TÜBİTAK’s 1004 Program High Technology Platforms Experience Exchange and Promotion Ceremony was held at Teknofest at Atatürk Airport on Sunday, April 30, with the participation of Mustafa Varank, Minister of Industry and Technology, Deputy Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, TÜBİTAK President, and project officials.
With a total budget of 56.9 million TL, the platform, which will be carried out under the leadership of SUNUM within the scope of TÜBİTAK 1004 program, with 29 institutions/organizations and 160 researchers, will last for 4 years. Prof. Dr. Fazilet Vardar Sukan, Director of SUNUM, will conduct the SUNUM Research Program with a budget of 21 million TL, and Prof. Dr. Gözde İnce will conduct the SU-EFSUN Research Program with a budget of 8.5 million TL on the platform, which also includes researchers from Sabancı University. The LignoNANO Platform entitled “Advanced Value-Added Nanotechnological Materials and Systems for Sustainable Circular Economy” will conduct research on the production of high value-added advanced nanotechnological materials from wooden materials in a way that will contribute to a green and sustainable economy.
The ceremony started with the opening speeches of Mustafa Varank, Minister of Industry and Technology, and Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, TÜBİTAK President. TÜBİTAK MAM President Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yozgatlıgil, Karel Kalıp AŞ Group Head Dr. Alper Sarıkan, Koruma Klor Alkali AŞ R&D Manager Ömer Gül, Sabancı University Vice President Prof. Dr. Mehmet Yıldız, Marmara University President Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt, and Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center SUNUM Director Prof. Dr. Fazilet Vardar Sukan signed the platform agreement. Prof. Dr. Fazilet Vardar Sukan also signed the project entitled New Generation Biomaterials Technologies Research Network for Healthy Life, which will be led by Hacettepe University, and in which SUNUM participates as the research program implementing institution.
After the signing ceremony, the program continued with a panel at which the managers of Research Platforms supported within the scope of the first term 1004 call shared their experiences. SUNUM Director Prof. Dr. Fazilet Vardar Sukan shared her experiences about NANOSIS, one of Turkey's leading pre-competition platforms, which aims to develop fast, economical and unique nanotechnological components, products and systems for follow-up and diagnosis for health. In the NANOSIS Platform, supported by TUBITAK 1004, which started in 2021 and is being carried out under the leadership of SUNUM, 24 institutions/organizations, including 9 universities, 12 private sector organizations, 3 public research centers, and 150 researchers work together. 23 end products, 33 by-products and various intermediate products are expected to be issued in 4 years.
