Hacettepe University

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HACETTEPE UNIVERSITY

Public university in Ankara.

Hacettepe University was founded in 1954, when an academic unit on children's health was established under the supervision of Ankara University. In 1957, it was transformed into a research institute with an affiliated hospital dedicated to instruction and public service. The institute grew gradually in the following years, with the establishment of academic units on dentistry, medical technology, nursing, physiotherapy-rehabilitation, and home economics. It was eventually accredited as a university in 1967.

Hacettepe University comprises nine faculties (dentistry; economics and administrative sciences; education; engineering; fine arts; letters; natural sciences; medicine; and pharmacology), fourteen vocational schools, twelve institutes, and twenty-seven research centers. It also administers the Ankara State Conservatory of Turkish Music. It has five major campuses in Ankara (Sihhiye, Beytepe, Beşevler, Keçiören, Polatli, and Kaman), and one of its vocational schools is located in neighboring Zonguldak province. Turkish constitutes the main medium of instruction, but half of the medical school classes are conducted in English. Some of the vocational programs are conducted in German and French. In the 2002–2003 academic year, the university had about 3,148 faculty members and 24,415 students. Its budget for that year amounted to 187,332 billion Turkish liras, 99 percent of which came directly from state funds.

Hacettepe's origins as a medical school explain the variety of health-related programs that are administered by the university. Its founder, Prof. Ihsan Doğramaci, is a medical doctor. His innovative approach to medical education and research has been a major contributor to the prestige that Hacettepe currently enjoys among other Turkish universities with a medical concentration. With Ankara University, Hacettepe has promoted research and development in nuclear physics, computer engineering, and electronics.

See also ankara; ankara university.