Our Projects

Our Projects in 2021

Information on the Project Eligible for Support
Project Name		The Impact of Women's Cooperatives on Women's Empowerment in Turkey
Supporting Organisation		TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey)
Partners/Stakeholders		None
Supervisor
	Title-Name/Surname	Asst. Prof. Aslı ŞAHANKAYA ADAR
	Position	Executor
Project Budget		110,983 TL
Project Duration		18 Months
Summary of the Project (half page at most)		In Turkey, too, cooperatives have recently been perceived as an important organisational model that supports women's empowerment (Duguid, 2015; Act Human, 2015). In recent years, through projects carried out by the government and NGOs, an encouraging environment has been created for women to establish cooperatives; for this purpose, legal arrangements are made to support cooperatives financially and operationally. As a result, there has been a significant increase in the number of women’s cooperatives in the recent period and approximately 55% of the total 684 women's cooperatives established between 1989-2021 were founded after 2018 (Development Workshop, 2021). However, in a country like Turkey, where there are gender inequalities and women's employment is still low, there is no study on the potential of cooperatives, which are promoted to empower women, to change the current picture. In this case, it is essential to examine the effect of women's cooperatives on women's empowerment. In line with this, the aim of this project is to examine the impact of women's cooperatives on women's empowerment in Turkey. Accordingly, the empowerment effect will be addressed through economic empowerment and social gender equality. A scale will be developed in order to reveal the effect of cooperatives on women’s empowerment. During the scale development phase, firstly, interviews will be held with 25 experts who have studies in the relevant field. Those experts will be selected from women's cooperatives, NGOs working on women's cooperatives, public institutions and academicians working on women's empowerment. The developed scale will be applied to 250 female partners/cooperative employees determined by the snowball sampling method in the women’s enterprise production and operation category, and the results will reveal if the above-mentioned empowerment effect is present. In addition to the scale, which is used to examine the actual effect; it is also considered necessary to conduct in-depth interviews with 25 women's enterprise production and business cooperatives. In-depth interviews are important for the objectivity and consistency of interpretation of the effect obtained from the scale. Academic outcomes of the project can be listed as two papers (one international and one national), and a book/book chapter and an article to be published after the project is completed. In addition to the academic outcomes, the scale to be developed will provide a basis for monitoring and evaluating the impact of women's cooperatives on women's empowerment, and the results of the research will be presented at an experience sharing meeting with the participation of relevant actors, all of which are considered as important effects of the research..
Project Core Activities		Mapping of women's cooperatives in Turkey Scale development for empowerment effect Application of the scale as a questionnaire In-depth interviews Experience sharing meetings with women's cooperatives
Expected Outcomes		Scientific/academic outcomes: 1 national and 1 international paper, 1 article, and 1 book chapter/book Economical/social outcomes: Sharing the findings of the project with women's cooperatives and relevant NGOs; Outcomes regarding researcher training: Since the doctoral thesis of the the project scholar is also related to cooperatives, this project has the potential to enable the scholar to specialize in the field, and thereby present a new researcher to the field.

