Defence Turkey: Please accept our very special thanks for devoting your time to answer our questions.  As a start, could you please tell us about ODTU Teknokent in terms of the activities and projects being carried out? 

When talking about ODTU Teknokent, we have to start with our main source of power, ODTU (Middle East Technical University), which is the first and biggest campus university in Turkey with 24.500 students. ODTU is an international university with more than 1.400 international students coming from 68 different countries. Approximately, 2500 researchers are working in 40 undergraduate programs within 5 faculties. The university has 93 Ms, 60 Phd programs and 5 institutes. 40 research centers, 24 of which are centers of excellence and 365 laboratories are giving services to industry as well as academia. It is the leading party for Turkey in projects funded under 6th and 7th framework programs, and we believe to sustain our position in the league for Horizon 2020 programs. Combining ODTU’s research capacity and know-how with the innovative capacity of entrepreneurs, ODTU Teknokent has provided momentum to our country’s technology accumulation. Our model has become successful with its management experience and the projects undertaken, and has set an example for the development of other technology parks in Turkey. Our reputation has crossed borders and we are providing consulting services for institutions willing to set up technology parks abroad. ODTU Teknokent holds 300 firms, %89 of which are SME’s that employ approximately 4100 personnel carrying out R&D activities in a 120.000 m2 enclosed area.