The TÜBİTAK Awards (; also referred to as the TUBITAK Scientific Achievement Award, TÜBİTAK Bilimsel Başarı Ödülü), are annual academic awards of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), an autonomous research institution of the central government of Turkey. These awards recognize the academic contributions of Turkish and foreign scientists in the fields of science and technology, including engineering, and mathematics. Presented by the president of Turkey, the awards are classified into four categories and promote advancements in science, technology, and innovation.
While the TÜBİTAK Awards are designed to promote advancements in science and technology, they are typically awarded to living individuals (though not exclusively). Recipients of the TÜBİTAK Science and Incentive Awards, recognize scholars for their significant contributions to the global scientific community and receive several accolades. Each awardee is presented with ten gold coins, a gold plaque, and a certificate of achievement. Also, recipients receive cash support amounting to ₺1.25 million () to assist in their ongoing scientific research activities.
History The Science Awards were first established in 1966, followed by the introduction of the Service and Incentive Awards in 1969. In 2007, the TÜBITAK Special Award category was created to recognize the contributions of Turkish scientists living abroad, serving as an equivalent to the Science Award. That same year marked the inclusion of social sciences and humanities among the fields eligible for awards, although the inaugural awards in these disciplines were not presented until 2008. Later in 2019, the president issued Circular No. 2018/6 on September 5, 2018, under which the History of Science Award was presented to professor Fuat Sezgin as a one-time equivalent to the TÜBITAK Science Award.
Since the inception of the TÜBİTAK Awards in 1966, awards have been presented to a total of 881 scientists, including 206 Science Awards, 20 Special Awards, 89 Service Awards, and 566 Incentive Awards.
Awards Science Award The TÜBİTAK Science Award is awarded to living scientists who have made "significant contributions to science at the international level" through their research conducted in Turkey. The award recognizes scientific achievements that contribute to global scientific communities. It is conferred after the eligibility criteria are met. Candidates should be engaged in research and have practically implemented their findings in their respective scientific fields on a global scale.
Special Award The TÜBİTAK Special Award is presented to living scientists who are citizens of the Republic of Turkey and have "significant contributions to science at the international level" through their research conducted abroad. This award serves as an equivalent to the Science Award, recognizing the significant impact of Turkish scientists in the global scientific community.
Service Award The TÜBİTAK Service Award is conferred to both living scientists and, posthumously to died scientists. Scientists with "outstanding contributions to the development of science and technology in Turkey" are eligible for this award. It is primarily presented to recognizes the "outstanding impact" of their work on advancing scientific and technological progress within the country.
Incentive Award The TÜBİTAK Incentive Award, sometimes referred to as Encouragement Awards, is awarded to scientists residing in Turkey who have demonstrated the potential to make "significant contributions to science at the international level" through their research. While the award is designed to encourage early-career researchers, it is presented to candidates under the age of 40 as of the first day of the year the award is presented. It recognizes and promotes early-career researchers who exhibit exceptional qualifications and potential in the field of science.
Nomination The nomination process for the TÜBİTAK awards (excluding Science and Service awards) involves several scientific organizations and institutions. Eligible nominators include TÜBİTAK awardees, the Council of Higher Education, the Turkish Academy of Sciences, and the senates or boards of directors of universities. The highest decision-making bodies of public and private sector institutions operating in science and technological fields are also responsible for nominating the candidates.
The Science and Service awardees are independently nominated by the TÜBİTAK board of directors.
