Our university, which was established in 1997, aims to become a modern research university by supporting research and development activities according to the needs of the age and quality education. Our university, which has made rapid progress in a short time, has succeeded in making its name known in the national and international arena. In line with this purpose, to accelerate drug design and development activities within our faculty, Computational Biology and Bioinformatics graduate program was opened in 2009. As the first graduate program established in Turkey under this name, it set an excellent example of progress in research, one of the university’s most important goals. In the years following the opening of the master’s program, the Bioinformatics undergraduate program was launched.
One of the first team photos of our department: (From left to right) Prof. Dr. Demet Akten Akdoğan, Asst. Prof. H. Bahar Şahin, Asst. Prof. Tuğba Arzu Özal, Prof. Dr. Kemal Yelekçi, Emeritus Prof. Dr. Önder Pekcan, Asst. Prof. Şebnem Eşsiz Gökhan, Res. Asst. Sule Samik
Our department continues its undergraduate program, which started as “Bioinformatics” and evolved as “Bioinformatics and Genetics” in 2016, under the name of Molecular Biology and Genetics as of 2020. Our department, an interdisciplinary research area, benefits from different disciplines such as bioinformatics, genetics, neuroscience, computer science, mathematics, statistics, biology, physics, chemistry, biochemistry, information technologies, and engineering. While based on the fundamental laws of physics, mathematics, biology, and chemistry, the most crucial goal of this field, which tries to understand the behavior of biological systems at the molecular level by using the computational power of computers and engineering, is to find cures for diseases and to contribute to science by trying to decipher and understand the complex system that makes up the living organism with numerical methods, therefore improving the quality of life.
This program makes significant contributions to developing a modern interdisciplinary understanding of education. Because those trained with this program can use the latest computer technology to solve a biological system problem, think mathematically, develop practical solutions like an engineer and search for expressing complex systems like a scientist.
The more the information about biological systems accumulates, the more competent staff needs to process and analyze data. In addition, detailed and mechanistic studies at the molecular level, taking into account the energy of the bond between two atoms, significantly reduce the time and cost of medication development studies. Therefore, it is one of the most invested research areas globally (especially in the USA, Europe, and the Far East).
The undergrad program is in English, and a wide range of topics such as molecular biology and genetics, advanced genetics, neurobiology, bioinformatics, computer-aided drug design, basic cell biology, molecular modeling and simulation, protein dynamics, gene data analysis, systems biology is taught. Those who complete this program become indispensable staff, primarily for pharmaceutical companies and the health sector. They can work as researchers in public institutions or the pharmaceutical industry, genetic diagnosis centers, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) centers, and pharmaceutical companies that design drugs. They can also work as academicians in departments of universities such as medicine, agriculture, veterinary medicine, science, and biology.