2024 TÜBA Awards Announced
Under the auspices of the Presidency, “TÜBA Awards” consisting of TÜBA International Academy Awards, TÜBA-GEBİP Award (Outstanding Young Scientist Awards) and TÜBA-TESEP Award (Scientific Authored Book Awards) have found their owners. All awards will be presented by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the TÜBA-TÜBİTAK Science Awards Ceremony to be held at the Presidential Complex on December 18, 2024.
Prof. Zhichuan Jason Xu in the field of Science and Engineering Sciences, Prof. İbrahim Celalettin Haznedaroğlu in the field of Health and Life Sciences, Prof. Istvan Vasary and Prof. Roland Ralph Redfern Smith in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities were deemed worthy of the 2024 TÜBA International Academy Awards, which were established within the scope of TÜBA's mission to encourage and appreciate scientists and are open to all scientists around the world.
Within the scope of TÜBA-GEBİP, 25 outstanding young scientists from 20 different universities received awards, including Ahmet and Nezahat Keleşoğlu TÜBA-GEBİP Special Award for Pharmacy, bringing the number of TÜBA-GEBİP Award winners to 669.
Within the scope of TÜBA-TESEP, a total of 7 works were found worthy of awards, including 4 works in the field of Social Sciences with the Copyright Award, 1 work with the Halil İnalcık Special Award, 1 work with the Kemal Karpat Special Award, and 1 work with the Jury Special Award in the field of Natural and Engineering Sciences. In 2024, a total of 7 works were awarded and the number of works awarded so far increased to 245.
Prof. Muzaffer Şeker, President of the Academy, stated that TÜBA has been carrying out its activities with diligence and seriousness in the 101st year of the Republic, and added that the Academy has been in its 173rd year since the Encümen-i Daniş and 31st year since the Republic. Stating that the Academy's award programs have become traditional, President Şeker reminded that the International Academy was established 10 years ago, TESEP was established 16 years ago, and GEBİP Awards were established 23 years ago, and emphasized that TÜBA acts with the responsibility of “giving awards to ensure the appreciation and acceptance of the importance of science and to encourage scientists” among its main duties.
President Şeker continued as follows: “Since the day it was established within the scope of the International Academy Award Program, one of the awards is given alternately among three categories to scientists who are citizens of the Republic of Türkiye or who have studies related to Türkiye. Within this framework, Prof. Istvan Vasary and Prof. Roland Ralph Redfern Smith were awarded in the Social Sciences and Humanities category in 2024. As it is known, every award winner is a part of the TÜBA family and every topic related to science is a focal point for us. Our International Academy Award is among the world's prestigious awards. The TÜBA Young Academy, which is growing with GEBİP, is a clear indicator of how bright the future of our country is. It continues to shine day by day. Every award and success of scientists in our country and in the world increases our hopes for the future. Another sign that we have achieved our goal is that the labor in the works that are deemed worthy of the TESEP Award, where we promote qualified scientific publications at the university level, which is essential for a qualified academy and qualified scientists, sheds light on the subsequent works and is almost a guide.”
TÜBA International Academy Awards
As a result of the evaluation of local and foreign referees and field committees, TÜBA International Academy Awards are granted by TÜBA Academy Council.
In the category of Basic and Engineering Sciences, 2024 TÜBA Academy Prize was awarded to Prof. Dr. Zhichuan Jason Xu, Faculty Member of Nanyang Technological University for his original, pioneering and groundbreaking research in basic and engineering sciences due to inventions that have strong and widespread worldwide impact on electrochemistry of materials and electrocatalysis for renewable energy applications.
In the Health and Life Sciences category, the TÜBA Academy Award for 2024 was presented to Prof. İbrahim Celalettin Haznedaroğlu, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, for his first identification of the Local Bone Marrow Renin-Angiotensin System, the development of Ankaferd hemostat, which has taken its place as a groundbreaking drug in the literature by providing hemostasis through red blood cells, and his studies in the field of hemostasis and Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.
In the Social Sciences and Humanities category, the 2024 TÜBA Academy Award was presented to Prof. Istvan Vasary, Professor Emeritus of Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, for his original and groundbreaking work on the Golden Horde Khanate and its successor states and the pre-Ottoman Turkic tribes (Kipchaks, Cumans and Tatars) in Eastern Europe. In the same category, the 2024 TÜBA Academy Award was presented to Prof. Roland Ralph Redfern Smith of Bilkent University in Ankara for his original and groundbreaking work on Hellenistic sculpture and Roman and Late Antique Anatolia, especially the ancient city of Aphrodisias.
Prof. Zhichuan Jason Xu received his bachelor's degree from Lanzhou University, China in 2002 and his PhD in 2008. In 2018, he was appointed President of the Singapore Section of the Electrochemistry Society and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2017. Prior to Dr. Jasun Xu's research paper, the fundamentals of oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) and oxygen evolution reactions (OER) on spinel oxides remained an enigma, even though there have been many research papers on this topic. His research also led to the fundamental understanding of the effects of electron spin and catalyst magnetism on oxygen electrocatalysis. His articles have been published in Advanced Materials, Chemistry of Materials; Angewandte Chemie International Edition; Nature Catalysis; Nature Communications, etc. Dr. Z. J. Xu has over 240 research papers published in internationally indexed journals.
