Improvements

ORPHEUS is an international organization composed of higher education institutions that aims to develop and disseminate core standards and best practices in doctoral education in the fields of biomedicine and health sciences. It seeks to raise the standards of competencies expected from graduates of doctoral programs.

Effective from the Spring semester of the 2024–2025 academic year, the advisor assignment procedures and the graduation requirements for newly enrolled students have been determined. The relevant Senate Decision can be found at the link provided.

Our "ORPHEUS Supervision Workshop on PhD Education in Biomedicine & Health Sciences" was held on May 3, 2024, from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, in a hybrid format across three separate conference halls. The event featured the online participation of Prof. Janet Carton (Vice President of ORPHEUS, University College Dublin, Ireland), Prof. Rudolf Schubert (Board Member, University of Augsburg, Germany), Prof. Michael Mulvany (Chair of the ORPHEUS Label Committee, Aarhus University, Denmark), and Prof. Gül Güner-Akdoğan (Member of the Label Committee, Izmir University of Economics, Turkey).

The workshop was conducted with the active in-person participation of 36 faculty members and our graduate students. In addition, our Unit Quality Team members and all faculty members were able to join online on a voluntary basis.

On March 3, 2025, the ORPHEUS Advisor Preference Form (FR-0002 A) was issued. With this form, the evidence proving that the conditions required for advisor assignment are met is submitted to our Institute with the approval of our department chairs, all consolidated in a single form

Our initiative, launched in 2024 to award the Best Thesis in the Field of Social Contribution with a Focus on Disadvantaged Groups, is featured as a Best Practice Example under our Quality section. The very first award was presented on June 5, 2024, to the doctoral dissertation titled "A Study on Sensory Input Processing and Sensory Plasticity in Visually Impaired Individuals", conducted within the Neuroscience Program by PhD graduate Hasan KILINÇ under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Bülent Cengiz.

Since 2021, our institute has been regularly conducting student satisfaction surveys. Based on the feedback received from students:

                ● The Biostatistics course, which was requested to be offered, was opened in the Fall semester of the 2024-2025 academic year following the decision dated 13.06.2024 and numbered 2024/206, and was immediately selected by students.

                 ● Graduation requests of our students who have graduated or are about to graduate have been fulfilled, and for the first time, a Graduation Ceremony was held at the Institute of Health Sciences on 05.07.2024.

           ● In response to student requests for clearer and more understandable student forms and graduate program procedures, the forms have been revised, and the program procedures have been prepared in a more comprehensible manner.

2024 Student Satisfaction Survey Report

Details

Since 2023, Department Chair visits have been carried out by the Institute Administration. During these visits, improvement activities related to the discussed topics are identified and implemented step by step. One of the issues raised during the visits to the departments within the Faculty of Pharmacy was the request to offer the courses "Biostatistics" and "Communication Skills in Healthcare." This request was fulfilled through Senate decisions numbered 2024/206 and 2024/207 dated June 13, 2024.

With the Institute Council Decision dated 29/12/2021 and numbered 02/12, it was unanimously decided that, in our Institute, students who submit thesis proposals must have completed project writing training in order for their documents to be submitted to the administrative board. This requirement was set to be implemented starting from doctoral students enrolling in the Spring Term of the 2021–2022 academic year. With this decision, our graduate students are encouraged to engage in project writing, and the outcomes reflect this direction.

With the Institute Council Decision dated 29/12/2021 and numbered 02/11, it was unanimously decided that graduate students (Master's/PhD) in our Institute’s Departments would be granted the right to choose from three advisor preferences. This decision was set to be implemented starting with the new graduate students enrolled in the Spring Term of the 2021–2022 academic year. Through this decision, graduate students have been given the opportunity to select faculty members as advisors who work in areas they are interested in.

Meetings were held with our graduate students, and based on the GÜ KİP-2024 report, the following activities were requested, along with their references:

• LYK-S 2024/98: To increase the number of active graduates registered in the Alumni Information System, events should be organized by highlighting the advantages of joining the system after graduation. (SEP F.1.3.1.)

• LYK-S 2024/89: Efforts should be made to use the Alumni Information System more effectively and to enhance its widespread impact. (LYK 2021/23-a)

• LYK 2024/100: Organizing meetings with successful Gazi University alumni who are employers, students, academics, and bureaucrats. (LYK 2022/8)

• LYK 2024/138: Arranging reunions for alumni under a designated name/slogan (e.g., 10th-year graduates, 20th-year graduates), presenting commemorative plaques, and turning the event into a tradition. (LYK 2021/23-d)

• LYK-S 2024/142: Making the employer satisfaction survey mandatory for workplace training, internships, and teaching practice processes undertaken by senior students who are about to graduate. These should be submitted as evidence in BİDR files. (LYK 2021/55-b)

• LYK 2024/146: Issuing certificates to alumni every 10 years.

• Conducting regular meetings with alumni and periodically reviewing and updating programs to ensure they meet educational objectives and societal needs.

• EÖ 2024/39: Under the directive prepared by the Education Commission on Incentives and Awards for Educational Activities, expanding practices such as thesis/poster/ graduation project competitions and exhibitions at undergraduate and graduate levels in departments. (EİF 2022/13-a)

• EÖ 2024/46: Increasing the number of current printed/online resources in the library by seeking support from alumni, sponsors, and other funding sources. (EİF 2023/2; SEP F.1.1.2.)

• LYK 2024/12: Preparing improvement plans based on results from the Institutional Feedback Report / GU Institutional Monitoring Report / KİDR / Satisfaction Surveys / Alumni Surveys / Employer Survey Reports. (LYK 2021/11)

• AG 2024/51: Organizing workshops with experienced entrepreneurial Gazi University alumni and promoting their achievements within the university. (AİF 2022/16)

• AG-S 2024/59: Collaborating with Teknopark A.Ş. to reach out to interns and alumni. (AİF 2021 / KYİF.23/e)

• TK 2024/44: Aligning student projects (graduation, TÜBİTAK, etc.) with the university’s current priority areas of social contribution, especially targeting disadvantaged groups, and increasing their number. Support can also be provided in this regard through the Tuesday Conferences. If you inform us of your topic and speaker preferences, we can include them in the conference schedule.

One of the requests from our alumni was the organization of a graduation ceremony;

On July 5, 2024, for the first time, a graduation ceremony was held at the Institute of Health Sciences to celebrate and bid farewell to our students who successfully completed their postgraduate education.