Information on the Project Eligible for Support
Project Name		Analysis of the Dynamic Effects of the Expected Istanbul Earthquake on the Istanbul’s Economy: Input-Output Model Integrated into the System Dynamics Model
Supporting Organisation		Yeditepe University
Partners/Stakeholders		Asst. Prof. Eylül Damla Gönül Sezer (Executor) - Yeditepe University Asst. Prof. Ayla Alkan (Researcher) - Beykent University Asst. Prof. Duygun Fatih Demirel (Researcher) - Istanbul Kültür University Asst. Prof. Melis Almula Karadayı (Researcher) - Istanbul Medipol University
Supervisor		Asst. Prof. Eylül Damla Gönül Sezer
	Title-Name/Surname	Asst. Prof. Eylül Damla Gönül Sezer
	Position	Executor
Project Budget		185,000 TL
Project Duration		15 Months
Summary of the Project (half page at most)		With its workforce potential obtained from its large population, and its ability to operate as the leading power of Turkey in almost all sectors, particularly production, service, banking, and finance, combined with the fact that it can produce a significant part of the country’s gross domestic product; Istanbul is a critically important city for our country in terms of the country’s economy. On the other hand, due to its location close to the fault lines with the potential of hosting a severe earthquake, its geological structure, and the vulnerability of the building stock in the city, İstanbul has the risk of earthquakes. Experts agree that a severe earthquake can lead to irreparable economic losses and various short- and long-term effects. Although the importance of possible economic effects of earthquakes is known, there is no study in the literature examining the size of those effects by means of scientific methods, except for the experts’ comments on the issue. For this reason, this project aims to foresee the effects of a possible earthquake in Istanbul on the Istanbul’s economy with an input-output model integrated into a system dynamics model, and to examine the short- and long-term effectiveness of policies aimed at eliminating the troubles that the earthquake will cause on the economy by creating various scenarios. In addition, since Istanbul is a metropolis whose work flow and labour flow exceed the provincial borders, it will be studied as a whole with its neighbouring provinces Tekirdağ and Kocaeli. A hybrid regionalisation method will be used for the project by means of the modified CHARM (MCHARM) non-survey method and the superior data collected for key sectors, and a two-region input-output table will be created with Istanbul-Tekirdağ-Kocaeli being the interest region and the rest of Turkey being the other region. The two-region input-output table will represent the entire economy within both regions and the trade between the two regions, and will yield the results of possible demand and supply shocks. The main components called as households, production, state, import, export and companies will be modelled along with their dynamic and complex relationships, their relation of causality, recycles and similar structures by using a system dynamics method, and possible shocks will be generated. The study will be the first to use both the input-output model and the system dynamics technique in a hybrid way for examining a complex economic system. By means of the system dynamics technique proposed in the project, the static and linear structure of the input-output model is turned into a dynamic one, it also enables us to eliminate the problems arising from linearity by providing multidirectional and complex nonlinear relationships. Furthermore, the project will examine the economic effects of the earthquake on the sectors in terms of both supply and demand, so that it will be possible to examine the outputs of the supply- and demand-side models created for different scenarios. With simulations based on different scenarios planned to be followed, it is aimed to observe the short- and long-term results of different policies regarding state aid, rescue package and restructuring in order to minimise the negative economic effects of possible earthquakes that may affect Istanbul to different degrees, and thereby determine the most appropriate policy. Within the scope of the project, two graduate students will be trained and one of these students will carry out their thesis on the system dynamics phase and the other on the input-output model phase of the method. As a result, the project will also contribute to the increasing number of qualified researchers in our country. Another important impact of the project is that it will provide a decisive framework for forming effective and applicable policies aimed at minimizing the economic effects of the earthquake by uncovering the economic risks that may arise from an earthquake during a time when İstanbul is aimed to be transformed into an international investment, finance, education, technology, science, logistics and R&D centre, in accordance with the 11th Development Plan, many articles of which include the details about those aims. Keywords:Earthquake, Istanbul, input-output model, system dynamics, continuous event simulation, disaster economics
Project Core Activities		Work packages of the project are as follows: defining the problem and determining the scope of the project, creating a national input-output matrix from the supply and use table of Turkey, conducting regionalisation work for the bi-regional table, creating a simulation model and interpreting the model results with different scenarios and policies.
Expected Outcomes		The outcomes of the project are one article in an international peer-reviewed journal, one article in a national peer-reviewedjournal, one full-text paper in an international publication, one abstract paper in a national publication, an interface that will enable the method proposed in the project to be easily used, two master's theses (One of the theses will be related to the system dynamics phase and the other will be related to the input-output model phase of the project.).