Prof. İbrahim Celalettin Haznedaroğlu was born in Aksaray in 1963. He graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Medicine in 1988 and became an Internal Medicine specialist at Hacettepe University in 1993. Between 1996 and 2003, Dr. Haznedaroğlu worked as a faculty member at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Hematology Unit, and between 2015 and 2018, he served as the Head of the Hematology Division of the Department of Internal Medicine, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. He is a member of the Editorial Board of many journals in international indexes. He has over 600 publications in international indexes and over 8000 citations in international journals and textbooks. He is a member of Turkish Society of Hematology and Turkish Society of Internal Medicine Specialization. In 2002, he received the TÜBİTAK Incentive Award and Ibn-i Sina Medical Science Award in 2003.
Prof. Istvan Vasary was born in Budapest in 1945. He studied Turkology, English and History at the ELTE Faculty of Language and History. He served as Consul General of the Republic of Hungary in Istanbul 1990-91 and as the Ambassador of Hungary in Ankara 1991-95. In 1996, he became Professor of Turkic Studies at Etvös Lorand University and from 2005 to 2010 he was the Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at Etvös Lorand University in Hungary. In 2019, Prof. Vasary became a Fellow of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His research interests and themes are Turkic philology and history with regard to the role of Turkic elements in the history of Central and Eastern Europe; the history of the Eastern European steppe region in the 13th-15th centuries (Huns, Avars, Onogurs, Bulgarians, Khazars, Pechenegs, Cumans) and the history of Mongol and post-Mongol states, especially the Golden Horde and its successor states in the 13th-16th centuries (Kazan and Crimean Khanates, Nogai Army). He has published in the field of Turkish, Hungarian and Inner Asian History.
Prof. Roland R. R. Smith completed his undergraduate studies at Oxford University in 1977. He continued his studies in Athens and Rome. He studied ancient history and archaeology at Oxford University. In Türkiye, he conducted fieldwork in Lycia and Caria. In 1995, he became an associate professor at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University and then Lincoln Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art at Oxford University. In 2010 he was elected a member of the British Academy. Between 2022 and 2023, he worked as a visiting professor at Princeton University. Since 2024, he has been a visiting professor at Bilkent University, Department of Archaeology. He has many publications in the field of archaeology and has served as editor of various journals and Monograph Series.
As defined in the TÜBA International Academy Awards Regulations, the Academy Award consists of a Medal and Certificate, along with a monetary award determined each year by the Academy Council, and is given to scientists who have distinguished themselves through their "original, pioneering, and groundbreaking" work in their field.
TÜBA-GEBİP Awards
In 2024-2025 outstanding young scientists from 20 different universities, including Ahmet and Nezahat Keleşoğlu TÜBA-GEBİP Pharmacy Special Award, won the TÜBA-GEBİP Award, which has a special importance in terms of Türkiye's promotion and relations in the international scientific community, the encouragement of outstanding young scientists and the continuation of their studies in Türkiye, and the number of scientists who have won the TÜBA-GEBİP Award has increased to 669.
About the TÜBA-GEBİP Awards: The TÜBA-GEBİP Awards have been granted since 2001 to outstanding young scientists working in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, health sciences, and social sciences. The aim is to reward and encourage them to continue their scientific work in Türkiye, establish their own research groups, and produce internationally recognized projects and publications originating from Türkiye. As part of this unique and highly sought-after program, awardees receive financial support of 125,000 Turkish Liras annually for 3 years, along with an additional 25,000 Turkish Liras per year for graduate/PhD students at the thesis stage. Additionally, academic members provide mentoring support.
TÜBA-TESEP Awards
Within the scope of the Scientific Authored Book Awards (TESEP), which aims to encourage the production of qualified copyrighted works for universities; In 2024, a total of 7 works were found worthy of awards, including 4 works in the field of Social Sciences, 4 works in the field of Social Sciences, 1 work Halil İnalcık Special Award, 1 work Kemal Karpat Special Award, and 1 work in the field of Natural and Engineering Sciences Special Jury Award. In 2024, 7 works were awarded within this scope and the number of works awarded within the scope of TESEP increased to 246.
About the TÜBA-TESEP Awards: These awards are granted to encourage the writing and publication of qualified scientific original works at the university level across all scientific fields. The program, launched in 2008 and initially called TEÇEP, awarded both original and translated works until 2016. Starting in 2017, the program shifted its focus to promoting original works and was renamed TESEP. Under the TÜBA-TESEP Awards, the Academy Council grants the "Halil İnalcık Special Award," "Mehmet Genç Special Award," and "Kemal Karpat Special Award," established in honor of TÜBA Honorary Members, to works published in specific scientific fields that have contributed significant value to global science and have honored our country with their national and international achievements. In 2024, the TESEP Original Work Award, Halil İnalcık Special Award, Mehmet Genç Special Award, and Kemal Karpat Special Award will each receive a 70,000 TL prize, while the Jury Special Award will be awarded 40,000 TL.