İstanbul Bilgi University is a non-profit higher education institution with more than 20,000 students (50% of whom receive scholarships), a community of more than 60,000 alumni and a faculty of more than 1,000 academics. BİLGİ operates with 8 faculties, 3 institutes and 3 professional schools, offering over 150 undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programmes in various disciplines such as social sciences, economics, business, communication, arts, law, engineering and architecture. Founded in 1996, BİLGİ is known for taking an open-minded stance on key social and political issues in Turkey, actively participating in debates on EU integration and other sensitive social issues.
BİLGİ's strong European focus led to the establishment of the Centre for European Studies, which became the European Institute in 2007. The Institute conducts advanced research on EU politics and policies with a focus on diversity and pluralism. As the focal point for interdisciplinary European studies at BİLGİ, the European Institute supports research and academic programmes that examine processes of integration, Europeanisation, multiculturalism and the formation of European identities.
The European Institute's contributions extend to numerous EU-funded projects, including several Framework Programme 7 (FP7) and Horizon Europe projects, strengthening its role in addressing complex issues in European and international contexts. The Institute has received several prestigious funding awards, including the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence Award (2013), three Jean Monnet Chairs and several Jean Monnet Modules and "Learning EU at School" projects.
In particular, the "European Values at School - EUducate" project led to BİLGİ being designated as a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, the fourth university in Turkey to receive this recognition. The high evaluation score underlines BİLGİ's commitment to EU-focused academic excellence since 1996. The European Institute remains committed to outreach activities on core EU values such as human rights, pluralism and diversity, fostering a deep understanding of European integration and the values of citizenship.
In addition to the Jean Monnet Awards, BİLGİ's European Institute currently participates in Horizon Europe projects, further contributing to EU-focused interdisciplinary research and public engagement activities that promote the understanding and study of European integration and EU policies. The European Institute of Istanbul Bilgi University is also part of the Jean Monnet Policy Network project "ValEUs. Research & Education Network on Contestations to EU Foreign Policy", a major research initiative led by the European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. Funded by a €1.2 million Erasmus+ grant from the European Commission for the period 2024-2027, the project emphasises both research and educational outreach to deepen understanding of the challenges to EU policies.
Prof. Ayhan Kaya is the founding director of the European Institute at Istanbul Bilgi University. After serving as deputy director from February 2019 to September 2024, Dr Özge Onursal-Beşgül assumed the role of Director of the European Institute in September 2024.
Institute Staff
Prof. Ayhan KAYA (Founding Director)
Faculty Member, PhD Özge ONURSAL-BEŞGÜL (Director)
Faculty Member, PhD Ozan KUYUMCUOĞLU (Vice Director)
Didem BALATLIOĞULLARI, MA (Institute Projects Executive)
Dr. Deniz Güneş YARDIMCI (DAAD Research Fellow, Lecturer)
Dr. Özlem CİHAN (Post-doctoral Researcher, PLEDGE Project)
Emre GÖNEN, MA (Dept. of International Relations)
Prof. Laurent BAECHLER (Programme Director, CIFE )
Academic Board
Prof. Serap ATAKAN (Dept. of Business)
Prof. Erkan SAKA (Dept. of Media)
Assoc. Prof. Büke BOŞNAK (Dept. of International Relations)
Faculty Member, PhD İdil Işıl GÜL (Faculty of Law)
Executive Board
Prof. Aslı TUNÇ (Dept. of Media)
Prof. Serdar KARABATI (Dept. of Business)
Faculty Member, PhD Azer KILIÇ (Dept. of Sociology)
Contact Information
Phone: (+90) 212 311 53 63
Email: europe@bilgi.edu.tr
Address
santralistanbul Campus, E5 Building
Eski Silahtarağa Elektrik Santrali
Kazım Karabekir Cad. No: 2/13
34060 Eyüpsultan, İstanbul