Information on the Project Eligible for Support
Project Name		Istanbul International Entrepreneurship Centre
Supporting Organisation		Istanbul Development Agency
Partners/Stakeholders		Yıldız Technopark Dijitalpark Technopark İTO (Istanbul Chamber of Commerce - Bilgiyi Ticarileştirme Merkezi) TÜGİM (Turkish Mentoring Association) Üsküdar Municipality Küçükçekmece Municipality MÜSİAD TÜRKSİD Synergia
Supervisor
	Title-Name/Surname	Asst. Prof. Ali KURT
	Position	Project Coordinator
Project Budget
Project Duration		18 Months
Summary of the Project (half page at most)		Within the scope of this project, infrastructure and content providers and actors will come together and work with sustainability within the framework of a programme in order for Istanbul to take its rightful place as a regional and then a global entrepreneurship centre. Entrepreneurship centres established in various regions of Istanbul will be opened to the use of international entrepreneurs. Those centers will provide multilingual (English, Arabic, Persian, etc.) programmes-, offer guidance tools, consulting, mentoring and develop facilitating mechanisms within the framework of the applicable laws and regulations on entrepreneurship based in Turkey. The Istanbul International Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit will be held and a multilingual content-producing unit will be established to increase the brand value of Istanbul as an international entrepreneurship centre. In addition, easier integration into the entrepreneurship ecosystem will be provided to foreigners living in Turkey (international students, migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees)in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. As a result, it will be ensured that qualified people among the foreign community residing in our country who can step into technology and innovation-based entrepreneurship are discovered and included in the ecosystem.
Project Core Activities		Creating the project team Establishing the International Entrepreneurship Centre ISTANBUL promotion agency Establishing the Istanbul International Entrepreneurship Centre Providing at least 250 hours of scheduled mentoring support with at least 20 mentors Implementing an Istanbul-Based Start-up Acceleration Programme open to online participants from abroad Implementing entrepreneur-investor pairing programme Establish collaborations with 10 different international companies Enabling 100 new international start-ups to be officially founded in Turkey during the project Organising 10 interviews/panels during the project Carrying out 15 thematic training sessions Organising the Istanbul International Entrepreneurship Summit
Expected Outcomes		An “International Entrepreneurship Centre" will be established in Levent, Istanbul. An information and content producer agency will be founded in order to prepare all of the content in at least three languages (Turkish, English, Arabic). A powerful digital portal broadcasting in at least 3 languages will be created. A mentoring network and platform with at least 20 mentors will be built for international entrepreneurs. At least 10 international collaborations will be established within the scope of the project. At least 100 start-ups are expected to be founded in Istanbul by international entrepreneurs during the project. There will be 10 informative and educational meetings, 15 thematic training sessions and 250 hours of mentoring and consulting sessions.

Information on the Project Eligible for Support
Project Name		A New Storage System for Underwater Compressed-Air Energy Storage
Supporting Organisation		TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey)
Partners/Stakeholders		Su Yapı Mühendislik ve Müşavirlik A.Ş.- Beykent University
Supervisor
	Title-Name/Surname	Electronics Engineer / İbrahim Levent Sezgin
	Position	Executor
Project Budget		303,112 TL
Project Duration		12 Months
Summary of the Project (half page at most)		This project proposal is about the production of a prototype of an Underwater Compressed-Air Energy Storage (UWCAES) system based on a new invention. It is envisaged that this project will pave the way for the use of Energy Storage Systems (ESS) in our country, which will lead to national benefits in terms of energy. Energy Storage Systems (ESS) have a very important place in the energy sector in the world and are becoming increasingly important, and UWCAES system is a technology in the field of Energy Storage Systems (ESS) and more specifically in the field of Compressed-Air Energy Storage (CAES) systems. ESSs can be listed as follows from general to specific: ESS, CAES, UWCAES. UWCAES technology is a very new technology and this system has only a few small applications in the world (The Liquid Grid (2021); İTÜ (2021)). The UWCAES system proposed by the project is a technology based on a new invention, and the air storage unit of the UWCAES system proposed by this project is different from than those of the existing UWCAES systems.
