About the Program:

STAR program was established by the METU EE Dept. through the initiative of the chair Prof. Gönül Turhan Sayan in 2014, with the aim of encouraging a culture of undergraduate research, and it has become a regular yearly event since then. STAR stands for “STajyer ARaştırmacı”, coined by Prof. Elif Uysal of our department in 2013.

We are very happy that TUBITAK has started a similar program nationwide in 2021: https://star.tubitak.gov.tr/

EEE Undergraduate Student Academic Research Program is a one-year program that provides EEE undergraduate students with the opportunity to be part of various research groups in the department and conduct cutting-edge research. 

As a STAR student, you will have a chance to get to know department faculty and graduate students, join an established research group and contribute to the work, or pursue your own ideas. If you are planning to continue your studies in graduate school, the STAR program may provide you an opportunity to start your work early.

Structure of the 2022-2023 STAR Program:

We have posted a list of possible project titles on the current program page (We update the project lists as new requests come from faculty members). However, we encourage our students to communicate (via e-mail) with faculty on potential alternative research topics and opportunities. Note that the project and faculty list will be just a guideline, you can undoubtedly work with faculty whose name is not on the list, and of course, your research topic doesn’t need to be on the list.

If you agree on a research title with a faculty member, fill out the application form under the Forms tab and follow the steps explained. Like the previous years, you should be able to commit a set number of hours per week to work on your research project during the summer, fall, and spring months. We want our students to show an increased effort and allocate substantial time for their research during the summer phase.

At the end of the summer research phase, you will submit a technical/scientific report. We will monitor all of the reports with Turnitin software, and we will expect the submissions to satisfy a specific originality score. Indeed, we will require the approval of your STAR supervisor; however, another faculty member will also evaluate your reports. Based on the evaluation results, you will be allowed (or not) to continue the STAR program.

Timeline of the 2022-2023 program:

Requirements:

In recent years, we have removed the GPA and CGPA requirements for the program. However, you need to understand that each faculty member has different requirements and expectations. 

On the other hand, we expect that only students who are highly motivated to participate in research activities in our department and fully committed to finishing the whole program to apply for the STAR program.

We also do not guarantee that each student willing to enter the program and count the summer phase of the research as a summer practice requirement will find a faculty member.