IU Rector Prof Dr Mahmut Ak met with the IU Faculty of Dentistry members at the breakfast held at the IU Faculty of Medicine Deanery on 28 January 2019.

While IU Rector Prof Dr Mahmut Ak made a presentation, IU Faculty of Dentistry Dean Prof Dr Gülsüm Ak delivered a speech.

IU Faculty of Dentistry Dean Prof Dr Gülsüm Ak stated that such a meeting was held for the first time at the IU Faculty of Dentistry and expressed her wish for them to continue.

“In Europe, after Russia, our country has the highest number of students attending higher education”

IU Rector Prof Dr Mahmut Ak said, “We know the value of our Faculty of Dentistry. Moving forward, we strive to ready our faculty for the future with more competent goals. Higher education in Turkey is at an enviable level, globally. Currently, in Europe, after Russia, our country has the highest number of students attending higher education. There are 206 higher education institutions, 200 of which are university-level and 6 of which are independent institutions. The vast number of universities is not necessarily a problem, but the fact that they are aimless institutions that have no specific vision or mission is an issue. In this respect higher education is a demand. Just as we have 7 million 600 thousand students in higher education, we also have 18 million students in pre-university education institutions. Every year 1 million people take the high school entrance exam. This means that every year 1 million people graduate from high school. In this sense, the higher education community is under an intense demand, so the number of our universities may increase even more.

“When we consider our student count a significant point draws our attention”

IU Rector Prof Dr Mahmut Ak gave information on the number of lecturers and students of Istanbul University in his presentation and continued, “Our university has 911 professors, 346 associate professor, 566 doctoral faculty members, 323 lecturers, 1369 research assistants and 111 foreign lecturers. When we consider our student count a significant point draws our attention. One of the fundamental qualities of research universities is that it gives importance to graduate education. There are currently 22,000 graduate students attending our university. This corresponds to a ratio of roughly 29.6 percent among our total students. When compared, the rate of our graduate students is above European standards.”

“Our only wish is to protect and sustain our leadership in education, guidance in research and quality in service”

Noting how much strength they get from the identity of Istanbul University, IU Rector Prof Dr Mahmut Ak said, “Undoubtedly, we get a lot of strength from the name Istanbul University, but actually Istanbul University is an identity that is formed through our works. We have precious values in terms of knowledge production, entrepreneurship or professional execution. IU Faculty of Dentistry consists of 2 departments and in terms of number of faculty members and the quality of them it is certainly enviable. We are determined to continue strengthening this. When we look at the faculties that Istanbul University have in terms of fundamental sciences, Faculty of Dentistry leads the rest. We are aware that we are a faculty with its own applications centres in its own fields. Our only wish is to protect and sustain our leadership in education, guidance in research and quality in service.

Story by Eda FİDAN
Translated by Ece GÖÇ
IU Press and Public Relations