Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University

Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University (FSMVU) is a newly established higher education institute whose goal is to be at the forefront of Turkish higher education and research. Its supporting waqf, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif was however, established in 1470 and has been providing such facilities for over five centuries. FSMVU emerged from the historical waqf tradition which played an influential role in the scientific, civic, and cultural life throughout Ottoman history. Being priviledged to have its origins in the centuries old civic and academic heritage, FSMVU strives to carry on this tradition by combining traditional education with contemporary knowledge.

FSMVU is located on the historical peninsula of Istanbul’s European side. Therefore, FSMVU has a unique mission for the Turkish Higher Education system in the heart of Istanbul where daily life intertwines with culture, history, and art. Located in the cradle of civilization, FSMVU is the academic face of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, reflected in the diversity of languages that make up our curriculum. FSMWU hosts all members of the higher education community, from faculty members and researchers, to graduate and undergraduate students.

At Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University, our vision is to become an academic institution whose primary aim is to prepare individuals with professional awareness, and in light of scientific studies at national and international level, equip them from a cultural and social standpoint. Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University is an institution who has synthesized traditional values with contemporary knowledge; integratedits students, alumni, and stakeholders; values its people and adds value to them; and in addition to the foregoing, opens a unique pathway through original institutional structure and practices, instead of competing with other educational institutions; and operates as an innovative, liberal and human-centered organization which is always open to contemporary knowledge.

Our most important mission is to provide leadership to both our students and the society in efforts to increase and improve the qualified manpower and cultural assets of our country, which are the products of history and civilization, with help from great masters who are becoming more and more rare each day. This will be made possible through the most efficient use of existing national and international education and research networks in the road that the University opened for itself as a higher education institution, and will be built on efforts in fields like education, art, language, literature, history, architecture and engineering sciences. Scientific freedom, critical thinking, quizzical and comparative view, grounding on love and tolerance in educational efforts, being aware of the civilization values, personal and social responsibility awareness are the basic values of Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University to attain its targets.