Project Core Activities		Prototype design, manufacturing and testing. Preparation of results and evaluation report.
Expected Outcomes		Obtaining technical data for its commercial practice. Writing academic articles and papers for the evaluation of the contribution of the invention to the relevant technical field.

Project Name		Development of Energy-Based Seismic Design and Evaluation Method for Reinforced Concrete Frame Systems-121M713
Supporting Organisation		TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey)
Partners/Stakeholders		Gebze Technical University - Asst. Prof. Ahmet Anıl Dindar (Executor) Beykent University - Assoc. Prof. Hasan Özkaynak (Researcher)Beykent University - Asst. Prof. Ziya Müderrisoğlu (Researcher)Nuh Naci Yazgan University - Assoc. Prof. Ali Bozer (Researcher) Gedik University - Asst. Prof. Ahmet Güllü (Researcher)
Supervisor		Executor - Gebze Technical University - Asst. Prof. Ahmet Anıl Dindar
	Title-Name/Surname	Assoc. Prof. Hasan ÖZKAYNAK
	Position	Researcher
Project Budget		405,350 TL
Project Duration		24 Months
Summary of the Project (half page at most)		One of the most important factors affecting the structure design in earthquake-hazard areas is the lateral loads caused by ground motion. In order to ensure the safety of the structures, national and international construction regulations are taken into account in the design and evaluation calculations. Current construction regulations include analysis and design methods which also consider the concepts of “strength" and "deformation". In both methods, the demand imposed by the earthquake on the structure is estimatedby the elastic response spectra. Under the influence of the estimatedearthquake demands, the structural elements are expected to have sufficient strength and deformation capacity. In current methods, the damage is determined indirectly in the strength-based approaches while it is determined by also considering the highest amplitude displacement in the deformation-based approaches. However, an earthquake depends on the effects of ground motion on the structure, the duration and frequency of the earthquake, the damage that the structural elements are exposed to during the effect and its progress. It is not realistic to calculate this relationship indirectly or as the values of the largest amplitude moment. The most realistic approach for defining the earthquake effect is calculating the energy affecting the structure and also how the structure counterbalances this energy. The concept of energy, which is indirectly addressed by current methods, better explains both demand and capacity concepts in earthquake resistant structural design. The energy-based design and evaluation approach, which was first introduced to structural engineering in 1956, attracted the attention of researchers in the 1980s. In the 1990s, when calculations beyond the elastic limit were the subject of many research on the design and evaluation of structures, researchers carried out studies in the fields of Displacement-Based Design (DBD) and Energy-Based Design (EBD). However, since non-linear static pushover analysis is more practical than the non-linear time-history analysis (NLTHA), DBD has become more popular than EBD. Basically, the "Equilibrium Equation of Energy (EEE)" is obtained by integrating the equilibrium equation of motion according to the displacement of the structure. Both sides of the EEE are composed of scalar quantities. Since vectorial quantities are taken more into account in engineering calculations and a scalar quantity such as energy does not contain directional information, it has not been possible to use it in the applied field of engineering so far. Due to the development of NLTHA calculations in the 2000s, EBD has gradually become popular, and studies are being carried out with the aim of including it in the next generation construction regulations. Recently, it has been stated that if there is sufficient development in the energy-based design, the energy-based design and evaluation approach may be included in the EuroCodes to be prepared in the 2030s. This research project involves the development of an energy-based design and evaluation method for reinforced concrete frame systems. For this purpose, NLTHAs will be carried out on a group of structures designed according to the Turkey Building Earthquake Code-2018. Through the results obtained from the analyses, a calculation method will be developedfor the transfer of the energy demand, which is both affecting the structure and is consumed by it, to the reinforced concrete frame elements. Following that, for reinforced concrete frame elements, a calculation model will be developed for determining the energy dissipation capacity and the corresponding damage limits by taking into account the experimental data. After the demand and capacity are expressed in units of energy, a suggestion will be made in terms of energy-based design and evaluation by comparing with current regulations. Following the successful achievement of the objectives of the project, a more practical, consistent and highly sensitive analytical approach will be put forward for engineers and designers who are experts in design and evaluation.
