SABANCI SUNUM

About the Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM) The Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM) is a National Research Infrastructure established in 2010 by the Ministry of Development of the Republic of Turkey and the Sabancı Foundation, and has been operating under Law No. 6550 since 2017. SUNUM possesses an infrastructure capable of serving various sectors across different disciplines through its expertise in the design, synthesis, and characterization of nanomaterials and nanostructures, as well as the design and production of micro-nano systems developed from nanostructures. SUNUM was granted its second five-year accreditation in December 2022. 

SUNUM Laboratories, which house a wide range of advanced equipment featuring rare technologies both in Turkey and worldwide, offer research opportunities and services in various fields, including atomic-resolution imaging, rapid gene sequencing for different cell types, the multilayer deposition of metals just a few atoms thick, and dielectric applications. As of 2023, SUNUM collaborates with nearly 400 institutions—approximately 300 domestic and 100 international—and conducts research and development activities across a wide range of application areas, spanning from medicine to chemistry, pharmaceuticals to energy, cosmetics to automotive, energy to agriculture, and food to the environment. SUNUM serves as the lead organization in two different TÜBİTAK 1004 Platforms (NANOSIS—Integrated, Scalable, Functional Nanostructures and Systems; LignoNANO—Value-Added Advanced Nanotechnological Materials and Systems for a Sustainable Circular Economy) and participates as a partner in three other 1004 Platforms. Additionally, it serves as the coordinator for the NANOBIO4CAN Project—Nano-Biotechnologies for Innovative Therapeutic Approaches in Cancer—under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie – COFUND program.Coordinated by SUNUM, the project titled “Teaming for Capacity Development and Synergies in Micro-Nanofabrication and Flexible Electronics for Widespread Impact—TeamNANO,” funded under the Horizon Europe Program’s Teaming call, holds the distinction of being the project with the highest budget ever awarded to a single institution in our country’s history following an evaluation by the European Commission. Scheduled to run for six years, TEAM-NANO aims to enhance SUNUM’s cleanroom equipment infrastructure and technical capabilities through international collaboration. The project is being carried out with a 9 million Euro EU budget and co-financing from the Ministry of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkey. SUNUM conducts efficient and effective multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research and development to create products and services in the field of nanotechnology that have universal applicability and socio-economic value. It fosters the development of qualified human resources, knowledge, technology, intellectual property, and new infrastructure—whether standalone or collaborative—and, when necessary, establishes entrepreneurial companies to facilitate the dissemination of these innovations. Through long-term collaborations that highlight the core competencies of partner industries and academic research institutions and contribute to their development, SUNUM is working to become an open, continuously evolving, sustainable, and globally exemplary and leading Center of Excellence for all stakeholders.