The meeting, where assessments have been made on the performance of Research Universities at TÜBİTAK’s RDI Support Programs and Scholarships, was held at TÜBİTAK Gebze Campus with the participation of Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih KACIR, President of the Higher Education Council (YÖK) Prof.Dr. Erol ÖZVAR and President of TÜBİTAK Prof.Dr. Hasan MANDAL. Rectors and vice-rectors, representing 23 Research Universities, have attended the meeting.
"We carefully monitor the level of Research Universities' utilisation of TÜBİTAK’s Programs"
During the meeting, Mehmet Fatih KACIR, Minister of Industry and Technology, said: "While carrying out studies on TÜBİTAK, we have carefully monitored the Research Universities’ performances in programs that are specifically targeting Research Universities and have been implemented for the first time. While designing the programs, we have tried to take into account the expectations and demands of our Research Universities as much as possible. The notes I have taken show that we have achieved significant results in many programs. Especially in Science Fellowships and Grants, the share of our research universities in the total pool is quite advanced. Some areas are open to improvement. We want to discuss on what we can do for further improvement."
"We have to find the answer to the question of how we can further strengthen patent commercialisation"
Emphasising the need to support researchers more, KACIR said: "For example, the issue of patents came to the fore. Patent commercialisation is a very weak field in Türkiye. This is the case for all universities. An important source of income for universities in other countries, conducting advanced research, is obtained through patent commercialisation. In Türkiye, we have to find the answer to the question of how we can strengthen this field further. " he said.
"In the coming period, we will switch to a more guided system in R&D and investment incentives"
Minister KACIR called on research universities to collaborate in planning R&D incentives: "We can also offer investment incentive opportunities for the private sector on commercialisation of university patents. The biggest strength of our ministry is actually the incentive side. In other words, we provide a much larger resources to the R&D activities of the Turkish private sector through R&D incentives, than the resources we directly provide through TÜBİTAK. We also provide a much larger resource through investment incentives. We provide two and a half times the share of TÜBİTAK in TARAL to the private sector as R&D incentives, and nearly fifteen times more through investment incentives. We definitely need to establish the relationship between R&D incentives and investment incentives, in cooperation with you. We are open to all kinds of suggestions for cooperation in this regard. We should definitely increase interaction with universities in order to prioritise the companies to which we provide large investment incentives. We don’t think of it only in terms of patents and commercialisation. In the coming period, we will switch to a more guided system in R&D and investment incentives. We would like to work together with you in the planning of these objectives and implement them together."
“We are targeting TÜBİTAK institutes operating with a platform approach in the new period”
Minister KACIR stated that the doors of TÜBİTAK are open to all researchers; "It is important that our researchers really keep their research skills strong. Of course, we mostly involve them in research projects and these projects also have an industrial application aspect. Even though there is an industrial application aspect, we believe that the research aspects remain strong via the ties established with universities. Thank you very much. We will continue to make effective use of you. We would like to remind all universities that we are open to cooperation through TÜBİTAK."
"Strengthening the clustering approach is our main goal"
Emphasising the importance of TÜBİTAK's place in the ecosystem, KACIR said: "Twenty years ago, the share of TÜBİTAK Institutes in Türkiye's total R&D human resources was quite large. In other words, while the total R&D human resources of the country was around 30 thousand, TÜBİTAK's human resources of 5 thousand people constituted a very large weight. But now Türkiye’s R&D human resources exceed 222 thousand. We have reached a point where more than sixty percent of total R&D expenditures are made by the private sector. The numerical weight of TÜBİTAK's human resources is not as high as it used to be in the ecosystem. For this reason, it is very important that we play a catalysing role. In the new period, we are aiming for TÜBİTAK institutes to operate in a platform approach. Otherwise, it will not have a game-changing effect in Türkiye. But if we can get fifty thousand researchers and our five thousand TÜBİTAK researchers to work together, it will have a huge impact in Türkiye. This is what we are trying to do, this is mostly what we will work on. We will try to do this by opening our existing infrastructures to platforms as much as possible. There are many infrastructures established here with state resources and international resources. We want to open these infrastructures to your use as much as possible, to the use of all researchers in your universities. Just as you want to connect the researchers in TÜBİTAK Institutes with your university, we want to connect your researchers with our institutes and units. For example, we may have thirty-five researchers in the field of materials at TÜBİTAK, but we should be able to work very intensively in the field of materials with perhaps seventy qualified researchers in Türkiye. And we should be able to act together while participating in international projects, both in terms of human resources and other physical facilities where these human resources are located. Our main goal in this period is to strengthen this clustering approach. This actually means a network between research universities. If TÜBİTAK is located at the centre of this network, we think that the process will be faster."