Recipients Recipients of Science Award
S. No. Year Awardee Field Refs. 01 1974 Cahit Arf Mathematics 02 Orhan İcen 03 1976 Erdoğan Şuhubi 04 1979 Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda 05 1984 Hilmi Demiray 06 1986 Tosun Terzioglu 07 1989 Namık Kemal Pak Physical 08 1992 Selman Akbulut Mathematics 09 1993 Attila Aşkar 10 1995 Ali Ülger 11 2007 Ali Mustafazade 12 2015 Marat Akhmet
Recipients of Service Award # Year Awardee Refs. 01 1969 Zihni Derin 02 1971 Mustafa Inan 03 Bekir Alkan 04 1972 Fahir Yeniçay 05 Tevfik Sağlam 06 1973 Fatin Gökmen 07 Akil Muhtar Özden 08 1974 Ata Nutku 09 H. Suat Aknar 10 1975 Süheyl Ünver 11 Hulusi Behçet 12 Nuri Şeker 13 1976 Hilmi İleri 14 1977 Aydın Sayılı 15 Kerim Erim 16 Hamdi Peynircioğlu 17 1978 Emin Halid Onat 18 İhsan Doğramacı 19 Seref Zileli 20 Mustafa Uluöz 21 1979 H. Nafiz Pamir 22 Bedri Karafakıoğlu 23 Reşat Garan 24 Sabahattin Özbek 25 1980 Tarık Özker 26 Fikret Saatçioğlu 27 1981 Fikret Kortel 28 Macit Erbudak 29 Mustafa Parlar 30 H. Nüzhet Terem 31 1982 Muhtar Başoğlu 32 Nazım Terzioğlu 33 1983 Sait Akpınar 34 İ. Şükrü Aksel 35 Hamdi Açan 36 Mustafa Santur 37 Hacim Kamoy 38 Asım Zihnioğlu 39 1984 İlhami Cıvaoğlu 40 Nusret Karasu 41 1986 Zafer Paykoç 42 Orhan Düzgüneş 43 Kazım Türkoğlu 44 1987 Ekrem Göksu 45 Necmi Sönmez 46 1989 Mustafa Aytaç 47 Cahit Örgen 48 Sabiha Özgür 49 1990 Adnan Çakıroğlu 50 Ahmet Hulusi Köker 51 Ayten Güvener 52 Remzi Geldiay 53 1991 Remziye Hisar 54 Ratip Berker 55 Mehmet Ozan Sungurlu 56 1992 Kazım Ergin 57 Duran Leblebici 58 Selahattin Koloğlu 59 1993 Lütfullah Ulukan 60 Nusret H. Fişek 61 Mithat Özsan 62 1994 I. Akif Kansu 63 Dogan Kuban 64 Kamile Sevki Mutlu 65 1995 Şükrü Kaymakçalan 66 Hüseyin Demir 67 Nurhan Avman 68 1996 Abdullah Kızıtırmak 69 Rıdvan Ege 70 Sadi Sun 71 1997 Tevfik Karabağ 72 İmran Özalp 73 M. Nimet Özdaş 74 1998 Sırrı Erinç 75 Asuman Ü. Müftüoğlu 76 2000 Asuman Baytop 77 Fikret Yücel 78 2000 Tulu Baytin 79 Sadık Kakaç 80 2002 Ali Rıza Berkem 81 Aykut Erbengi 82 Ekrem Kün 83 2003 Teoman Özalp 84 2004 Cevat Erder 85 Altan Günalp 86 2006 Muhiddin Erel 87 İlhan Tekeli 88 2022 Teoman Duralı
Recipients of Special Award # Year Awardee Field Refs. 01 2009 Taner Yıldırım Basic Sciences 02 2014 Cagan H. Şekercioglu 03 2016 Kemal Kazan 04 2018 Mehmet Acet 05 2007 Tuncer B. Edil Engineering Sciences 06 2008 M. Selim Unlu 07 2010 Umran S. Inan 08 2011 İlhan Fuat Akyıldız 09 2012 A. Galip Ulsoy 10 2013 Yusuf Altıntaş 11 2018 Tanju Karnfil 12 2020 Cengiz Sinan Ozkan 13 2007 Cezmi Akdiş Health Sciences 14 2007 Onur Gunturkun 15 2014 Hayat Onyuksel 16 2015 Hazire Oya Alpar 17 2018 Omer Küçük 18 2010 M. Sukru Hanioglu Social Sciences 19 2013 M. Utku Unver
Recipients of TWAS Science/Incentive Awards # Year Awardee Field Category Refs. 01 1992 Mehmet Ali Alpar Physical TWAS Science Award 02 1995 İvet Bahar Chemical 03 1996 Mehmet Ozturk Biology 04 2002 Halil Mete Soner Maths 05 2003 Oğuz Gülseren Physical TWAS Science Award 06 2007 Bahtiyar Ozgur Sarioglu Physical 07 2011 Kaan Güven Physical 08 2004 Vural Bütün Chemical 09 2005 Cevdet Uğuz Biology 10 2009 Z. Ozlem Keskin Ozkaya Biology 11 2013 Turgay Unver Biology 12 2006 Burak Ozbagci Maths 13 2010 A. Muhammed Uludağ Maths
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