Project Core Activities		Determining the distribution of the demand of the plastic energy consumed in reinforced concrete frames Determining the energy consumption capacity in reinforced concrete frame elements Developing an energy-based design method for reinforced concrete frame systems
Expected Outcomes		It is aimed to develop a method for the design of reinforced concrete building systems which can be used and compatible with energy-based methods. The energy-based methods have been limitedly included in the Japanese Building Code since 2005, however it is aimed that both methods will be included in the international regulations expected to be published in 2030s.

Information on the Project Eligible for Support
Project Name	Direklerarası in the Late Ottoman Istanbul: Experience and Perception
Supporting Organisation	TÜBİTAK 1001 - Scientific and Technological Research Projects Support Programme
Partners/Stakeholders	EXECUTOR: Assoc. Prof. Fatma Tunç YAŞAR, Yıldız Technical University RESEARCHER: Assoc. Prof. Ahmet YAŞAR, Beykent University RESEARCHER: Assoc. Prof. Onur Güneş AYAS, Yıldız Technical University
Project Budget	221,020 TL
Project Duration	2 Years
Summary of the Project (half page at most)	The section of Divanyolu between Şehzade Mehmed Complex and Vezneciler is called Direklerarası because of the porch columns in front of the shops located on the right and left sides of the road. Since the 1870s, Direklerarası has become a cultural and entertainment centre where socialisation and entertainment venues such as coffee houses, tea houses, theatres and cinemas exist together. The aim of this project on Direklerarası, which has gained popularity as a social, entertainment and cultural neighbourhood since the 1870s but lost its popularity at the end of the 1910s, is to investigate how the processes of modernisation, reform, change and transformation are experienced in the daily life of Direklerarası and how the experience gained in Direklerarası is perceived by the Ottoman political authorities and different segments of the society. Created within the framework of this purpose, the project’s main hypothesis is that Direklerarası has a multicultural and eclectic atmosphere for socialisation, entertainment and cultural activities, and that the Direklerarası experience gainedin this regard cannot be understood from the perspective of Westernisation paradigm and cultural dichotomy. In this context, this project sees Direklerarası as a space where different cultures and elements meet, reconcile and interact with each other as a part of the modernisation experience. Therefore, this project will enable us to question polarising dichotomies such as East-West, Turkish style-European style, modern-traditional. Overcoming this cultural dichotomy will provide future studies, which will be carried out in the field of the Late Ottoman and more specifically Ottoman modernisation and culture, the opportunity to approach from different perspectives and ask new questions.
Project Core Activities	The project will be carried out in two layers, which are Direklerarası experience and Direklerarası perception, by taking into account the basic purpose and hypothesis. In the first layer, the experience in Direklerarası will be revealed and analysed. In this context, topics such as the distribution of eighty-two shops according to their functions; the location, operators, capacities and customers of coffee houses and tea houses; the place or places in contact with people from the literary and intellectual circles; the activities of theatres, the places with live music and the circles formed around those places; places where Karagöz was staged, travelling circuses and cinema screenings will be researched. In the second layer of the research, topics such as how the Direklerarası experience was perceived by political authorities and different segments of the society, whether the perception of the Direklerarası experience has changed over time, how the Direklerarası experience was reflected in texts and how the Direklerarası has been remembered in the following years will be researched and revealed.
Expected Outcomes	The project, which focuses on the Direklerarası experience with a comprehensive and multi-layered approach, will contribute to the understanding the experience of modernity, multiculturalism and living together in general. The research data and results will be shared through the publications considered as part of the project outcomes, the web page in the process of preparation, and the workshop to be held with the participation of the researchers working in the field.