MAKÜ signed bilateral cooperation agreements with Polish universities at the 2nd Turkey-Poland Rectors Forum

The second Turkey-Poland Rectors Forum, hosted by Gdansk University in the city of Gdansk, Poland, was held on May 8, 2026, following the first forum held last year at Gazi University. The forum, represented by Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University’s Rector Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Dalgar, Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Oğuz Gürsoy, and International Relations Coordinator Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ömer Gürkan Dilek, brought together rectors and vice rectors from our country and Polish universities, as well as representatives from the higher education institutions responsible for both countries.

Before the forum, the official opening of the Gdansk University Poland-Turkey Studies Center was conducted by the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Poland Rauf Alp Denktaş, YÖK President Prof. Erol Özvar, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland Dr. Marcin Kulasek, and Gdansk University Rector Prof. Dr. Piotr Stepnowski.

At the forum, which included 19 universities, including Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University from our country, more than 150 academic participants from over 60 higher education institutions from Poland and Turkey came together to evaluate opportunities for joint work and research in strategic areas such as artificial intelligence, green transformation, energy technologies, health sciences, biotechnology, cybersecurity, smart cities, disaster resilience, and humanities. 

At the second Turkey-Poland Universities Rectors Forum, the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland Marcin Kulasek and the President of the Higher Education Council of Turkey (YÖK) Erol Özvar signed the Science and Higher Education Cooperation Memorandum regarding cooperation in higher education between the two countries.

Our university's Rector Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Dalgar delivered a speech titled “The effects of digital transformation on social sciences and higher education: Threats and opportunities” at the panel titled “Perspectives on Poland-Turkey Cooperation in Social and Human Sciences” held within the scope of the forum.

Within the scope of the forum; bilateral meetings were held between Gdansk University, Warmia and Mazury University, Silesian University of Technology, Bialystok University of Technology, Poznan University of Technology, Kazimierz Wielki University, Ignatianum University, Akademia WSB, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Gdansk University of Health, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, and Krakow University of Agriculture, and cooperation agreements were signed to strengthen strategic collaborations, and an agreement was reached on enhancing strategic partnerships and developing existing collaborations.