Kadir Has University

Kadir Has University (KHAS) was founded in 1997 by the prominent Turkish industrialist and philanthropist Kadir Has (1938–2010), who rose from modest beginnings in the city of Adana to become one of Turkey's most influential businessmen in the automotive and industrial sectors. Kadir Has built the Mercedes dealership network for buses and trucks, became one of the founders of Coca-Cola production in Turkey, partnered with the Koç family to create the Karsan minibus factory for the Peugeot brand in Bursa, and became the exclusive nationwide distributor of Michelin tires. He directed his significant wealth toward education and social projects. In 1991, together with his wife Rezan Has, he established the Kadir Has Foundation to support the development of higher education in Turkey, and six years later the foundation received approval from the Council of Higher Education of Turkey (YÖK) to establish a private university in Istanbul. The university's main campus is located in one of Istanbul's most significant historical industrial sites — the former Cibali tobacco and cigarette factory, built in 1884 by the renowned Ottoman-era architect Alexandre Vallaury at the request of Sultan Abdülhamid II. The factory was built for Régie — a joint venture of the Ottoman Bank, Credit Anstalt and the banker Bleichröder, which held the exclusive right to collect taxes on tobacco production throughout the Ottoman Empire. At its peak, the Cibali factory was the largest industrial enterprise in both Istanbul and the wider region: more than two thousand people worked there — including the largest concentration of female workers at a single enterprise in the Ottoman Empire — and up to 12,000 kilograms of cigarettes were produced per day. The factory operated continuously for more than a century: in 1925 it was transferred to the Republic of Turkey under the state tobacco monopoly TEKEL, and in 1994 production finally ceased. Between 1998 and 2002, the Kadir Has Foundation carried out a four-year, large-scale restoration of the extensive factory complex, transforming its workshops, warehouses and production halls into modern lecture rooms, research laboratories and student spaces while preserving the original brick façades, steel structures and industrial character of the buildings. The campus officially opened its doors on 13 February 2002, and the very next year the restoration was awarded the prestigious Europa Nostra prize for exemplary preservation of cultural heritage — a recognition received by only a handful of educational institutions worldwide. The campus also houses the Rezan Has Museum, named after the founder's wife, which contains a unique 11th-century Byzantine cistern — one of the few preserved examples outside Istanbul's old city walls — as well as the ruins of an Ottoman bath discovered during the restoration. Today Kadir Has University has grown into a multidisciplinary institution comprising five faculties: the Faculty of Art and Design, the Faculty of Communications, the Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences and the Faculty of Law. The university consistently ranks among the best private institutions in Turkey and is placed in the 601–800 band of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, ranking 7th among all Turkish universities, while in the "Research" category it is placed 500th in the world.

The mission of Kadir Has University is to create innovative, sustainable and socially meaningful solutions to global challenges through rigorous scientific research and world-class education. Guided by the philanthropic vision of its founder, the university strives to build an academic environment that matches the level of the world's best institutions — one in which deep disciplinary training is combined with bold interdisciplinary collaboration. KHAS prepares professionals capable of critical thinking, generating original knowledge and acting with a high degree of responsibility in conditions of growing global interconnectedness and multiculturalism. At the heart of this mission lies a commitment to academic freedom, ethical research and the development of leadership rooted in social responsibility. The university operates numerous specialized research centers, including the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development, the Center for Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection, the Istanbul Studies Center, the Center for Gender and Women's Studies, the Center for International and European Studies, and the Center for Sports Research — with more than 140 active research projects in engineering, social sciences, natural sciences and the humanities. KHAS actively develops international cooperation through partnerships with more than 200 universities across Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania, an extensive Erasmus+ exchange program and joint educational programs such as the Erasmus Mundus CyberMACS program in cybersecurity together with SRH Berlin and the University of Cyril and Methodius. Through double-major and minor programs, hands-on cooperation with industry, and a campus culture that celebrates diversity and creative self-expression, Kadir Has University gives every student the opportunity to become a globally minded citizen capable of making a meaningful contribution to their communities and to the world as a whole.