This year’s laureate of the Selçuk Yaşar Award became Ord. Prof. Niyazi Serdar Sarıçiftçi, Director of the Institute for Physical Chemistry of Johannes Kepler University. Granted the title of professor ordinarius by the Austrian Government in 1996, Sarıçiftçi won this year’s Selçuk Yaşar Award, which was initiated to sustain the vision embraced by Mr. Selçuk Yaşar as a figure of firsts and principles that significantly contributed to the business, culture, education and sports in Turkey.
Initiated jointly by Yaşar University and the Sports and Education Foundation of Selçuk Yaşar to recognize and celebrate works of courageous individuals putting their best efforts for social benefit and for constructing a better future for Turkey, the second Selçuk Yaşar Award has been granted this year. The award ceremony, which took place at Çırağan Palace last year, was held online this year.
The theme for the 2020 award has been decided to be “Science”, one of the three notions “Science, Unity, and Success” that Selçuk Yaşar has deemed highly important all his life. The this year’s laureate became Ord. Prof. Niyazi Serdar Sarıçiftçi, a world-renowned scientists with international studies in technology who is particularly known for his studies on “clean energy” and holds the first patent and publication on plastic organic solar cells.
Chaired by Yaşar University President of the Board of Trustees Ahmet Yiğitbaşı, the jury for this year’s science theme was made up of figures of expertise in their fields and included Prof. Ahmet Evin, Prof. Gürbüz Güneş, Prof. Arif Hepbaşlı, and Prof. Banu Onaral.
“We believe in science being the greatest virtue.”
Ahmet Yiğitbaşı, President of Yaşar University’s Board of Trustees, noted, “As Yaşar University, we believe in science being the greatest virtue. We are nurtured by the global knowledge and generate new information for humankind’s benefit. We generate information in conformity with global standards and ethics and work for the humankind’s benefit. All these values have guided us in deciding the theme for this year’s award. Ord. Prof. Niyazi Serdar Sarıçiftçi has added value for the science world with his academic studies intended to generate new ideas for a more livable world, as well as his international articles on technology. We will continue to present Selçuk Yaşar Awards to next winners for honoring our country as individuals and institutions with national and international achievements, while also proceeding with confident steps guided our founder’s principles.”
“Science stands as Yaşar University’s key value”
Yaşar University Rector Prof. Cemali Dinçer also stated, “As a university that has its foundation based on the value that Mr. Selçuk Yaşar added to education and science, Yaşar University deems people-first approach, academic approach, innovation, and internationalization as its main virtues. It is crystal-clear that universities of academic approach will make great contributions for science awards. The following statement of our founder has always guided us: ‘We should avoid being involved in a setting where information, knowledge, and know-how are not appreciated.’ We are therefore greatly honored to have initiated this award to create settings where knowledge is furthered and appreciated.”
“Future energy is solar.”
The laureate of this year’s award, Ord. Prof. Niyazi Serdar Sarıçiftçi said, “I would like to thank the jury members and the Yaşar family for deeming me worthy of the 2020 Selçuk Yaşar Award.” and continued:
“We are facing dozens of challenges in meeting Turkey’s energy demand with imported oil and natural gas, while the solar capacity in our country is rich enough both to meet Turkey’s own energy demand and to export the gains that this capacity can achieve. The annual volume of energy consumed for a space of one square-meter is greater than 1000 kilowatt-hour in many parts of Turkey. If we can collect this energy to convert it into useable electrical energy and even into chemical energy, our external dependency will be terminated once and for all. Then, we will have internal adequacy. This achievement will result in financial and political outcomes, which will eventually have prospects of independency and future for the country. Turkey’s independency and future rest with its solar energy.”