University Innovation Fellowship Program with Stanford d.school

 Boğaziçi University Bright Center for Entrepreneurship collaborates with the University Innovation Fellows (UIF) program by Stanford University and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school).

 Every year, four students selected from Boğaziçi University receive six-week training courses on business model development, design thinking, creativity, and innovation within the scope of UIF. Students who will be included in this program are selected from among students who have successfully completed the Fire Up program. In addition, four students selected to apply for the program and others evaluated in these elections are entitled to the title of “Bright Fellow” and have the opportunity to take initiative and carry out projects within Bright.

  Zorlu Holding sponsored the program, which we first participated in in 2017 with the initiatives of İmece in 2017 and 2020. After 2018, when we could not send students due to financial difficulties, our students could continue to benefit from the program in 2019 with the financial contributions of Turkey's leading entrepreneurs and investors without expecting anything in return. Selected students not only receive education within the scope of the UIF program but also conduct research on entrepreneurship-related problems in their universities and develop projects to solve the identified problems.

  Bright Center Director Asst. Prof. Oğuzhan Aygören, is also the only “Faculty Innovation Fellow” of the program at Boğaziçi University. Within this program, Asst. Prof. Oğuzhan Aygören was included in a weekly study group with 25 selected faculty fellows from around the world. Within the scope of the program, you can read Oğuzhan Aygören's article in the comments section on the future of higher education in the Stanford Change Forward magazine at the following link.

Within the scope of the program, eleven students from Boğaziçi University have been included in this program, and it is aimed to increase the number in the coming years. The relevant interview of four engineering students who participated in the UIF program in 2020 and achieved the title 'UIF Fellow' can be accessed in this link.

*Bogazici University students participated in the Standford d.school University Innovation Fellow Program in 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2022 through BRIGHT.

Bright Through the Eyes of UIF Fellows

Haluk Ziya Tercan, Civil Engineering, 2023ᵇ

  My relationship with Bright started in my prep year. I participated in the center's project called 'Design the Campus.' We had a few months of work and I had the opportunity to meet people who are after innovation and take time for it. Bright reminded me how much ideas are valued at Boğaziçi University. Every time I was on campus, I stopped by the DreamBU Incubation Center and participated in conversations, and met people

  In this program, I received training on change and innovation for weeks and had the opportunity to carry out practical activities. Bright has been a key for me to create change, think in this direction, and strive to overcome even if there are difficulties. Bright demanded of me to produce, think, strive and have fun simultaneously. In this way, I tried to improve myself and the environment I was in on a regular basis.

Arda Ulutürk, Mechanical Engineering, 2023ᵇ

  During my time at Bright, I had the chance to see the problems of the school closely and to find solutions to these problems. When I saw a problem, I learned how to approach it and how to work as a team. The interviews we made with our friends, especially while identifying the problems, were very useful for me to see the basis of the problems at school. The most important thing that Bright added to my life is that it made me understand that problems that seem so big can be solved very easily with the right team and the right methods.

Fatih Gözükara, International Trade, 2023ᵇ

 There are many different ways to exist. Each person chooses one of these ways, or builds a new one for himself, depending on where he looks at the world. Sometimes a few people come together to create a collective consciousness of existence by being inspired by the past, the present, and the future, but mostly by each other. It is now their own new way of being, perhaps a small tribe

  This is how Bright set out. The concepts at hand when we set out were entrepreneurship, innovation, change, and discovery. We saw these concepts as a tool to answer our most fundamental question. Our most fundamental question is: "How to exist?". Each question is an equation in itself, it has its own constants and variables. We saw that the constant of this great, ancient and important question of humanity - how we will exist - was “change,” and the variable was “human.” For this reason, Bright built its journey to accept change as a constant and invest in people.

  I think that one of the most basic instincts of human being, the search for the better, and the development as a result of this, are among the most sacred concepts of humanity. I believe that this is what separates the past from the present and what will make the future different from today. In the journey of man to the better, man should be freed and encouraged; should be given the opportunity to explore, see and try. Bright is exactly such a place.

  A tribe, a playground where change leaders can exist in their own way, who believe in change and the destructive power of change, who base their existence on the ability of water to direct the flow of water and change things wherever they are, constantly discovering, learning, producing, and fighting for it when appropriate.

Zişan Özdemir, Chemical Engineering, 2022ᵇ 

The Stanford University Innovation Fellows program is a program in which we experience the practices of human-oriented design for six weeks and put forward projects to create a change in our university. Since the program has been online for years, it really taught us a lot about organizing events online during the pandemic. Besides, one of the best things about it is being part of a community of many people from every continent with very different experiences. In this way, you can both take part in projects carried out by fellows in other countries and apply the practices you learned from them in your own projects. Moreover, the program has no end. Once you become a Fellow, you remain a part of this community for the rest of your life. After the training given within the program's scope, BRIGHT creates a playground for the projects you want to realize. My focus in the program was to develop a culture of social innovation in Boğaziçi. To this end, we aim to create a community called BUMPACT, to spread awareness of social impact, and to bring together everyone who has set their heart on this field in Boğaziçi.

Osman Oğuz Nuhoğlu, Industrial Engineering, 2022ᵇ

 BRIGHT allows 4 students to attend the UIF program organized by Stanford University every year. In my opinion, the most important feature of the UIF program is that the community comprises participants from all over the world. You can constantly find the opportunity to communicate with people from different countries, schools, and departments. For example, we met with a fellow from the Netherlands during our interview to participate in the program, and our mentor who accompanied us throughout the training was from the UAE. UIF's motto is "Students can change the world." and in accordance with this motto, it provides the necessary equipment and self-confidence to the students. After training, UIF expects you to work directly on a project to solve a school problem and contribute directly to the school's development. During these projects, you can come across many different things and learn a lot.