“Anatolian Meetings,” organized in cooperation with NTV, Turkey’s first news channel, and Anadolu Sigorta Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) came together with students, academics and the business world of Samsun. In the program moderated by Hürriyet Newspaper writer Noyan Doğan, OMU Rector Prof. Dr. Fatma Aydın, Samsun Industrialists and Business People Association President Süleyman Ferşat Eldemir, Anadolu Sigorta General Manager Z. Mehmet Tuğtan and İş Bank SME and Business Banking Sales Department Manager Gaffar Öney took part as speakers. The program, which was filmed at OMU UZEM Conference Hall, will be broadcast on NTV on Tuesday, November 26 at 15:30.

OMU Rector Prof. Dr. Fatma Aydın started her speech by thanking the NTV team and stated that Ondokuz Mayıs University was founded in 1975 and has become one of the most powerful educational and research institutions in Turkey with the goal of becoming a research university. Stating that they serve approximately 53 thousand students with 20 faculties, 2 colleges, 14 vocational schools, 3 institutes, 28 research centers and more than 6000 staff, Aydın emphasized that OMU has YÖK Quality Board accreditation and TS EN ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System certificate.

Rector Prof. Dr. Fatma Aydın emphasized that OMU plays an important role in meeting the health needs of the region with its health application and research centers. Stating that the Faculty of Medicine Hospitals serve more than one million patients and the Faculty of Dentistry Hospital serves 300 thousand patients annually, Aydın said that the Organ Transplant Center is the only center in the Black Sea Region that can perform kidney and liver transplants from living organ to living organ and that 634 organ transplants have been performed so far. She also explained that the Animal Hospital provides 24/7 service to more than 30 thousand patients a year and provides health services to domestic, farm, wild and stray animals.

Rector Prof. Dr. Fatma Aydın stated that Samsun is a dynamic city in terms of agriculture, trade and industry, and emphasized that OMU is working hard to adapt to this structure. She stated that OMU-TTO acts as a bridge between the industry and the university and has supported more than 200 projects in the last 5 years. She also stated that 46 of 100 national and 20 international patent applications have been registered, Samsun Technopark has completed 350 projects with 123 companies so far, and KİTAM meets the needs of both the university and the regional industry with its accredited laboratories.

Rector Prof. Dr. Fatma Aydın stated that the Faculty of Agriculture conducts important research for environmentally friendly and sustainable agriculture. These studies include combating plant diseases, developing plant varieties compatible with climate change and integrating technology into agriculture. He also emphasized that Turkey’s first Cannabis Research Institute was established within OMU and university-industry cooperation was strengthened with 12 projects. She stated that studies to develop various products from industrial and medical hemp are ongoing, and that the Hemp Products Test Center and laboratories serve R&D and industry.

Rector Prof. Dr. Fatma Aydın stated that OMU provides education to 4250 students in a total of 13 programs in banking and economics-finance. Emphasizing that the Department of Insurance and Actuarial Sciences is the only program in Turkey that offers insurance and actuarial sciences together, Aydın stated that with their comprehensive education approach, they enable students to gain sector experience with “7+1” and “3+1” workplace education models. He added that internship applications were received before the program and the questions of students and business people were answered in the post-shooting forum.