Outstanding Young Scientists Awards (GEBİP)
The GEBİP award program, launched in 2001, is one of the first of its kind in the world. The objective of TÜBA-GEBİP is to foster young, outstanding scientists who are at the stage of establishing their own research programs in Turkey after finishing their post-doctoral research activities. TÜBA supports these scientists for a period of three years and helps them set up their own research groups at a stage when they are in need of incentives. In this way, TÜBA tries to contribute to developing a new generation of competent researchers from all disciplines, including social sciences and humanities, basic sciences, and health sciences. TÜBA considers itself as a school to train young promising academicians.
The GEBİP program aims to set up a kind of Young Academy of scientists under the age of 40. Aside from a grant provided for a period of three years, a member of the Academy is assigned as the mentor, and an environment of solidarity and interaction is created through joint meetings held with Academy members.
The GEBİP Programme is conducted by the GEBİP Main Committee and the GEBİP Field Committees set up by the Presidency of the Academy. Applications may be in person, by the President of the related university or the highest administrator of the related institution, or by a Principal or Honorary member of the Academy.
The selection procedure among GEBİP candidates has very high standards. First, applicants prepare detailed dossiers including their international publications in refereed journals, books edited, ongoing research projects, and proposed research program, plus three letters of reference. Second, juries in four different scientific fields (field committees) evaluate and grade the applicants according to their dossiers and three referee reports. In the final stage, applicants who become GEBİP candidates according to their grade points are invited to an interview.
Every six months, the GEBİP awardees are expected to submit a detailed report to their mentor about the progress of their scientific research and publications. The mentors convey their evaluations about the GEBİP awardees' scientific activities to the Academy Council at the end of every six months. Based on these evaluations, the Academy Council decides to continue, stop, or end the payment of the award. The limit of the award period is three years.
When GEBİP awardees involve a Ph.D. student in their research work, they receive an addendum to their award. All GEBİP awardees are seen as role-models who will potentially create Centers of Excellence in their environment. After their active period of support (three years) is over, they receive once a year some financial support to participate in a scientific meeting for five years.
Every year, a meeting is organized by TÜBA at a different University in Anatolia for active all the GEBİP awardees who are in their active period of support, and their mentors. The aim of these annual meetings is to introduce the GEBİP members and their mentors to each other and create a synergy in this young scientific community. During these meetings which last for three days, GEBİP awardees convene in four field groups with their mentors and make presentations about their scientific studies. These sessions are open to all other participants from the host University. The fields are:
- Social Sciences
- Life Sciences
- Engineering
- Medical Sciences
The GEBİP program is considered as a source of prospective members to the Academy. After completing the GEBİP program, the young scientists maintain their ties with the Academy as senior members of the GEBİP community. From among such senior GEBİP Members, the most outstanding ones may be elected to Associate Membership for a period of up to nine years (15 senior GEBIP members have been elected to Associate Membership and two to Principal Membership). Thus, a process for a period of twelve years is envisioned for supporting the best young scholars of the country with continuous assessment of their scientific performance as possible candidates for Principal Membership of the Academy.