General Secretary Dr. İsmail Erkam Tüzgen signed the protocol of the TGU- ISRC project in presidency of Minister Varank. The ceremony ended with a souvenir photo shoot and the presentation of a gift by Rector Yıldız to Minister Varank.

About ISRC
Turkish-German University, International Surface Research and Innovation Inc. (ISRC Inc.),whose foundations were laid with the support of Istanbul Development Agency, creates an interface in the German Fraunhofer Institute model especially within the scope of multinational research, P&D and innovation projects and  for the effective provision of bilateral technical/individual know-how transfer in addition to testing, analysis and advanced characterization activities in the fields of surface engineering/technologies, with the active support of its partner Turkish-German University Consortium (K-TGU), Thus, as a result of bringing together innovative works such as Horizont and EU projects, especially in the automotive, white goods, defence, aluminium and iron/steel sectors of the Turkish and especially the German industry and academia, it is aimed to bring products with high added value to the country's economy and industry by allocating university-industry cooperation effectively with stakeholders. By adopting an R & D approach based on P & D, the centre, where standardization and technical regulations, as well as applied research and development studies in surface engineering, especially corrosion and wear will be carried out, will consist of a 2000m2 closed laboratory area, with 2 main departments, 6 main laboratories and 12 specific subfield laboratories is also aimed to host training and consultancy services.