10.6.3. Access to university underrepresented groups recruit

 METU delivers programmes to recruit students, staff, and faculty from underrepresented groups, within the liberties identified by the relevant laws and regulations.

 Students

• Reaching prospective students: under Strategic Plan Objective O1.3, which includes informing prospective students about scholarship opportunities, METU's information and promotion activities reached 27,000 prospective students in 2025, against a target of 30,000.

https://sgdb.metu.edu.tr/sites/sgdb.metu.edu.tr/files/odtu2025yiliidarefaaliyetraporu.pdf

 Low-income students: METU promotes its needs-based scholarships to prospective and new students; in 2025 its Scholarship and Aid Committee received 2,739 applications and awarded 719 new cash, 291 dormitory and 247 meal scholarships.

https://oidb.metu.edu.tr/sites/oidb.metu.edu.tr/files/2025_yili_faaliyet_raporu.pdf

 Top students of every school: in 2025, METU's undergraduate programmes reserved 65 places for school valedictorians in national placement, giving the best student of every secondary school, including schools in less advantaged areas, a route into METU.

• Students with disabilities: the Disability Support Office informs prospective and newly registered students with disabilities about academic accommodations, accessible transport and resources, and runs a campus orientation programme for them.

• International students from developing countries: METU's Academic Freedom, Integrity, Inclusiveness and Equality Policy commits it to 'taking affirmative action in the application and acceptance of international students from low and middle low-income countries'. In 2025, METU carried out 34 promotional activities for internationalisation, against a target of 3 (METU 2025 Administrative Activity Report); 23 Türkiye Scholarship holders enrolled in its undergraduate programmes, and its international students included 160 from Pakistan, 27 from Bangladesh and 11 from Afghanistan.

https://oidb.metu.edu.tr/sites/oidb.metu.edu.tr/files/2025_yili_faaliyet_raporu.pdf

• Women in engineering: a METU student engineering society organised the Women in Engineering (WIEN) Summit, which brought together students, academics and industry professionals in panels, career talks and mentoring sessions to promote women's participation and leadership in STEM (METU Sustainability Report 2025).

https://sustainablecampus.metu.edu.tr/en/system/files/Sustainability_Report/metu_sr_2025.pdf

 Staff and faculty

People with disabilities: under Civil Servants Law No. 657 (Article 53) and Law No. 5378, METU is required to fill 3% of its posts with people with disabilities. In 2025, METU employed 84 staff with disabilities.

Women in technical and research posts: METU's research centers set recruitment targets in their gender equality plans. The METU-MEMS Centre aims for at least 50% women among its staff and leaders and to recruit at least one woman to a post traditionally held by men by the end of 2026, using recruitment practices that give women applicants equal opportunity (METU-MEMS Gender Equality Plan PL-009, 30 June 2025). METU-GÜNAM, where women made up 42% of researchers in 2025 (35 of 84), prioritises qualified women for Board vacancies, actively promotes the recruitment of women technicians, and will appoint a woman to lead a new research division in 2026 (METU-GÜNAM Gender Equality Plan, December 2025).

International researchers: through ENRICH-TOGETHER (Horizon Europe MSCA COFUND and TÜBİTAK, 2023–2028), METU recruits 20 postdoctoral researchers in green and blue transition fields. The calls are open to researchers of any gender, age, ethnic group, national or social origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, language, disability, political opinion and social or economic condition; time spent in Türkiye to obtain refugee status does not count against the mobility rule; and a pre-recruitment and equal opportunities manager oversees selection. Six researchers were selected from 37 applicants in the first call, and the second call ran from 1 July to 5 September 2025 (METU Research Coordination Office, 2025 Activity Report).

https://enrichtogether.metu.edu.tr/