Publication Achievement by GTU Academic

April 16, 2025 - GTU Office of Press and Public Relations

Research Assistant Alihan Teke from the Department of Geomatics Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, Gebze Technical University (GTU), is awarded the Outstanding Paper Award for Young Scientists by the Scientific Program Committee of COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) for publishing the best paper of 2024.

Under the supervision of Prof. Taşkın Kavzoğlu, Teke has earned this prestigious recognition for his article published in the journal Advances in Space Research. The award-winning study analyzes the decision-making processes of machine learning algorithms used in landslide susceptibility mapping through explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) techniques. The paper aims to investigate the factors causing landslides at both local and regional scales. The findings contribute to enhancing the transparency of maps produced with black-box algorithms and shed light on the underlying triggering causes of landslide events.

The award will be formally presented during the COSPAR Scientific Assembly, to be held in Florence, Italy, from 1 to 9 August 2026. In addition, the award and the title of the winning paper have been announced on COSPAR’s official website (https://cosparhq.cnes.fr/awards/outstanding-paper-award/) and will be featured in upcoming issues of COSPAR’s official publications Space Research Today and COSPAR News.

The COSPAR Outstanding Paper Award for Young Scientists is presented to researchers under the age of 31 to support and increase the visibility of high-quality scientific publications. The award recognizes research selected by the committee based on scientific contribution, originality, methodological clarity, and presentation quality.