İstanbul University (İU) is the number one in Turkey in its field with almost 10,000 students from 143 different countries. On the other hand, The International Student Application and Research Center (ISUMER), remains the first and only international student “application” and “research” center in Turkey.

​

International student mobility, which has shown a great increase in the last two decades in the world, also gained great momentum in Turkey in the 2010s. According to the development plans, planned studies in the field and predictions based on the previous data, this increase will continue in the coming years. According to the official figures, there are currently more than 200,000 international students in Turkey. İstanbul University holds the biggest share with a total of 9,568 international students. When considering the number of international students by level of education, the situation is as follows: 1140 undergraduate, 5,931 graduate, 664 master (without thesis); 1,033 master (with thesis), and 800 PhD students. Considering that thousands of international students have graduated since its foundation, İU has a very colorful structure with international students and graduates.

The First and Only International Student Application and Research Center in Turkey: ISUMER

International Student Application and Research Center (ISUMER) Unit manages international students at İstanbul University. ISUMER was established on May 31, 2019, as the first and only international student “practice” and “research” center in Turkey. While conducting their services ISUMER was formerly known as “the international student office” now ISUMER has developed over time the structure of the on-site specialists in instructor status and continues to perform its activities in four different branches and other employees: administrative support, social and cultural activities, alumni activities, and the R & D and publications. Together with the director of the center, the board of directors of the center and the 4 units under it, the corporate structure at ISUMER has the distinction of being the first and only one in Turkey. In 2021, the student must collect the residence permit, of Turks and related Communities Abroad Office (MDO) Türkiye scholarship students on the coordination, execution, İstanbul University international student examination (İUYOS) in addition to administrative support, such as the contribution to a total of 50 different business/product/activity revealed. Their distribution is as follows: 15 social and cultural activities of 7 different types, 5 academic meetings of 3 different types, 9 graduate activities of 4 different types and 21 publications of 6 different types.

18 Universities Offered a Total of 34 Activities, while ISUMER Alone Offered 50 Activitie

A report was prepared by ISUMER this year as a result of research conducted only through the general and unit-based Internet pages of universities and virtual media accounts. According to the “Turkey International Student Monitoring Report-2021”, the first one has been prepared; there are jobs/products/activities for international students or related to international students at 19 different universities. While all of the international student-oriented jobs/products/activities at 18 universities other than İstanbul University are 34, there are 50 jobs/products/activities at ISUMER alone. ISUMER has registered that it is the first in its field in Turkey both with the “structure model” it has put forward and with a total of 50 items of business/product/activity that prove that this model is useful.

An International Student Unit Worthy of İstanbul University

ISUMER Director Prof. Dr. Faruk Taşçı, who talked about the Unit’s success, made the following evaluation: “İstanbul University is not an ordinary university. Since we are not ordinary, it is quite normal for such an outcome to occur. What happens with the financial and moral support of the university's senior management staff? Good results are produced. The main thing is to make it continuous, and we continue to strive for this.”

News: Esen Dolma
Translation: Yasemin Uğurlu
İU Department of Corporate Communication