Thursday, May 24, 2018,

14:00

MBG Conference Hall

Prof. Dr. Işıl AKSAN KURNAZ

Director, Institute of Biotechnology, Gebze Technical University

Born in 1974, Işıl Kurnaz graduated from Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Molecular Biology and Genetics BSc program in 1995, followed by PhD in Marie Curie Research Institute and University of London through TUBITAK PhD scholarship. Following that, she worked as an Instructor at Boğaziçi Üniversitesi for 2 years, then did her postdoc at Manchester University (2000-2002). In 2003 she started at Yeditepe University as an Assistant Professor, and set up the Department and laboratories of Genetics and Bioengineering. She served as Vice Dean at the Faculty of Engineering (2004 – 2007). Prof. Kurnaz is the recipient of L’Oreal Turkey For Women in Science (2006) and Turkish Academy of Sciences Young Investigator Award (GEBIP 2007). For over 11 years she worked as a PI in her Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory at Yeditepe University, with over 10 graduate students, on the neuronal survival and axon outgrowth; she has over 30 publications and 600 citations (h index 11). She has been the coordinator of various FP7, COST, TÜBİTAK national or international projects. She is a Professor since 2011, and continues her research in Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory (AxanLab; https://www.facebook.com/AxanLab; http://axanlab.com) at Gebze Technical University since 2014. She is the Vice Dean in Faculty of Basic Sciences, and Director of the Institute of Biotechnology.

Prof. Kurnaz is a Global Young Academy member (2016).

Abstract

Global Young Academy (GYA) grew out of discussions among top young scientists from around the world, convened by IAP for the Annual Meeting of New Champions of the World Economic Forum (“Summer Davos” meetings) in 2008 and 2009. The GYA was officially founded in February 2010, with support from IAP. With the help of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities BBAW and the German Junge Akademie, the GYA received start-up funding from The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the Volkswagen Foundation. From 2011 to 2016, the GYA was hosted by the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften in Berlin. Since 2014, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research has provided generous core funding to the GYA. To finance its annual general meetings and other expanded projects, the GYA has also benefited from funding by a variety of donors and partners worldwide. In 2017, the GYA moved to Halle (Saale), and is being hosted by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Prof. Kurnaz is a Global Young Academy member since 2016 – all memberships are for a period of 5 years, after which the members “graduate” and start serving the GYA as alumni. GYA aims to provide a voice for young scientists all over the World, and this talk is aimed to both introduce the GYA and its activities to young graduate students of the Institute of Biotechnology, and also to all young scientists at GTU.