What Privileges Does Uskudar University Offer?

Uskudar University Founding President Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan was the guest of the "My Prefer" program organized by the General Directorate of Secondary Education of the Ministry of National Education within the scope of "Online University Promotion Days". Tarhan, undertaken as the Founding President, the first and only thematic university in Turkey in the field of Behavioral Sciences and Health, Uskudar University's educational opportunities and opportunities by providing information to the prospective students, answered the questions of the prospective students.


"Turkey's Brain Base: Uskudar University"

Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated the path followed by the foundation of Üsküdar University and the motto they adopted as follows; “We first started off with the NPISTANBUL Brain Hospital. It was a neuropsychiatric hospital. Then there was only one brain hospital in Germany in the world. We established the second one. The future of science is in neuroscience. So then we have established a neuroscience-oriented brain hospital. But in order to do some work there, we had to be a university hospital under the conditions of that period. I also set up Üsküdar University in 2011, by donating all my assets, except for my jacket. The motto of the university hospital after we have established it was; "Turkey's Brain Base Üsküdar University". What we want to emphasize here is, that we were a thematic and neuroscience-focused university. Our R&D focus is Neuroscience” he said.


“Powerful academic staff, powerful education”

Tarhan, who gave information about Üsküdar University faculties and departments said; “As a license, we have the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Communication, the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine that we opened two years ago. There is also a Vocational School of Health Services as an associate degree. Currently, there are 13 departments in our Faculty of Health Sciences. We are the university which has the most number of departments in the Faculties of Health Sciences in Turkey. We have 61 programs at the Vocational School of Health Services. As Üsküdar University, I can say that we have established the best academic staff. We act with a powerful academic staff and a powerful education approach.

Another goal in our organization was to combine the engineering and health sciences. That's why we established the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences. For example, there are departments such as Bioengineering, Software Engineering, Industrial Engineering within this faculty. We understood how important Bioengineering, Molecular Biology, and Genetics were, especially during the pandemic process. As our laboratories are equipped with good infrastructure, we have become one of the 10 hospitals declared as pandemic hospitals in the region. At these times, the importance of these sections is better understood.”


We have been selected as the only Turkish Center of Excellence by UNESCO TWAS!

Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that Üsküdar University is the only Turkish Center of Excellence determined by UNESCO TWAS and said; "Uskudar University, Turkey's first thematic university in the field of Behavioral Sciences and Health, was the only Turkish University selected as the Center for Excellence by UNESCO TWAS. The equipped laboratory and research centers owned by Uskudar University have been a major factor. This means a significant prestige increase for our country as well."


“We never stopped training during the pandemic process”
Expressing that the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the whole world has been switched to online system in education, and as Üsküdar University, Tarhan said, that they managed the pandemic process very well. Continued; “We can teach theoretical information remotely, but the practice and the laboratory cannot be trained remotely. Somehow the student needs to contact them. It is necessary to balance this well. We think that we have well managed the crisis during the pandemic process. We had already started serious projects about online teaching before the pandemic. When the Covid-19 pandemic appeared, we launched our project, the infrastructure of which was ready within two weeks. With our LMS system, we offered students live lessons. In addition to the LMS system, we also supported it with the Zoom program.

Students also taught live via Zoom. In addition, students and academicians were able to share information without interruption with the STIX system, which we have been using for a long time and developed by the Software Planning Unit of Üsküdar University. Apart from all these, we also set up two new channels on Üsküdar University television and gave online lessons to the students. We never stopped training during the pandemic process.”


“We are the only university in the Faculty of Health Sciences that gives sign language lessons”

Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan gave information about Üsküdar University Preparatory Class and language education. Tarhan; “Preparation is mandatory in English departments. We have optional preparatory classes in other departments. We strengthened our preparatory class staff as well. In addition to English preparation, we also have a Turkish preparatory class under the name of Üsküdar University Turkish Teaching Center (ÜSTÖMER). Because we also have a lot of students from the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia.
We opened Turkish preparatory classes for them also. During this period, they continued to their education with distance education. In addition to the preparatory classes, we also offer second foreign language education such as Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic as a choosable course to faculties. There is a lot of interest in the Spanish lesson. We put except of foreign language teaching, a sign language course in Turkey for the first time as a course in our Faculty of Health Sciences. For example, a graduate nurse student will be able to communicate more easily with deaf or mute patients.”


“We send our students abroad via Erasmus”

Stating that Üsküdar University has an agreement with many universities around the world, Tarhan stated that they have the opportunity to send students to prestigious universities of the world via Erasmus and that the students have the opportunity of internship in companies, institutions, and organizations.


"We realized Turkey's first Science and Ideas Festival"

Referring to the Science and Idea Festival, organized by Üsküdar University in cooperation with Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education since 2013 for high schools; "We realized Turkey's first Science and Ideas Festival. Thanks to this festival, we aim to direct young people to observe, think, research, and produce projects. This year we were going to organize the 7^th but we couldn't do it because of the Covid-19 pandemic.”


“We offer our students a university opportunity in the heart of the city”

Prof. Dr. Tarhan stated that they offer a comfortable education opportunity on the campuses in the most central points of Istanbul. Tarhan said, “As a campus, we are in a very central place. It is very easy to reach all of our campuses with public transportation and private vehicles. We offer our students a university opportunity in the heart of the city. University and life are intertwined.”


“We stand by our students with our wide scholarship opportunities”

Stating that two out of three students studying under the roof of Üsküdar University, study with scholarships, Tarhan continued; “With the new regulation of the Higher Education Institution, 75% scholarship opportunities in foundation universities were removed. But we accompany our students with our wide scholarship opportunities. We want all of our students to benefit from our scholarship options such as 25%, 50%, full scholarship options, preference scholarship, sports scholarship, trustee scholarship, study, and food scholarship. Prospective students should also follow us for our scholarship opportunities during the period of their preference.”


“We have a very strong infrastructure for social activities”

Stating that he is very pleased with the students' interest in social, cultural, and sports activities, Tarhan said; “We have more than 80 students' clubs within our university. In these clubs, our students can perform their desired activities within certain conditions. Our Health, Culture, and Sports Directorate is always ready to support the activities of the clubs. Besides, young people are very interested in sports. We have basketball, table tennis, korfball, football teams. There are many degrees we got as a result of the matches. We have a very strong infrastructure for social activities.”


“We see quality as our most important weapon”

Stating that Üsküdar University has made progress since its foundation as an institution, without using outsourcing, Tarhan said; “We see quality as our most important weapon. As a university, we have developed and want to develop using our own resources without using any external resources since our establishment. Our aim is to prepare the infrastructure for young people. They will strive, we will supply the infrastructure.” Touching on the understanding of Criticism, Freedom, Participation, and Pluralism, which is the motto of Üsküdar University, Tarhan underlined that they offer students the opportunity to criticize with these items and the opportunity for subsequent freedom.
 

Üsküdar Haber Ajansı (ÜHA)