At the end of the Horizon 2020 program, Middle East Technical University has ranked first among the universities in Turkey in terms of the number of projects received funding. METU has shared the first rank with Koç University regarding the number of projects while ranking in second place in terms of the total budget. Researchers of METU had the highest research budget when all the projects of Horizon 2020 and the Seventh Framework Program are taken into consideration, which together lasted from 2007 to 2020. The budget our university spent in 51 Horizon 2020 projects conducted between the years 2014-2020 was €16,8 million. Completing the Seventh Framework Program by ranking in the first place, METU has received €47 million worth of funding for 200 projects in total since the Fifth Framework Program.
Being the first Turkish university to be found eligible for a Twinning project with its Center for Solar Energy Research and Applications (GÜNAM), METU currently continues to conduct six multi-partner H2020 projects as the coordinator as well as undertaking the responsibility of the project coordinator of the first multi-partner consortium of Turkish universities with its Institute of Marine Sciences. Furthermore, besides the Horizon 2020 program, METU is the first Turkish state university to have financial support from European Research Council (ERC) for a project. There are currently three ongoing ERC projects and an ongoing ERC Proof of Concept project conducted at our university.
Finally, as of August 2020, METU became the first Turkish university to be awarded the HR Logo (HR Excellence in Research Award), which is one of the most significant components of the EURAXESS Platform.
