Faculty
Welcome to our Faculty of Science website!
Although many definitions have been made, science, as we know it today, is a discipline that we have developed to recognize nature from subatomic particles to the entire universe as a whole, and the knowledge we obtain while doing this increases our well-being and even helps to make sense of our lives.
Basic science researches carried out in our faculty play an extremely important role in the development of technology, medicine, etc., which we use in our daily lives without thinking about how they enter our lives. For this reason, it is difficult to predict how important the results of any research we do will be in our lives after many years. Researchers do not work by thinking about these, anyway, we do scientific research primarily for science, out of curiosity.
Long after the university was accepted as an educational center, although its philosophical foundations were almost completed in the 16th century, it was also defined as a research center in the nineteenth century. After the universities were restructured, the development of science has accelerated, educational activities, of course, have never ended, and the countries where sufficient investment is made in basic science research and education have become the strongest countries in the world. Since the founders of our young Republic under the leadership of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk were aware of this, they ensured the restructuring of Istanbul University and the establishment of our country's first science faculty, our Science Faculty, under its roof. Our faculty, which has been developing continuously since its establishment, is one of the most preferred science faculties of our country in terms of university education and is one of the most successful faculties in terms of research. We strive to be an exemplary science faculty with our education programs, classrooms and research units, our development in research, and our science-society activities.
Students, who prefer our faculty, become a part of scientific development and adopt scientific thinking through the lectures they receive, and by participating in the research projects during their university education. When they graduate, as individuals who have internalized scientific thinking and problem solving methods, they use their knowledge in their chosen field of study and add value to our country and the total culture of humanity.
We continue our education and research activities in one of the most central locations in Istanbul, and we expect to see students who want a productive and peaceful university life in our faculty, with our classrooms, laboratories, observatories, planetarium, experienced researchers and educators.
Prof Dr. Tansel AK
Dekan
İstanbul Üniversitesi Fen Fakültesi
The Faculty of Science, which was established with the 1933 University reform, started education in Zeynep Hanım Mansion with the contributions of faculty members invited from abroad. The Observatory in 1935 and the Botanical Institute in 1936 were completed, but Zeynep Hanım Mansion was completely burned down as a result of the fire in 1942. The construction of the new Faculty building was completed in 1952 and opened to education.
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| Zeynep Hanım's Mansion | Faculty Building Nowadays |
| 1933 - 1942 | 1952 - |
Before the 1933 University Reform the Astronomy, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics and Zoology chairs, which were included in Darülfünûn (University), continued to function in a modern way after the Reform. In 1952 Geophysics education also started. In 1967, the Department of Chemistry was separated as the Faculty of Chemistry, and in 1974 the Geology and Geophysics departments were gathered under the name of the Faculty of Earth Sciences. As a result of the reorganization of the Faculties with the Higher Education Law No. 2547 enacted in 1981, the Faculty of Science consisted of the Departments of Astronomy and Space Sciences, Biology, Physics, and Mathematics. With the additions of Molecular Biology and Genetics Department in 2003 and Chemistry Department in 2018, the faculty now consists of six departments.