ODTÜ ranked #6 among the "Top 15 Design Schools" in Americas and Europe in Red Dot Design Ranking 2013. Having ranked #13 previously in 2011, ODTÜ was rated above world renowned design schools such as Pratt Institute (USA), Royal College of Art (UK) and Rhode Island School of Design (USA) this year.

Based on the Red Dot awards presented to universities in the last 5 years in the category of “Conceptual Design”, this year's ranking includes educational institutions from Sweden (1), France (1), the USA (5), Turkey (1), Germany (4), the UK (2), Brazil (1), and Poland (1). Red Dot Design Awards have been organized by Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen headquartered in Essen, Germany since 1955. The ranking is one of the most prestigious  international design award systems. Details of Red Dot Awards are available from www.red-dot.de.

I would like to congratulate and thank the students and staff of the Industrial Design Department who have brought the Red Dot Design Award to our university.

Prof. Ahmet ACAR
Rector

Red Dot Design Ranking 2013

Universities – Americas & Europe

METU-Turkey Team won the gold medal with their project “Bee Subtilis” at iGEM European Championship held between 11-13 October 2013 in Lyon, France. The team is advised by Assoc. Prof. Zeynep Işıl Kalaylıoğlu from ODTÜ Department of Statistics and Assoc. Prof. Meral Kence from the Department of Biological Sciences. Team coordinator is Assoc. Prof. Mesut Muyan, also from the Department of Biological Sciences.

Consisting of Side Selin Su Yirmibeşoğlu, Oğuz Bolgi, Özgün Kırdar, Emre İlpars, Buse İşbilir, Ekin Sağlıcan, Batuhan Elçin, Gürkan Akan, Aykal Refik Aşkın, Şeniz Yüksel, Burak Kızıl, Müge Sak, Bilge Büyükdemirtaş, Mehmet Nizamoğlu, Hakan Taşkıran, Begüm Ece Tohumcu, Samet Albayrak, İlkem Kumru, Uğurcan Sakızlı, Irmak Subaşı and Ayşegül Dede, ODTÜ iGEM 2013 Team developed a project aiming to prevent the loss and death of bee colonies, which are essential to pollenization, following the failure of their defense mechanism due to feeding on pesticide chemicals and unnourishing foods. With a biological system regulated by using the bacteria in bees' stomach, METU-Turkey Team attempted to make bees resistant to chemicals. They also designed a secondary system which produces a natural nutrient -which is not added to their food due to its high cost-  in bees' stomach, with an additional system to ensure that this bacteria does not stay alive outside the bee.

iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machines) is an interdisciplinary synthetic biology competition, first organized in 2004 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Synthetic biology is a branch of science that allows genetic modifications in living things with the use of molecular biology and genetic methods. Undergraduate and graduate students compete in teams in this event which aims to transfer the characteristics of various living things to single-cell organisms so as to develop optimal solution systems to the problems of our day. In the first year of the competition, participants were 5 teams and projects from the same university. Soon starting to attract more teams from reputable universities worldwide, the competition adopted a two-phase structure in 2011. A total of 165 teams competed in 2011 in three regional championships and one grand final. This was followed in 2012 by the entrance of 190 teams in five regional championships and the grand final. ODTÜ students have been competing in iGEM since 2007 and have successfully brought back home a total of 1 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals with their projects. In 2013, the competition attracted 204 teams, 59 of which entered the European Championship.

Alongside its adherence to the universal values, Middle East Technical University has always responded with the utmost sensitivity to the needs and interests of the society and the country, and has used its academic resources and facilities for this purpose. Over the past twenty years, METU has been responsibly exhibiting a hearty and earnest approach towards the controversial Anatolian Boulevard project, and by taking into account the needs of the citizens of Ankara, has been entirely consistent in overseeing the public interest. The METU Protective Development Plan, prepared by METU and submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning for approval, was also an outcome of the aforementioned approach. However, METU has recently been exposed to an unlawful intervention in a rather offensive way while waiting, in full respect for institutions and individuals, for the conflict to be legally resolved.

Destroying a portion of the fences around the university in a night-raid, the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality road construction teams and machinery broke into the METU Campus on Friday, October 18th, the last day of the Feast of Sacrifice, at around 21.15 pm. Without any consultation, the highway project was launched as a fait accompli, before the expiration of the period for filing an appeal against the approved plan, and more than 3,000 trees on the university land were removed in the same night. This cannot be a well-intentioned act; more accurately, this is an instance of unlawfulness. By this offensive act disregarding the rights of METU as well as the regulations by law, the aforementioned METU Protective Development Plan has been put at risk and, the credibility of the relevant institutions has been damaged. We have lost trust and confidence in those institutions that displayed such an unacceptable attitude, and cannot any more expect that they will act lawfully and in sincerity in future relations.

We condemn the illegal night-time raid launched by Ankara Metropolitan Municipality on our campus. Against this injustice and unlawfulness, the METU Senate has decided to bring the matter to court of justice without delay and pursue the matter to the full extent.

With its long tradition of sense of responsibility towards the public, METU will follow the legal path of pursuing and protecting its rights in this issue.  Along with the justice-seeking process, Middle East Technical University, with its students, staff and alumni, as well as with all nature lovers, will initiate a massive tree-planting campaign to restore the METU forest, the lungs of Ankara, by planting tens of trees for each tree wiped out from the METU land.

23.10.2013

12th METU International Republic Cup, the biggest and most prestigious dance tournament of Turkey, which is organizated by our university's Dance Sport Club, will be held on October 26, 2013 at METU Sports Hall.

The event, which acts under the auspices of World Dance Sport Federation since 2009, will draw more than 200 athletes of different age groups representing 20 different nations. The competitions will be judged by 9 internationally licenced adjudicators.

The initial rounds between 9 am-5 pm will be followed by a spectacular evening program which will start at 7 pm. During the gala program, the audience will have chance to watch 16 couples who are listed among the top 100 dance athletes of the world. HOYTUR, the folkloric dance group of the municipality of Cankaya, will also perform a impressive show. The evening program will be webcasted live via ODTU.TV. 

The tickets for the event can be obtained from the ticket desk at METU Carsi or ticket office at METU Cultural and Convention Center. There will also be a ticket desk at the METU Sports Center on the competition day.

We welcome all our students, personnel and alumni to METU Sports Center on Saturday, October 26, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of foundation of Turkish Republic together with many guests from all over the world.

For detailed information about the event, please visit www.metuopen.com.