MARTEST Protocol with Yalova Municipality

March 28, 2024-GTU Office of Press and Public Relations

A protocol is signed between Yalova Municipality and Gebze Technical University within the framework of MARTEST.

At the ceremony held in Yalova Municipality, Prof. Dr. Hacı Ali Mantar, Rector of Gebze Technical University (GTU), and Yalova Mayor Mustafa Tutuk signed the protocol. The project, led by Gebze Technical University and Kagawa University from Japan, is financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). Yalova Municipality also participated as a stakeholder in the project, which involves numerous universities and institutions from both countries.

Under the protocol, scientific and technical cooperation activities related to earthquake and tsunami impact assessment and evacuation modeling will be carried out in Yalova. Within the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development Program (SATREPS), which will run from 2023 to 2028, all scientific activities conducted in the MARTEST (Project for the Establishment of a Research and Education Complex for Developing Disaster-Resilient Societies) will focus on Yalova. This will include earthquake engineering research, earthquake and tsunami scenario studies, hazard assessments, and evacuation plans.

The protocol signing ceremony was also attended by faculty members from GTU's Department of Civil Engineering, including Prof. Dr. Bülent Akbaş, Prof. Dr. Selçuk Toprak, Dr. Ceren Özer Sözdinler, Dr. Ahmet Anıl Dindar, Research Assistant Serra Danış, Prof. Dr. Tori Arikawa from Chuo University, Prof. Dr. Makiko Otani from Kyoto University, Prof. Dr. Toshitaka Baba from Tokushima University, Dr. Naotaka Chikasada from the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED), Prof. Dr. Ahmet Cevdet Yalçıner from Middle East Technical University, and Sho Amemiya, Project Coordinator from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).