The total number of externally funded projects, starting from January 2004 to March 2017, is 713, with a present value of 287 million TL.

As of March 2017, one of the greatest achievements of Koc University in terms of sponsored R&D projects is in the area of European Research Council (ERC) grants. In addition to Kerem Pekkan’s (Starting Grant), Ozgur Baris Akan’s (Consolidator Grant) and Hakan Urey’s (Advanced Grant) projects from the College of Engineering, in 2014 Koc University received its first ERC grant from the College of Sciences. Cory Dunn from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics was awarded a Starting Grant towards the end of 2014, and his project commenced in April 2015.

Furthermore, in February 2015, Sedat Nizamoglu (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) decided to transfer his Starting Grant received at Ozyegin University, to Koc University. By 2016, four more ERC grants are hosted by Koc University: Again from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Elif Nur Firat Karalar received a Starting Grant. Erdem Kabadayi (Department of History) transferred his ERC Starting Grant, Alp Atakan (Department of Economics) was awarded a Consolidator Grant and Erdem Yoruk (Sociology) was awarded a Starting Grant.

Consequently, as of March 2017 Koc University is the most successful higher education institution in Türkiye in bids for ERC grants, hosting 9 of the 16 active projects in Türkiye. In addition, under Horizon 2020, Hakan Urey’s ongoing ERC project has received two “ERC Proof of Concept” grants for the commercialization of technology outputs, and Kerem Pekkan’s ongoing ERC project has received one such grant.

KU is also currently the most successful institution in Türkiye after TUBITAK under Horizon 2020. The university is hosting 10 million Euros worth of Horizon 2020 projects.

In 2016, 60 new projects were supported externally. These projects had a value of approximately 70 million TL. As of end-of-March 2017, the total number of ongoing projects is 164, with a present value of 186.5 million TL.

The graph below shows the number of research projects granted by funding institutions between January 2004 – March 2017.