2025 TÜBA Awards Announced
Under the auspices of the Presidency, “TÜBA Awards” consisting of TÜBA International Academy Prizes, 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 23, 2025.
Within the scope of its mission to encourage and recognize scientists, TÜBA has initiated the 2025 “TÜBA International Academy Prizes,” open to all scientists worldwide. Two scientists have been deemed worthy of the award in the Health and Life Sciences category.
In 2025, 28 outstanding young scientists won the TÜBA-GEBİP Award, which is given annually as part of TÜBA's mission to encourage, recognize, and reward scientists, including the Ahmet and Nezahat Keleşoğlu TÜBA-GEBİP Pharmacy Special Award. Thus, the number of scientists who have won the TÜBA-GEBİP Award to this date has risen to 697.
Within the scope of TÜBA-TESEP, a total of 8 works were deemed worthy of awards: 4 works received the Copyright Award in the field of Social Sciences, 1 work received the Halil İnalcık Special Award, and 3 works received the Jury Special Award. A total of 8 works were awarded in 2025, bringing the total number of works awarded to date to 253.
TÜBA President Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Şeker stated that TÜBA's fundamental mission is to encourage competent researchers who contribute to scientific development and to strengthen Türkiye's scientific community. He said: "With this understanding, as in previous years, we have successfully completed the evaluation processes for the 2025 TÜBA Academy Awards, TÜBA-GEBİP Awards, and TÜBA-TESEP Awards. We are pleased to reward scientific studies with proven international impact, young researchers who guide our country's scientific community, and high-quality academic works following a rigorous review process. On this occasion, I congratulate the recipients of the 2025 awards and emphasize once again that every work dedicated to science is the most valuable investment in Türkiye's future. As TÜBA, we will continue to steadfastly support academic excellence and encourage scientific production. I would like to thank all our scientists who make our country proud with their achievements and express our commitment to continuing to work together for a stronger scientific ecosystem."
TÜBA International Academy Awards
Based on the opinions of local and foreign referees and the evaluations of jury members in the field, the TÜBA Academy Council has awarded the TÜBA Awards:
In the Health and Life Sciences category; The 2025 TÜBA Academy Prize was presented to Prof. Dr. Mutlu Özcan, Faculty Member at the University of Zurich School of Dentistry, Switzerland, for her pioneering work in evaluating the surface, mechanical, and clinical applications of high-performance ceramic materials used in dentistry, as well as her groundbreaking work in the field of digital technology in dentistry.
Prof. Dr. Dirk M. Hermann, a faculty member at the University of Essen Medical School in Germany, was awarded the prize for his groundbreaking basic and clinical research on gatekeeping proteins in the blood-brain barrier, which critically control brain microenvironments and the access of pharmacological drugs to the brain, both neurologically and in terms of pharmacological treatment.
Prof. Dr. Mutlu Özcan
Born in 1969, Prof. Dr. Mutlu Özcan graduated from the Faculty of Dentistry at Marmara University in 1993 and received her PhD degree in Prosthodontics from the University of Cologne, Germany, in 1999. In the same year, she obtained her specialization in Prosthodontics from Marmara University. In 2003, she completed her second doctoral degree at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands with her dissertation titled “Adhesion of Resin Composites to Biomaterials in Dentistry: An Evaluation of Surface Conditioning Methods”, earning the title of Doctor in Medical Sciences.
She was awarded the “Fellowship in Dental Surgery (FDSRCPS)” by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 2015. In 2018, she received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the International Association for Dental Research (IADR), and in 2024 she was awarded the “Fellowship in Dental Surgery (FRCSEd)” by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
Prof. Özcan conducts highly influential research in the fields of dental biomaterials, adhesive dentistry, and prosthodontics. She currently serves as the Director of the Dental Research Center at the University of Zurich.
Prof. Dr. Dirk M. Hermann
Born in 1968, Prof. Dr. Dirk M. Hermann completed his medical education in 1994 at the University of Gießen in Germany. He conducted his postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institutes in Munich and Cologne, and subsequently continued his specialization in clinical neurology at the university hospitals of Tübingen and Zurich. He received the “Ellermann Award of the Swiss Neurological Society (SNG)” in 2007 and the “Felgenhauer Award of the German Society for Neurology (DGN)” in 2018. In 2025, he was awarded the title of Honorary Professor by Jilin University in Changchun, China.
Prof. Herman, who currently serves as Professor of Vascular Neurology, Dementia, and Aging Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, has studied gatekeeping proteins in the blood-brain barrier that critically control brain microenvironments and the access of pharmacological drugs to the brain, both from a neurological and a pharmacological treatment perspective.
About the TÜBA International Academy Awards: As defined in the TÜBA International Academy Awards Regulations, the Academy Award consists of a medal and certificate, along with a monetary prize determined each year by the Academy Council. It is awarded to scientists who have distinguished themselves with “original, pioneering, and groundbreaking” work in their field.
TÜBA-GEBİP Awards
The TÜBA-GEBİP Award, which is of particular importance in terms of promoting Türkiye in the international scientific community, fostering relationships, encouraging outstanding young scientists, and encouraging them to continue their work in Türkiye, was awarded to 28 outstanding young scientists in 2025, including the Ahmet and Nezahat Keleşoğlu TÜBA-GEBİP Pharmacy Special Award. This brings the total number of scientists who have won the TÜBA-GEBİP Award to date to 697.
About the TÜBA-GEBİP Awards: Since 2001, these awards have been given to recognize and encourage outstanding young scientists working in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, health sciences, and social sciences to continue their scientific work in Türkiye, establish their own research groups, and produce high-quality, internationally recognized projects and publications originating from Türkiye. Under this original and highly sought-after program, award winners receive financial support of 180,000 Turkish lira per year for three years, along with additional support of 30,000 Turkish lira per year for graduate/doctoral students in the thesis phase and mentoring from academy members.
TÜBA-TESEP Awards
Under the Scientific Copyright Program (TESEP), which aims to encourage the production of high-quality copyrighted works for universities, a total of 8 works were deemed worthy of awards in 2025: 4 works in the field of Social Sciences received the Copyright Award, 1 work received the Halil İnalcık Special Award, and 3 works received the Jury Special Award. In 2025, 8 works were awarded under this program, bringing the total number of works awarded under TESEP to date to 253.
About the TÜBA-TESEP Awards: These awards are given to encourage the writing and publication of high-quality scientific works at the university level in all fields of science. Launched in 2008 and continuing until 2016, the program known as TEÇEP, which awarded prizes for copyrighted and translated works, was decided to continue as TESEP from 2017 onwards with the aim of encouraging copyrighted works. Within the scope of the TÜBA-TESEP Awards, the Academy Council presents the “Halil İnalcık Special Award,” the “Mehmet Genç Special Award,” and the “Kemal Karpat Special Award” to works published in specific scientific fields that have contributed to world science in their field and honored our country with their national and international achievements on behalf of TÜBA Honorary Members. In 2025, the TESEP Copyright Award, the Halil İnalcık Special Award, and the Jury Special Award will be paid to the winners in the amounts of 100,000 TL and 60,000 TL, respectively.