Research-Based Learning Symposium Took Place in Istanbul

The first EELISA Research-Based Learning Symposium was held on May 17-18 within the scope of EELISA in Istanbul collocated with the InnoCORE R&I Symposium on May 16.

The symposium held at the Süleyman Demirel Cultural Center in ITU Ayazağa Campus was followed by the guests on the ITU YouTube channel. After the concerts performed by ITU Turkish Music State Conservatory (ITU TMDK) and ITU Dr. Erol Üçer Center for Advanced Studies in Music (İTÜ MİAM), speeches were made at the symposium.

“Student competencies increase through research-related activities”

ITU Rector Prof. İsmail Koyuncu started by stating that he was honored to host the participants at the Research-Based Learning Symposium. Providing information about the EELISA project, Koyuncu said that they have worked very hard for the mission of realizing the EELISA European University, and that the project has been progressing successfully and decisively with the addition of InnoCORE and UNFOLDS recently. Koyuncu said, “We are in the second year of the EELISA project and the Alliance has become a big family. We learned to develop a plan together, create a work distribution structure, identify risks and stakeholders, and communicate across the alliance. This is where Inquiry-Based Learning comes in, where universities enhance students’ competencies through research-related activities. In this culture, students will not only learn from new discoveries and research methods, but also become involved in research processes themselves, thereby participating in the discovery of new knowledge. Learning in and out of the classroom will enable students to confront real-life problems as the need for change becomes evident in many ways; climate change, poverty, gender awareness and the demand for sustainable cities and communities are just a few examples. Everyone here believes in science and we all know that these challenges and their solutions can only be overcome with science. The new engineering model that we all aim for with EELISA will lead us to this.”

The symposium, attended by researchers, representatives from the industry, and students from ITU and abroad; focused on strengthening ties in the fields of education, research, and innovation.

In addition to discussing challenges and new approaches in engineering education, the symposium shared the experiences of EELISA representatives on research-based learning and best practices of university-industry cooperation.

On the second day of the symposium, the students of the member universities in the EELISA student forum; shared their experiences in the courses they took at partner universities, the processes of establishing the EELISA communities, and their studies in the project teams.

For more detailed information, please visit the symposium page.