Honors

   2021
National Science Foundation CAREER Award.
3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award.*
*As the only MIT recipient.
   2020
Future 50 by Inverse.*
*A group of 50 people who will be forces of good in the 2020s.
40 Under 40 by Fortune Turkey.
   2019
US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, the National Academy of Engineering.*
*One of the Nation’s 87 Brightest Young Engineers.
Outstanding Paper in the 2019 Emerald Literati Awards.*
*The MAS.808 course article published in Foresight was chosen by the editorial team.
Minimally-invasive Neural Drug Delivery System (MiNDS) was chosen as by Nature's 2019 Index Ranking in their report on the top 10 institutions for life sciences in 2018.*
*As emblematic of the MIT's interdisciplinary contributions to the life sciences.
Kadir Has University Promising Scientist Award.
   2018
NARSAD Young Investigator Award* by Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.
*As the only MIT recipient.
Forbes Turkey 50 Brightest Minds Alive.
Minimally-invasive Neural Drug Delivery System (MiNDS) named to Top 100 Science Spinoffs.*
*The criteria: uniqueness of the technology/product, high commercial potential, and positive impact to the humanity’s wellbeing.
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Faculty Mentor Award.
Green Lab Certification* by MIT Department of Environment, Health and Safety.
*First research group ever certified at the Media Lab since its founding, 1985.
   2017
Innovation and Technology Delegate of the American Academy of Achievement.
40 Under 40 by Fortune Turkey.
Humans of the Year by Motherboard.
Ataturk Youth Achievement Award by Ataturk Society of America.
LG Career Development Chair, MIT.
   2016
Science and Sci Life Prize for Young Scientists, Translational Medicine Category Winner.
Named as a Gifted Citizen by Ciudad de las Ideas of Puebla, Mexico.
Aspen Ideas Festival, Spotlight Health Scholar of the Aspen Institute.
Named ‘The Best Young Scientist’ by Turkish Medical Students Association (TurkMSIC).
   2015
Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) by Junior Chamber International (JCI), Medical Innovation Category.
MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35.
Named as ‘StarTurk’ by Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA).
2015 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science: Young Scientists Who Are Changing the World.
   2014
Junior Fellow in the Society of Fellows at Harvard University selected with the highest number of votes*
*First Turkish Junior Fellow in the history.
Material Research Society (MRS) 2014 Fall Meeting Grad Student Award.
MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 (TR35) in Turkey 2014.*
*First generation innovators of Turkey, and candidate for MIT TR35 Global 2015.
Named as the Innovator of the Year among the first generation of MIT TR35 Turkey.
Named as a ‘Rising Star’ in EECS: An Academic Career Workshop for 40 World-wide Selected Female Scientists.
Invited Speaker as being a ‘Rising Star’ at UC Berkeley.
$20K Illinois Innovation Prize.
Material Research Society (MRS) 2014 Spring Meeting Grad Student Award.
Invited Speaker to deliver a TEDx talk (TEDxReset) in Istanbul, Turkey.
Turkish American Scientists & Scholars Association (TASSA) Young Scholar Award.
Racheff-Intel Award for Outstanding Materials Research.
Representative of UIUC at 2014 Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS@one-north), Singapore.
The Grand Poster Award of 4th Postdoctoral Symposium of Beckman Institute.
Outstanding Laboratory Citizen, Materials Research Laboratory, UIUC.
   2013
MatSE Grad Student Travel Award for MRS 2014 Spring Meeting.
Outstanding Laboratory Citizen, Materials Research Laboratory, UIUC.
   2012
Outstanding Laboratory Citizen, Materials Research Laboratory, UIUC.
   2011
$10K Maria Pia Gratton International Award for graduate study excellence.
Fulbright Doctorate Student Scholarship.
   2010
Fulbright Doctorate Student Scholarship.
   2009
SU Engineering Commencement Graduate Student Speaker.
Dr. Gursel Sonmez Memorial Research Award.
SU Full Scholarship throughout M.Sc. studies.
Fulbright Doctorate Student Scholarship.
M.Sc. Scholarship from TUBITAK (NSF equivalent of Turkey).
   2008
ICAM-I2CAM Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter Award.
Travel Award from The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK).
Travel Award from Sabanci University awarded for attending the 3rd International Conference “Smart Materials, Structures and Systems”.
Registration Award from The Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) for attending SAMPE Fall Technical Conference.
SU Full Scholarship throughout M.Sc. studies.
M.Sc. Scholarship from TUBITAK (NSF equivalent of Turkey).
   2007
HU Highest Honor Graduated Plaque.
HU Success Plaque and Certificate awarded for IV. Engineering Project Exhibition.
SU Full Scholarship throughout M.Sc. studies.
M.Sc. Scholarship from TUBITAK (NSF equivalent of Turkey).
The Prime Ministry of the Republic of Turkey Scholarship awarded for B.Sc. studies.
Turkey Idea and Culture Association Scholarship awarded for B.Sc. studies.
   2006
Success and Representative Plaque from HU awarded for Representative of DEP at UFOK (National Physics Student Organization Committee).
Travel Award from Hacettepe Association awarded for attending The International Association of Physics Students (IAPS) 2006 Conference at Bucharest, Romania.
The Prime Ministry of the Republic of Turkey Scholarship awarded for B.Sc. studies.
Turkey Idea and Culture Association Scholarship awarded for B.Sc. studies.
   2005
The Prime Ministry of the Republic of Turkey Scholarship awarded for B.Sc. studies.
Turkey Idea and Culture Association Scholarship awarded for B.Sc. studies.
   2004
The Prime Ministry of the Republic of Turkey Scholarship awarded for B.Sc. studies.
Turkey Idea and Culture Association Scholarship awarded for B.Sc. studies.
   2003
The Prime Ministry of the Republic of Turkey Scholarship awarded for B.Sc. studies.
Turkey Idea and Culture Association Scholarship awarded for B.Sc. studies.
“I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy.”

Marie Curie