Major of International Academic Relations

Hello. I am the Head of the International Academic Relations Unit, Professor Ali İsmet Kanlı, from Istanbul University - Cerrahpaşa. Today, I would like to give some information about our unit. International Academic Relations Unit is our main unit involved with our Erasmus Program, our Erasmus Institutional Coordinator, Mevlana Institutional Coordinator, Farabi Institution Coordinator and Bilateral and Multiple Relations Institutional Coordinatorship. First of all, I want to tell you about the Erasmus Program. Our Erasmus Program is an exchange program established between the European Union member countries or candidate countries. Conditions for benefiting from the Erasmus Program comes into force after the Erasmus agreement between the European Union and the member countries. Faculty members and students of our university can benefit from the Erasmus Program, depending on the amount of grants and scholarships given by the European Union National Agency every year. However, in order for our students and faculty members to benefit from the Erasmus Program, the Erasmus Program must be signed with the other party, the European Union and candidate countries, on the basis of department and faculty. There are also some application conditions for our students and faculty members to benefit from the Erasmus Program. In order for students to benefit as I mentioned before, an Erasmus agreement must be made with the university they want to go to. In addition, the GPAs of these students, which we call AGNO (Weighted Grade Point Average), must be over 2.20 for undergraduate students, and over 2.60 for master’s students. In addition, it is required to get at least 60 points from the foreign language exam held by our School of Foreign Languages ​​every year. No language certificate is required for our students to benefit from the Erasmus Program. It is enough to get 60 points from the foreign language exam of our University's School of Foreign Languages. Our students who will benefit from the Erasmus Program will not pay any tuition fees. Because the Erasmus Program is a free program that is already granted by the European Union National Agency. However, if there are students who cannot meet the criteria and want to go voluntarily, must pay for their own living expenses. All students who will benefit from the program within the scope of Erasmus receive support in the form of grants and scholarships given by the national agency to our universities every year. Therefore, our students can benefit from these scholarships depending on the quotas of their faculties and departments. I would like to give some information about the Erasmus Program. We organize orientation programs for our Erasmus students and faculty members who will go abroad and benefit from this program every year. In these orientation program, important information is provided to our students by experts and the Erasmus Coordinator. Every year, detailed information is provided about the problems that our students may encounter abroad, how to deal with these problems, what problems they may experience and their solutions. In addition, in our university’s Hasan Ali Yücel Faculty of Education (HAYEF), there is the HAYEF Language Club. This language club provides free foreign language support to incoming and outgoing students. Also, our Erasmus Club provides continuous support to all our students who will go abroad throughout the year.
Another unit working as a part of our unit are the Mevlana Institutional Coordinatorship and Mevlana Exchange Program. Mevlana Exchange Program is an exchange program which its requirements are determined by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) for students and faculty members who do not benefit from the European Union Erasmus Program. Mevlana Program is a program that works in two ways. Besides being a student and faculty exchange program, it also serves as a project-based program. With the Mevlana Exchange Program, our students and academicians can benefit from exchange agreements or projects with universities from countries outside the European Union with which our universitie has signed agreements after obtaining the approval of the Council of Higher Education. In order to benefit from the Mevlana Program, your GPA should be at least 2.5 out of 4 for associate degree and undergraduate degree students, and a GPA of 3 out of 4 for graduate students. In addition, our students have to get at least 50 points from the language exam of our university's School of Foreign Languages which is held ​​every year. Within the scope of the Mevlana Exchange Program, our students do not pay any fees. Mevlana Exchange Program is a program which benefits from the agreements supported by the Council of Higher Education. As a part of the program, there is a grant program supported by the Council of Higher Education every month and determined according to the economic conditions of the universities according to the continent where they are located. This grant program is renewed every year by the Council of Higher Education and given to students and academicians who will benefit from the program. Students and faculty members can benefit from this program for at least 1 semester or 2 semesters. As a part of the Mevlana Exchange Program, grants and support programs provided by the Council of Higher Education are implemented. As I have just mentioned, these scholarships are distributed to our faculty members and students who will take part in the exchange, considering the continent where the countries are located and the economic conditions.
nother coordination unit of ours are focused on the Farabi institution coordination and the Farabi Exchange Program. Let me explain it a bit. Apart from Erasmus and Mevlana Program, we are a part of the Farabi Exchange Program financed by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) on a national scale. The Farabi Exchange Program, as its name suggests, an exchange program between higher education institutions in Turkey. As a part of the Farabi Exchange Program, students and faculty members of all universities that have an agreement with our university can benefit from the program. In order for our students to benefit from this program, students in an associate or undergraduate program must have an average of at least least 2 out of 4, and our graduate or doctoral students must have at least 2.5 out of 4. However, in terms of foreign language requirements, public personnel are required to submit valid foreign language documents obtained from exams such as Foreign Language Proficiency Exam (KPDS), Foreign Language Proficiency Exam (YDS), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) , the Higher Education Council and Assessment, Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM) have accepted. Apart from other programs, any foreign language exam conducted by our university is not valid for the Farabi Program. If a student wants to apply for this program, there must be a Farabi agreement with other universities which the council of Council of Higher Education (YÖK) recognizes. In this sense, our students and faculty members will be able to benefit from this program within the framework of the agreements made. Our faculty members and students who will benefit from the Farabi Program will not pay any fees. Our students who can benefit from this program for 1 semester or 2 semesters, will benefit from the grants determined by the Council of Higher Education. Asa part of the Farabi Exchange Program, our students will be able to benefit from the scholarships determined by the Council of Higher Education at a renewed rate every year. If Turkish is not the language of instruction in the University they will apply for as a part of the Farabi exchange program, besides the GPA requirements of 2 out of 4 for undergraduates and 2.5 for graduates, they’ll need a language certificate that Council of Higher Education recognizes. With 50% of the score they got in that certificate and 50% percent of their GPA combined, they’ll be ranked and be provided a grant accordingly. Lastly, I would like to talk about the Bilateral and Multiple Relations Unit Coordinatorship, which also works as a part of our unit. The main task of our Bilateral and Multiple Relations Unit Coordinatorship is this. Apart from Mevlana, Erasmus and Farabi Exchange Programs, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) protocols, which enables all kinds of education, training, seminars, simultaneous undergraduate and graduate programs, seminars, academic project studies and many other educational activities is realized by this unit. This protocol is enacted for a period of five years, after the rectors of each university reach to an agreement. In this context, our main goal is, having faith in a philosophy of internationalization, is to make bilateral agreements with universities that are prestigious around the world and to support the education, training, project and scientific activities of our students and faculty members. As Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, International Academic Relations Unit, we welcome our current and future students to get to know and visit our unit. They should check our website, which is very up-to-date and user-friendly, not only in terms of exchange programs. I advise them to also look up international meetings, scholarships, projects and all other similar information on our website.