Assistant Professor Batur Ercan from METU Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, is elected as one of 28 people to receive the award within the framework of the Turkish Academy of Sciences Outstanding Young Scientists Award Program.
Asst. Prof. Batur Ercan received the TÜBA-GEBİP Award for his research on biomaterials and tissue engineering. His research aims to control cellular functions by changing surface properties of implants, i.e., surface chemistry, morphology, roughness, etc., placed into the body to interact with tissues. In line with this target, Dr. Ercan conducts research with a specific focus on altering implant surface topographies, and he examines the effects of biomaterials with roughness in the nanoscale on bone, heart and vascular tissue regeneration. In addition, observing that the nanoscale topography generated on the implant surfaces gave the implants antibacterial properties, Dr. Ercan develops alternative methods that include materials engineering solutions to fight with infection without referring to the use of antibacterial agents, where bacteria are increasingly becoming resistant to all known antibiotics.
The TÜBA-GEBİP Awards are granted since 2001 to appreciate outstanding young scientists working in the fields of nature, engineering, health, and social sciences, to encourage them to pursue scientific research in Turkey and create their teams, to reward Turkey-originated international, sufficient projects and publications.
