Support for Undergraduate Student Projects from Our University

Definition and scope

It is a type of project support created with the aim of establishing the R&D culture of students enrolled in undergraduate programs at KTU, who are successful and interested in project work, and encouraging them to engage in research activities.

Application conditions

Advisors of undergraduate students who have completed half of the normal duration of their undergraduate studies can apply to this project.

1. To be eligible to apply for the Undergraduate Student Project, at least one of the following conditions must be met:

1.  The academic average in the transcript taken one month before the application date should be at least 3.00.
2. The academic average in the transcript taken one month before the application date should be at least 2.5 under the condition that a written commitment is provided by the industrial or commercial entity with which the agreement will be made, covering 25% of the project budget.
3. In case the academic average in the transcript taken one month before the application date is below 2.5, application to this project is only possible if an application has been submitted to TÜBİTAK 2209 A-University Student Domestic Research Projects Support Program and 2209 B Industry-Focused Undergraduate Thesis Support Program.
4. To apply to national technology competitions and festivals.

2. This project type can also be applied within the scope of the student's thesis project.
3. The project coordinator must have enter the publications produced from the BAP project supports received in the last 10 years into the AVESIS system and uploaded the outputs to the same system.
4. Projects supported by any institution cannot be submitted to the BAP unit.
5. The project is expected to have the nature of a research project.

Project Coordinator and Project Team

All the project coordinators and researchers involved in the projects constitute the project team. In order for academic staff to be project coordinators, they must have obtained a doctoral degree, expertise in medicine/dentistry/pharmacy, or a qualification in art, as required by the "Regulation Governing Scientific Research Projects of Higher Education Institutions". Only KTU members can be project coordinators.

Undergraduate students who meet the application conditions can participate as researchers in these projects. Contracted personnel and scholarship holders cannot be employed in this project.

Number of Projects that can be undertaken

The number of student projects that an academic staff can simultaneously conduct is limited to three. Only undergraduate students can be researchers in this project type if they meet the specified conditions. A student can participate in only one student project, and only once.

Project Duration

The project duration is a minimum of three months and a maximum of 12 months, and no additional time is given to these projects. In case of circumstances that prevent the completion of the project within the legal deadlines, such as the illness of the project coordinator or researchers, natural disasters, difficulties in obtaining materials, and similar reasons deemed appropriate by the commission, the project can be suspended based on the application of the project coordinator and the decision of the commission.

Project Support Amounts

1. The project support amount is fixed for each condition and is limited to 10,000 TL.
2. Only students' travel and accommodation expenses for field trips and congress/symposium participation are covered.
3. No additional budget is allocated to these projects. However, additional budget may be requested due to significant increases in the exchange rate that occur after the date the project is submitted. In requests for additional budget, the reasons for these exchange rate increases must be documented.

Application Calendar and Period

Project applications are made via the project automation system (KTÜ, BAPSİS; http://apsis.ktu.edu.tr/Default2.aspx) on the internet without being bound to any specific schedule. To apply for a project, project coordinators and academic staff in the project team must have updated their information in the Karadeniz Technical University Academic Data Management System (AVES; http://aves.ktu.edu.tr/) and have recorded the publications resulting from their previous project supports in the AVES system. The username and password used by our university's academic staff for the BAP Project Automation System are the same as those used for the Academic Data Management System. Academic staff who do not know their user information must first confirm that their position and academic title information in the personnel automation system, as well as their phone number and the information of their active institutional (@ktu.edu.tr extension) email address, are complete and up-to-date. For issues related to institutional email addresses and password information, the Information Processing Department can be contacted.

Documents Required for Project Application

The following documents must be uploaded to the system by the project coordinators during the project application:

1. Project Application Form: The forms, which can be obtained from the "Required Documents" tab in the BAPSİS automation system (from the Researcher page), must be filled out and signed by the project coordinator.
2. Approved student transcript: A transcript taken one month before the application date.
3. Commitment Letter: A document demonstrating in writing that 25% of the project budget is committed by an industrial or commercial organization.
4. TÜBİTAK Project Application Document: A document indicating that applications have been made to TÜBİTAK 2209 A-University Students Domestic Research Projects Support Program and TÜBİTAK 2209 B-Industry-Oriented Undergraduate Thesis Support Program.
5. Ethical Committee Approval Document: In the applications, if it is necessary to obtain ethical committee approval documents for the study, these should be obtained in advance.
6. Proforma Invoice or Quotation Letters: At the project application stage, proforma invoices or price quotations for the devices and consumables planned to be purchased for the project must be obtained. During the application, these proformas must be uploaded to the project automation system. The documents must be addressed to the "Karadeniz Technical University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit," stamped and signed by the company.
7. Technical Specification: For the purchase of devices, equipment, consumables, and service procurement in the project application, technical specifications detailing the characteristics of the equipment, devices, materials, and services to be purchased must be prepared (Specifications cannot be prepared for a specific brand) and uploaded to the system. A technical specification is mandatory for all expenses except travel.

