The Abdullah Gül University (AGU) was created as a Socio-Technical University Model for Higher Education, an on-going initiative initiated and supported by the Turkish Ministry of Development.
The project was defined with the help of about 20 Search Conferences and 40 Workshops, and has aimed at pioneering the New Generation University model in Turkey, with unique and innovative curricula and educational processes, in the objective of disseminating the project’s findings across all higher education institutions in the country and beyond.
This pilot project, started in 2010 by the Turkish State to revolutionize Higher Education, was shaped by +700 contributors from Universities, Corporations, NGOs, etc. and is the 1st cross- sectorial initiative for a Hybrid University model.
The Socio-Technical University Model Project has provided AGU with the necessary intellectual capital to be innovative and bring universities’ 3rd mission, "Societal Impact," to the Higher Education agenda in Turkey and beyond. AGU Rector, Prof. Sabuncuoğlu, said: "We have gathered an incredible amount of intellectual capital on our path towards being a global university thanks to this project. It improved our vision, created the identity and DNA of our university. In order to be an innovative university, we needed that intellectual capital. It helped to develop, cultivate and partially establish an AGU culture. It brought "Societal Impact" to the agenda of Turkey and Turkish higher education as the 3rd mission of universities."
This innovative Socio-Technical University model has brought rapid and significant results since the creation of the Abdullah Gül University. All University units and activities have been affected by the new approach and adapted their structure and functioning accordingly. Some unique units, centers, platforms, curricula, programs, courses, etc. have been designed and launched to serve the new model.
You can read about the early results of the project in this report (in Turkish) and condensed University profile.
AGU Rector’s speech during one of the Search Conferences
