Middle East Technical University

Middle East Technical University
Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi
MottoScientia Dux Vitae Certissimus
Motto in English
Science is the truest guide in life
TypePublic university
Established15 November 1956; 68 years ago (1956-11-15)
Endowment$134 million (2024)[1]
PresidentAhmet Yozgatlıgil[2]
Academic staff
1,892
Students25,089[3]
Undergraduates19,202[3]
Postgraduates5,530[3]
Location
Çankaya, Ankara,[3]
Güzelyurt, Northern Cyprus[4]
CampusAnkara: Suburban, 11,100 acres (4,500 ha, 45 km²)[3] Northern Cyprus: Rural, 137 acres
LanguageEnglish
ColorsRed and white   
NicknameODTÜ (in Turkish)
METU
AffiliationsEUA, EAIE, IIE, GE3, SEFI, CIEE,[3] Washington University in St. Louis McDonnell International Scholars Academy[5]
Websitemetu.edu.tr
metu.edu
University rankings
Global – Overall
QS World[6]285 (2025)
THE World[7]351–400 (2024)
National – Overall
QS National[8]1 (2025)
THE National[9]1 (2024)

Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish, Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, ODTÜ) is a public technical university located in Ankara, Turkey. The university emphasizes research and education in engineering and natural sciences, offering about 41 undergraduate programs within 5 faculties, 105 masters and 70 doctorate programs within 5 graduate schools.[3] The main campus of METU spans an area of 11,100 acres (4,500 ha), comprising, in addition to academic and auxiliary facilities, a forest area of 7,500 acres (3,000 ha), and the natural Lake Eymir. METU has more than 120,000 alumni worldwide.[10] The official language of instruction at METU is English.[3]

Over one third of the 1,000 highest scoring students in the national university entrance examination choose to enroll in METU; and most of its departments accept the top 0.1% of the nearly 3 million applicants.[3] METU had the greatest share in national research funding by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) in the last five years, and it is the leading university in Turkey in terms of the number of European Union Framework Programme (FP) projects participation.[11][12] Over 40% of METU's undergraduate alumni choose to pursue graduate studies.[3]

  1. ^ "2024 Yılı Maddi Durum ve Beklentiler Raporu" (PDF).
  2. ^ "University Administration". METU - Middle East Technical University. 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2024-09-22.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "METU at a Glance: General Information". Middle East Technical University. 15 November 2024. Archived from the original on 2024-07-25.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference AboutMETUNCCGeneral was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Home". Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2019-08-05.
  6. ^ "Middle East Technical University". Top Universities. Retrieved 2024-09-22.
  7. ^ "World University Rankings". Times Higher Education (THE). 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-22.
  8. ^ "QS World University Rankings 2025: Turkey". Top Universities. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
  9. ^ "World University Rankings: Turkey". Times Higher Education (THE). 2024-11-14. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
  10. ^ "METU: History". Middle East Technical University. July 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-07-09. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference InnovationEurope was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "Sayılarla ODTÜ" (in Turkish). Middle East Technical University. 2009. Archived from the original on 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2010-04-07.