We are pleased to announce the Yeliz Dönmez Thesis Award funded by our former MA student Yeliz Dönmez’s family and friends.

The award is granted to two MA students who complete their theses on time.

By the nominations of theses advisors, the award is evaluated by the Institute faculty.

The award winning students are granted 2000 TRY and 1000 TRY respectively.

The award ceremony takes place annually on the graduation day of Boğaziçi University.

Yeliz Dönmez was born in Germany on March 6, 1979. She graduated from the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Boğaziçi University in 2002. During her undergraduate years, she participated in the activities of student clubs such as Köy-Koop and Social Science Club. Due to her interest in history and social sciences and to her passion in working for the benefit of society, she started the MA program of the Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History at Boğaziçi. She also worked as an Erasmus Advisor at the university's Office of International Relations.

Her ongoing and perhaps never-ending passion was her struggle to sustain an independent life as a young woman. The effort of a young woman to know herself, to think about independence, relationships, individual and collective happiness  all were very valuable and important to her. Because of the illness that started in 2004, Yeliz passed away in 2007. In her last years, despite the serious treatment, her ties with her friends and university continued as her fellow friends and professors were always there for her.

With this fellowship and theses award programs, her family and friends aim to keep her name alive and continue to serve Yeliz's ideals by contributing to the work of women students in the field of social sciences and humanities.