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Technical university in Istanbul, Turkey From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (Turkish: İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as İTÜ), is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest[5] technical university dedicated to engineering and natural sciences as well as social sciences recently, and is one of the most prominent educational institutions in Turkey.
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi | |
| |
| Motto | Asırlardır Çağdaş |
|---|---|
Motto in English | Contemporary through the Ages |
| Type | State technical university |
| Established | 1773[1] |
| Rector | Hasan Mandal[2] |
Academic staff | 2,277; professor 547 [3] |
| Students | 37,092[3] |
| Undergraduates | 25,470[3] |
| Postgraduates | 11,622[3] |
| Location | , Turkey |
| Campus | 4 urban, 1 suburban, 1 abroad |
| Colors | Navy blue and honey yellow |
Sporting affiliations | Turkish Basketball Division II[4] ITU Hornets (American football) Ünilig Super League |
| Mascot | Bee |
| Website | www |
 | |
İTÜ is ranked 95th worldwide (1st nationwide) in the field of "Engineering & Technology", and 275th worldwide (2nd nationwide) in the field of "Natural Sciences" by the QS World University Rankings in 2024.[6] The university has 92 undergraduate programs and 188 graduate programs in 14 faculties, 277,160 m2 of laboratory space, and 12 research centers.[3]
Acceptance to the university is competitive, and entrance to most of its departments require scoring among the top 1% of nearly 3 million applicants at the national university entrance examination known as "YKS" every year.[7][8] Graduates of ITU have received many TUBITAK science and TUBA awards. Numerous graduates have also become members of the academy of sciences in the United States, Britain and Russia. The university's basketball team, İTÜ BK, is in the Turkish Basketball Super League.
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, as an important institution in the Nizam-ı Cedid reforms,[9] as the Imperial School of Naval Engineering (Mühendishâne-i Bahrî-i Hümâyun),[10] in the Kasımpaşa quarter on the Golden Horn, originally dedicated to train ship builders and cartographers for the Ottoman Navy. In 1795 the Imperial School of Military Engineering (Ottoman Turkish: Mühendishâne-i Berrî-i Hümâyun) was established in the nearby 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.[9][10] 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 who could provide the infrastructure for the rapidly developing country.
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, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering faculties.
With its long history of 251 years, its modern teaching environment, and well-qualified teaching staff, Istanbul Technical University today is the personification of engineering and architectural education in Turkey. Istanbul Technical University not only played a leading role in the modernization movement of the Ottoman Empire, 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.
The structure of faculties, except the Faculty of Science and Letters, at ITU is comparable to those of "schools" in the U.S. institutions,[dubious – discuss] 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, robotics and autonomous systems engineering, electronics and communication engineering.
ITU-TRNC Education and Research Campuses
There are several Research Groups in ITU, including:
Planned Research Center Projects:[19]
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
| University rankings | |
|---|---|
| Global – Overall | |
| ARWU World[20] | 701-800 (2023) |
| QS World[21] | 326 (2025) |
| QS Employability[22] | 301-500 (2022) |
| THE World[23] | 501-600 (2024) |
| Global – Science and engineering | |
| QS Engineering & Tech.[24] | 95 (2024) |
| QS Natural Sciences[25] | 275 (2024) |
| Regional – Overall | |
| QS Emerging Europe and Central Asia[26] | 17 (2022) |
26 engineering departments of ITU are accredited by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).[27] Also ITU's Faculty of Architecture is accredited by NAAB[28] and the Faculty of Maritime is accredited by IMO. Minimum score of 72 from TOEFL 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.[29] Therefore, the university provides a broad range of options, that involve highly reputable institutions, to its students for the Erasmus Mobility.[30]
Istanbul Technical University is consistently featured as one of the highest-ranked universities in Turkey.[29] In the QS World University Rankings 2023, ITU is ranked within the top 150 universities in the subject areas "Engineering - Petroleum", "Engineering - Mineral & Mining", "Engineering - Civil and Structural", "Engineering - Electrical and Electronics", "Engineering - Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing", within the top 250 in "Engineering - Chemical", "Architecture & Built Environment", "Computer Science and Information Systems", "Material Sciences", within the top 300 in "Environmental Sciences", "Mathematics", "Business and Management", "Chemistry", and within the top 450 in "Physics and Astronomy", "Economics and Econometrics.[29]
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QS World Rankings | 326[31] | 404[32] | 601-650[33] | 701-750[34] | 751-800[35] | 651-700[36] | 651-700[37] | 601-650[38] |
| QS Engineering & Technology | TBA | 95[6] | 108[39] | 142[6] | 202[40] | 218[36] | 256[41] | 231[42] |
| QS Natural Sciences | TBA | 275[6] | 255[43] | 303[6] | 305[44] | 324[36] | 342[45] | 311[46] |
| THE World Rankings | TBA | 501-600[47] | 601-800[48] | 601-800[49] | 801-1000[50] | 601-800[51] | 601-800[52] | 601-800[53] |
| THE Engineering & Technology | TBA | 301-400[54] | 401-500[55] | 401-500[56] | 501-600[50] | 501-600[51] | 401-500[57] | 401-500[58] |
ITU is a public (state) university. It has six campuses, five of which are located in the most important areas of Istanbul and one is located in Famagusta.[59] Among ITU's six campuses, the main campus of Maslak, in Sarıyer,[60] is a suburban campus, covering a total area of 1.600.000 m². 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 Istanbul, which is a dockyard area.
The three urban campuses are near to one another and are situated close to Taksim Square.
Taşkışla campus is where the Faculty of Architecture is located. The Taşkışla building is one of the most renowned historical buildings in Istanbul. It dates backs to the Ottoman era and was used as military barracks.
Gümuşsuyu (Mechanical Engineering Faculty) and Maçka (Management Faculty) campuses are also among the important historical buildings of Istanbul.
The Famagusta campus at Northern Cyprus is currently the first and only campus that hosts the ITU-TRNC Education and Research Campuses faculty.
ITU's nuclear reactor of Triga Mark-2 is in the Maslak campus. It is located at the Energy Institute.[61]
Since the foundation in 2003[62] 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.[63]
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).[64]
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 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 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.
ITU offers many options to students who like doing extra-curricular 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 Istanbul over the campus life.
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.
ITU dormitories have a capacity of 3,000 students. They include Lakeside Housings, IMKB Dormitory, Verda Urundul, Ayazaga Dormitory and Gumussuyu dormitory.[65] Additional dormitories are planned.
Radio ITU (or Technical University Radio[66]) is the first university radio station in Turkey.[67] Radio ITU is located in the School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering building on Maslak campus.
ITU Stadium is one of the most popular locations in Istanbul for concerts and such those performances.
For instance, Metallica (in 2014), Justin Timberlake (in 2014), and Roger Waters (in 2013) gave concerts at the ITU stadium. Lady Gaga also performed at the stadium on September 16, 2014 to a sold-out crowd of 25,157 people as part of her artRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball.
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. Süleyman Demirel (civil engineer) and Turgut Özal (electrical engineer) are the two former presidents of Turkey. Necmettin Erbakan (mechanical engineer) and Binali Yıldırım (naval architecture and ocean engineering) were former prime ministers of Turkey.
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