UCC UNIC Team Visit Koç University Istanbul

2 Oct 2023

UCC's Mathias Reckmann and Aoife Dowling, programme manager and project manager on UNIC, took part in a job shadowing visit to Koç University Istanbul, Turkiye, in early September.

Mathias and Aoife were warmly hosted by colleagues from the UNIC team at Koç University, located within MiReKoç (Migration Research Centre) who showcased the university's UNIC work and set up meetings across units and departments. University of Zagreb project co-ordinator Petra Baničević was also visiting Koç University at the same time.

A highlight of the visit was getting better familiarised with the Koç University team and institution at large, as the team met a range of staff members and toured the campus. The visit offered a deepened sense of the university both as a destination for international students but also in its role as a UNIC partner.

The team came to better understand the identity of the university, shaped in part by its location and cultural context. The serene semi-rural location of the campus, and its proximity to the huge and bustling metropolis of Istanbul, needs to be experienced to be fully understood.

Some meetings focused more particularly on areas of shared work on UNIC. For example, a group discussion with UNIC/ MiReKoç colleagues identified some shared priorities for the next phase of UNIC. Similarly, a constructive meeting with the Koç University international student recruitment team worked to set in motion the next steps for marketing the RePIC joint programme to the next cohort.

Huge thanks to Birce Demiryontar, Tuğba Güven, Melissa Abache, and all those who hosted at Koç University Istanbul.

To learn more about opportunities to collaborate with Koç University Istanbul, email unic@ucc.ie.