Award to Our Academician Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tolga Görüm from China

Istanbul Technical University Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tolga Görüm was awarded within the framework of “Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities” (ITDU–111) program initiated by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China. The studies to be conducted by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tolga Görüm in collaboration with Chengdu University of Technology will be supported for five years.

      

News: İTÜ Media and Communication Office

Istanbul Technical University Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tolga Görüm gave information about the scientific support he received for his studies and the center planned to be opened in 2025. 

A multidisciplinary research center called Geohazard Research Center of Tibetan Plateau centered at Chengdu University of Technology is planned to be established until 2025 within the framework of “Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities” (ITDU–111) program. Istanbul Technical University will be one of the founding members of the center which will be founded by fifteen international universities.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tolga Görüm stated that during his doctoral study he investigated the earthquake that occurred in China in 2008, and said that this earthquake triggered thousands of landslides in the region. Görüm told that Chengdu University of Technology was one of his partners during the study and said, “Here, there was the largest number of landslides triggered by a single earthquake in human history.About 190 thousand landslides occurred in the region. Of the 90 thousand deaths during the earthquake, 29 thousand were caused by landslides. We studied this subject and turned all our work into an international publication in 2011.”

“My doctoral study and publications were influential in the cooperation”

Görüm expressed that immediately after his publications, his collaboration with China started, and told that he wrote eight articles about this earthquake. Görüm stated that China started an endeavor concerning scientific support under the Ministry of Science and Technology after 2006 and said the following:

"The implementation of ITDU–111 program initiated by China started in 2012. In fact, this program sparked serious controversy in the United States.There has been a lot of talk about China’s supporting worthy scientists of the world in their fields. We also joined the program upon the recommendation of Chengdu University of Technology.Apart from me, they awarded 15 scientists from countries like the U.S., the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand, and Italy. This support covers our expenses and the salaries, field studies and student scholarships to be paid during our stay there. At the end of five years of these research studies, a center called Geohazard Research Center of Tibetan Plateau will be established. Istanbul Technical University will be one of the founding members of this international center which will be founded by 15 universities.”

İTÜ will be a partner of the center planned to be established in China

Görüm stated that İTÜ Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences is making international collaborations from Antarctica to Chile, from Haiti to Azerbaijan, from Iran to the Balkans, and said the following: “It is very important to be a partner of the center planned to be opened in China in 2025. I think that we can contribute to our country by deepening our studies and our knowledge in these fields. New application areas will be opened. By guiding our students towards these fields, we will expand both our and our country’s scientific network. The international research center to be established will be a good platform not only for my own studies but many other researchers in Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences working on surface processes and climate. It will also demonstrate the capacity of Turkish scientists to do work at different parts of the world.”