Project Proposal Evaluation Process

The evaluation process for project proposals follows the steps outlined below:

1. Project proposals are subjected to a preliminary evaluation by the project office to determine whether they meet the necessary conditions.
2. Projects that pass the preliminary evaluation are sent to the Coordinator.
3. BAP Coordinator submits the BAP09 projects to commission members for evaluation, taking into account the research area of the project.
4. The commission member reviews the project proposal. The commission member can evaluate the project proposal themselves or, if deemed necessary, assign referees (The academic titles of referees assigned to evaluate the project proposal should be equivalent to or higher than that of the project coordinator).

5. If the commission member identifies any deficiencies in the project proposal, they may request corrections (revision) from the project coordinator, provided they state their reasons. Project proposals that are not revised within one month are canceled.
6. Project proposals with completed evaluations are submitted to the commission's agenda. After expressing their views or referee opinions on the project proposal, the relevant commission member opens the project proposal for discussion in all aspects. The commission decides whether to support, revise, or reject the application in line with the views put forward. The commission may reduce or increase the proposed budget, partially or completely cancel the requests in the proposal, and/or request changes to the project's duration, type, or name. The commission may also organize a panel with the project team if deemed necessary during the project evaluation stage.

Project Expenditure Items

During the application stage, project budgets cannot exceed the upper limits set in the support conditions. The automation system does not allow the completion of applications that exceed the upper limit.

The expenditure items that can be included in projects supported by the BAP Unit are outlined below:

1. Purchase expenses for laboratory consumables and special materials (excluding drug purchases)
2. Purchase expenses for laboratory equipment
3. Service procurement expenses (such as analysis, surveyor)
4. Stationery and printing expenses
5. Purchase expenses for live animals and feed
6. Domestic travel expenses
7. Support for participation in conferences/symposia (only for students)
8. Computer and printer purchases are not allowed from project funds.
9. The amounts for machine-equipment, consumables, and other expenditure items approved by the commission cannot be transferred to the travel budget.
10. Newly requested budget items will not be taken into account.

Supported Projects - Required Documents

The following documents must be submitted to the BAP Unit within two months after the project is approved by the Commission:

Project Contract: A computer printout of the project contract, obtained from the BAPSIS automation system, should be filled in the relevant fields and signed by the project coordinator.

Project Application Form: Forms obtained from the "Required Documents" tab on the BAPSIS automation system (from the Researcher page) should be filled out and signed by the project coordinator.

Project Progress and Final Reports

No progress report is required for the activities carried out within the scope of the project. However, the final report, as specified in the protocol, must be submitted to the BAP Unit in the required format within three months after the end date. Progress and final reports are submitted through the BAPSIS system. The progress and final report forms can be obtained from the "Required Documents" tab on the BAPSIS automation system (from the Researcher page). The inner cover page of the final report must be signed by the project coordinator.

After the inner cover page of the final report, a separate page should indicate that the study was supported by the Office of Scientific Research Projects of Karadeniz Technical University. The summary pages of the final report (in Turkish and a foreign language) should also include a statement indicating that the study was supported by the Office of Scientific Research Projects, and these statements should be as follows:

This study was supported by the Office of Scientific Research Projects of Karadeniz Technical University. Project number: ………

Reports that do not include this statement are not considered for evaluation and are requested to be revised. A bound and signed copy of the final report must be delivered to the BAP Unit in person. The final report is evaluated by a relevant member of the Commission or, if deemed necessary, sent to referees for review. The Commission decides whether the project was successful or not.

Stating the Project Support and Address Information in Publications

In the case of producing scientific publications within the scope of projects supported by BAP, it is mandatory for researchers affiliated with our university to indicate Karadeniz Technical University as the address and specify BAP support. When providing address information in publications resulting from projects, researchers should use "Karadeniz Technical University" for publications in English.  

To indicate that the work was supported by the BAP Unit in English-prepared articles:

This work was supported by the Office of Scientific Research Projects of Karadeniz Technical University. Project number: ...........

In articles prepared in Turkish:

Bu çalışma Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Bilimsel Araştırma Projeleri Birimi tarafından desteklenmiştir. Proje numarası: ………

These sentences should be used to express that the work was supported by the BAP Unit.

Publication of Project Results

There is no requirement for the publication of BAP09-Undergraduate Student Project results.