Under the coordination of Uşak University Graduate Education Institute, a workshop titled ‘Application and Research Centres: Past, Present and Future’ was held on 28 November 2024. The workshop, held at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Congress and Culture Centre, continued throughout the day and comprehensive information about the activities of 21 Application and Research Centres (UYGAR) at Uşak University was shared.

In the workshop, issues such as the importance of UYGARs for academic studies, successful examples and the future goals of the centres were discussed. During the event, university and city stakeholders came together and discussed ways to increase cooperation between the centres.

Before the workshop, Banaz Vocational School Ceramics and Glass Design Programme Lecturer Fatma Nur Taylan's ceramic exhibition named ‘Flora’ was opened.

Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Kenan Taş, Prof. Dr. Lütfi Özav and Prof. Dr. Osman Birgin, Deputy Mayor Serap Saruhan, Director of the Graduate Education Institute Prof. Dr. Zekerya Batur, representatives of public institutions, business people, industrialists, academicians and students attended the workshop.

The opening speeches of the workshop were delivered by Prof. Dr. Kenan Taş, Vice Rector and Quality Coordinator, and Prof. Dr. Zekerya Batur, Director of the Institute of Graduate Studies.

In his speech, Prof. Dr. Kenan Taş drew attention to the importance of 21 UYGARs at Uşak University and emphasised the critical role these centres play within the scope of quality studies. He explained the quality-oriented approach of the university with a detailed presentation.

Prof. Dr. Zekerya Batur, Director of the Institute of Graduate Studies, stated that the workshop was organised with the aim of increasing the cooperation between the UYGARs of the university, ensuring the visibility of the projects carried out in these centres and improving their academic contributions. In his speech, Prof. Dr. Zekerya Batur stated that the 21st century is an age that has moved from the information age to critical thinking and from critical thinking to the age of production and said, ‘For this reason, it is no longer enough to have knowledge in this age, it has gained importance to produce knowledge from knowledge and to produce new ideas. Therefore, raising individuals who are aware of what they know, question what they know, prove what they question, think critically and acquire problem solving skills has come to the fore. Because this century is the century of ‘smart specialisation’. In this century, field-oriented or regionally oriented specialisation has become a reality of the world. In this context, UYGARs are one of the centres that will provide this awareness and transformation. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the organisation of this workshop. I wish our workshop to be beneficial.

Prof. Dr. Zekerya Batur also gave information about the Institute of Graduate Studies. Stating that there are 53 master's and 25 doctoral programmes in the Institute of Graduate Studies, Batur said that there are currently 3 interdisciplinary doctoral programmes and 11 interdisciplinary master's programmes, especially among these programmes, there are programmes that require expertise that stand out as interdisciplinary programmes.

Following the opening speeches, the workshop continued throughout the day in four sessions with presentations by 21 application and research centres.

The event ended with the ‘Workshop Evaluation’ session attended by Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Lütfi Özav, Prof. Dr. Osman Birgin and Prof. Dr. Kenan Taş, Director of the Graduate Education Institute Prof. Dr. Zekerya Batur, Deputy Director of the Graduate Education Institute Dr. Faculty Member Hülya Elmalı Gülbaş and Director of the Leather, Textile and Ceramics (DTS) Design Application and Research Centre Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eren Öner.