"Catalyst of ecosystem: research universities"
At the meeting, Prof. Dr. Hasan MANDAL, President of TÜBİTAK, explained the rationale of the meeting: "As TÜBİTAK, we wanted to have an assessment meeting with you about our future roadmap in these processes, by revealing the current situation in TÜBİTAK’s RDI Support Programs and Scholarships, as well as the opportunities we offer to you. We are taking into account your needs and suggestions, especially in our programmes at which we would like the research universities to be effective. Prof. Dr. MANDAL made a presentation titled "The catalyst of ecosystem: research universities".
Touching on the issue of climate change, Mandal reminded Türkiye's net zero emission target for 2053 and pointed out that the average temperature in July 2023, 1.7 degrees above the pre-industrial average, is well above the IPCC target of 1.5 degrees.
"We aim to focus on target-oriented, innovation-based cooperation platforms against global challenges"
Noting that the world is facing problems such as the devastating effects of climate change; energy, water and food supply, economic crises, global epidemics, natural disasters, MANDAL said, "We are in a more challenging period compared to the past, but more exciting when we look at it from a research perspective. Pandemic, climate change, raw material shortages, disruption of value chains, geopolitical, economic and similar global crises force countries to be sustainable, resilient and inclusive. It requires an effective research management and a long-term, coordinated, R&D and innovation-oriented perspective. We aim to focus on target-oriented, innovation-based cooperation platforms against these challenges. In other words, we talk about platforms rather than projects, and the 1004 Program High Technology Platforms are designed to contribute to this goal. Solutions to global problems can be developed through interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies."
Prof. Dr. MANDAL said, "We expect Research Universities in Türkiye to act as catalysts in issues such as targeting high-risk, high-return research, addressing emerging and converging technologies that will provide social transformation through academia-private sector joint research infrastructures, and developing digital competencies."
"Research Universities are among the main actors shaping the ecosystem."
Noting that our National R&D and Innovation Ecosystem is undergoing a transformation from separate projects to platforms and networks where all stakeholders come together in line with common goals, MANDAL said that research universities are the most important actors of this transformation.
He pointed out that research universities have established platforms and networks in strategic areas together with private sector R&D centres subject to Law No. 5746 and public research institutes; and that these networks have started to integrate with international networks. He noted that TÜBİTAK's most important tools for this transformation, which is also targeted in line with the Development Plans, 2023 Industry and Technology Strategy and Higher Education Policies; are platform and network supports.
Emphasising the importance of R&D management and orientation in universities, MANDAL pointed out that managing R&D processes within the scope of mission-oriented approaches has become more important than conducting R&D. He emphasised the importance of managing processes for the transformation of R&D and innovation achievements into social benefits by focusing on impact rather than outputs.
“Management of research; knowledge production, human resources and internationalization”
Mentioning the research management under the titles of knowledge production, human resources and internationalization, MANDAL mentioned TÜBİTAK’s supports and pointed out that the shares of Research Universities are high, but the total number is expected to be higher. Emphasizing that the numbers are low especially in the programs aimed at cooperation with industry and commercialization, MANDAL called on the rectors of research universities to encourage researchers.
Reminding that the amount of TÜBİTAK TEYDEB support has been increased, MANDAL underlined that they expect larger number of participation to these supports, especially from research universities.
President of TÜBİTAK, “We evaluate our support programs with our own methods, as directed by our minister. We review what is missing. Nowadays we are going through a global and historical period in terms of the needs of our country, our research universities also come to the fore. So, I can summarize our aim at today's meeting as follows: As TÜBİTAK, our goal is to evaluate these programs together with you, our esteemed rectors, as the top benefactors of this field, to listen to your suggestions, and to increase the responsibility of all of us a little more, with the participation of our Minister and YÖK President.” he said.
"As YÖK, we will provide our support for wider participation in support programmes in cooperation with TÜBİTAK"
Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar, President of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), said: "As the Council of Higher Education, I would like to express that we, in cooperation with TÜBİTAK as the main supporter of science and technology in Türkiye, will hopefully play our part in a way that will ensure wider participation to these support programmes designed by TÜBİTAK for research universities. This is also an important issue for us."
Emphasising that "I think it would be very important for our research universities to be included in the process within the scope of both investment and R&D incentives given to the private sector," Özvar said, "R&D in the private sector is very critical. I think that the two groups can give and receive a lot from each other. Our universities are already carrying out many projects within the scope of university-industry cooperation. However, how can we involve our universities, especially large research universities, in guided investment and R&D incentives in the coming years? We need to work on this together," he said.
After the speeches, the suggestions and requests were taken from the participating rectors and vice-rectors.
07.09.2023