Invitation to Nominate Your
Distinguished Teacher
 

During the past eight years, Bilkent University has presented a "Distinguished Teaching Award” to a small number of faculty members each year on the basis of nominations made by students and alumni. Nominations are currently being accepted for the "Bilkent University Distinguished Teaching Award 2005."
Students are urged to nominate a faculty member (Instructor, Lecturer, Language Lecturer or Asst./Assoc./Full Professor) whose teaching abilities they feel are worthy of special praise and recognition. All full-time academic staff members who have been teaching at Bilkent University for at least two academic years are eligible for nomination.
The number of recipients of this award over the past eight years has now reached twenty-nine. (Past recipients cannot be nominated again.) The greater the number of students who submit nominations, the more meaningful this award will be, so we urge you to encourage all of your classmates to participate.
You can make a nomination electronically by using the nomination form reachable at http://bilkent.edu.tr/teachaward.html. You will need to use your STARS / BAIS password in order to access the form. For further information, please email teachaward@bilkent.edu.tr or contact the Office of the Vice Rector for Student Affairs at ext. 2748 or 2749.
The deadline for nominations is Friday, April 29, 2005.
 

Tenor Ömer Türkmenoğlu Invited to International Opera Contest

Ömer Türkmenoğlu, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Music, has been invited to Placido Domingo's Operalia Competition, to be held in Madrid, Spain, on June 3-11. Operalia was founded in 1993 as a competition that gifted young singers would be able to attend regardless of their economic means, and that would lead to employment in opera ensembles around the world. Under Placido Domingo's presidency, Operalia has become one of the most important international contests for opera singers in the early stages of their careers.
Domingo is present throughout the competition, and is available to give artistic and career advice to all of the participants. As he believes that the number of outstanding young singers is much greater than the number of prizes, he is encouraging the creation of a free "follow-up service" for Operalia laureates who are seeking engagements appropriate to their capabilities.
Selected from among 360 contestants, Ömer Türkmenoğlu is very excited to be participating in this contest and told Bilkent News that it will be a great experience to sing in front of Placido Domingo. We wish him good luck!
 

MBG Professor and Student Study New Blood Vessel Formation in Tumor Growth

Formation of new blood vessels is a critically important process in tumor growth. Often referred to as the "angiogenic switch,” a tumor becomes invasive and metastatic once the switch is turned on. New research findings published in the current issue of Blood (2005 Apr 15;105(8):3286-94) demonstrate that a specific cell type, the endothelial cell, is critically important in tumor-associated new blood vessel formation in multiple myeloma.
The study was conducted by an international team which includes Professor Tayfun Özçelik from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Bilkent University, Professor Olcay Batuman from the Departments of Hematology and Cell Biology at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center and researchers from the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine. In an editorial accompanying the article, Professors J. Kienast and W. Berdel from the University Hospital of Muenster write that "the authors have introduced important new perspectives on the potential mechanisms and therapeutic targets of multiple myeloma-associated neoangiogenesis" meaning that current research has identified new treatment targets associated with blood vessel development in cancer.
Professors Batuman and Özçelik, along with Marc Braunstein, an MD/PhD candidate at SUNY, and Sevgi Bağışlar, a graduate student at Bilkent, are currently working on the characterization of the endothelial genome in multiple myeloma.



Also in this issue:

2005-2006 Academic Calendar
 

FALL SEMESTER
8-10 September 2005 Required “Introduction to
Thursday through Saturday Academic Life” Program for All Students Entering
in 2005
8-11 September 2005- Online Course Registration
Thursday through Sunday for Continuing Students
12 September 2005 - Monday Classes Begin
17 September 2005- Saturday Continuation of Required “Introduction to Academic Life” Program for All
Students Entering in 2005
23 September 2005 - Friday Last Day for Dropping/Adding Courses
28 October 2005 -
Friday after 12:30 p.m. No Classes
29 October 2005 - Saturday National Holiday
2 November 2005 -
Wednesday after 12:30 p.m. Holidays, No Classes
3-5 November 2005 -
Thursday through Saturday
10 November 2005 - Thursday Commemoration of Atatürk - All Classes Meet as Scheduled
6 December 2005 - Tuesday Last Day to Withdraw from Courses
19 December 2005 - Monday Follow Thursday Class Schedule
20 December 2005 - Tuesday Last Day of Classes -
Follow Friday Class Schedule
21 December 2005 - Wednesday Beginning of Final Examinations
30 December 2005 - Friday End of Semester
4 January 2006 - Wednesday Last Day for Submission of Course Grades

SPRING SEMESTER
26-27 January 2006- Course Registrations
Thursday - Friday
30 January 2006 - Monday Classes Begin
13 February 2006 - Monday Last Day for Dropping/Adding Courses
27-31 March 2006
Monday through Friday Mid-semester Break
28 April 2006 - Friday Last Day to Withdraw from Courses
12 May 2006 - Friday Last Day of Classes
19 May 2006 - Friday National Holiday
25 May 2006 - Thursday Last Day of Final Examinations
30 May 2006 - Tuesday Last Day for Submission of Course Grades

SUMMER SCHOOL
1-2 June 2006 Course Registrations
Thursday - Friday
5 June 2006 - Monday Classes Begin
21 July 2006 - Friday Last Day of Classes
22-26 July 2006
Saturday through Wednesday Final Examinations
28 July 2006 - Friday Last Day for Submission of Course Grades
 

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