Dear METU Staff and Dear Students,
Middle East Technical University has completed its 15th academic year in Northern Cyprus. As the 2020-2021 Academic Year commences, we are ready to take a journey along with our successful graduates, students aiming for lifelong learning and staff members, who are highly motivated to convey the culture of METU to the next generations.
METU Northern Cyprus started to deliver academic programs on 23 September 2005 with only 370 students, 18 instructors teaching in the undergraduate programs, 25 instructors teaching in the English Preparatory Program, and 40 staff members working in the administrative units. The Campus now has 2909 students, 118 instructors teaching in the undergraduate programs, 52 instructors teaching in the English Preparatory Program, and 105 staff members working in the administrative units. METU Northern Cyprus is now an international campus which is home to faculty, staff and students with different cultural backgrounds. Many significant achievements of the 2735 METUans that our campus has produced are recognized all around the world and those achievements make us feel proud.
We all recently have gone, and are still going through, the pandemic that has affected the whole world. We have delivered our classes, lab classes, examinations and promotional activities online. We find it important that our university has attained a quota occupancy rate of 89%, despite the conditions, through the Student Selection and Placement System and admitted students from 24 different countries.
In addition to the coronavirus crisis, the fire that broke out in the region where our campus is located and spread rapidly has burnt a forest area of five thousand hectares as well as destroying eight century-old olive trees. Our preparations to restore the green cover of the area are running at full speed.
Dear METUans,
As we are beginning a new academic year, I would also like to touch upon various achievements that our students have attained through the projects they designed.
The METU NCC team HELLY-800 came third in the TEKNOFEST 2020 Helicopter Design Competition, which was held in Gaziantep. Thraiye Hemed, one of our students in the METU NCC Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Program, came first at the ‘Student Paper Contest’ organized by the European Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), which has approximately 160,000 members worldwide. Burak Pehlevan, another Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering student, came second in the same contest and came first in the ‘Presentation Contest’ held within the scope of the International Fuel Congress. I truly congratulate our students on their well-deserved recognition and wish them every success in their future endeavors. I would like to extend my congratulations to their project advisors for the effort they put in.
In line with the values and principles embedded in the culture of METU, all students at METU Northern Cyprus Campus are encouraged to become sensitive individuals who contribute to their wider community. Through its research assistants' and faculty members' expertise, our campus supported the campaign which was launched in April 2020 in collaboration with the team 'Friends of Cyprus' and the TRNC Ministry of Health to produce protective face shields. In addition, some of our students from the Mechanical Engineering Program designed projects under the supervision of their academic advisors to meet the needs of the industrial companies operating in the TRNC.
Dear Members of the METU Community,
Guided by METU's 64 years of knowledge, expertise and leadership, the Northern Cyprus Campus of METU has intrinsically been intertwined with the culture of the University since its establishment. We believe that we can change the world. In line with this notion and commitment, I wish you all health, success and happiness throughout the new academic year and offer my warmest regards to each of you.
Prof. Dr. Ömer Turan
METU Northern Cyprus Campus
Chair of the Administrative Board and President of the Campus