Prof. Bilge Demirköz from the METU Department of Physics has been selected as an Eisenhower Fellow. A total of 22 exceptionally successful mid-career leaders across five continents have been selected for the Eisenhower 2024 Global Program this year. Those who have been selected for the program will come together with experts in their fields during an intensive travel program in the United States that will last approximately six weeks.
This year’s Eisenhower Global Program team will be a part of a worldwide network consisting of more than 2,500 leading scientists in 115 countries. The various fields of the researchers in the team include medicine, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, finance, space research, economic policies, environmental protection, urban planning, philanthropy, academia, and arts.
Researchers selected for the 2024 Global Program will go to the United States in April and then return to their home countries on May 16 to implement what they have learned during this period and conduct their individual projects that will contribute to their societies. Each researcher selected for the program will travel along a personally tailored route designed to serve their project objectives. While visiting six to eight cities of the United States, the researchers will have the opportunity to meet with numerous experts in their fields.
Robert M. Gates, the Chairman of Eisenhower Fellowships and also a former US Secretary of Defense, stated that they look forward to hosting the innovative and pioneering researchers selected for such a transformational experience in the United States, as it will help them further advance their skills and establish new relationships of trust to develop an international understanding.
Prof. Demirköz’s Research
Prof. Bilge Demirköz works on deep-space research, particle-detector development and artificial intelligence, while also leading a research group that utilizes the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer aboard the International Space Center to study dark matter in high-energy cosmic rays. Within the Global Program 2024, Dr. Demirköz aims to meet with American research and development experts in order to gain insights into coping strategies with government bureaucracy in situations where technological innovations by American scientists intersect with the priorities of public policies.
About the Eisenhower Fellowships
Established in 1953 and named after the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Eisenhower Fellowships aims to strengthen international understanding and achieve a more peaceful, prosperous and just world through direct dialogue by bringing together leading scientists from various fields in the middle of their professional careers. So far, the program has benefited over 2,500 researchers from more than 115 countries.
