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2011-2012
Faculty Seminars are scheduled for the first
Wednesday of every month and aim to bring together researchers and students
from all walks of science to discuss recent and distinguished advances in
science.
(See the bottom of the page for a list of past speakers.)
Seminars of the 2011-2012 academic year are as follows:
| October 12, 2011 | Talat HALMAN | February 8, 2012 | Varol AKMAN | |
| November 2, 2011 | Erdal ARIKAN | March 7, 2012 | İhsan GÜRSEL | |
| December 7, 2011 | Ekmel ÖZBAY | April 4, 2012 | Burak ÖZBAĞCI | |
| May 2, 2012 | Oğuz GÜLSEREN |
Speaker: Prof. Dr.
Talat Halman (Vikipedia)
Affiliation: Bilkent University, Faculty of Humanities and Letters, Dean
Title: Bilim ve Sanat
Date: October 12, 2011, 14:40 at Mithat Çoruh
Abstract: Prof
Talat Halman, Bilim ve Sanat'ı harmanladığı bir sunum yapacak.
Konuşma Türkçe olacaktır.
Speaker: Prof.
Dr. Erdal ARIKAN
Affiliation: Bilkent University, Department of
Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Title: Polarization of Information
Date: November 2, 2011,
15:40 at SBZ14.
Abstract: Information
theory, created by Claude Shannon in a famous paper published in 1948, is the
mathematical basis of communications. Shannon formulated his theory in terms of
entropy of information sources and equivocation created by noise in
communication channels. He gave theoretical limits known as coding theorems on
ultimate performance limits achievable by communication systems. Designing
actual codes that meet Shannon's limits has been a challenging problem ever
since. Polar coding was the first method to achieve Shannon limits in a provable
manner and using low-complexity algorithms. This talk will discuss the basic
ideas of polar coding.
See: Channel Polarization See Also: IEEE Paper Award and Sedat Simavi Science Award
Speaker: Prof.
Dr. Ekmel ÖZBAY
Affiliation: Bilkent University Department of Physics
and Department of
Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Director of NANOTAM and BILUZAY
Title: Science
Meets Magic: Photonic Metamaterials
Date: December 7, 2011,
15:40 at SBZ14.
Abstract:
The word magic is usually associated with movies, fiction,
children stories, etc. but seldom with the natural sciences. Recent advances in
metamaterials have changed this notion, in which we can now speak of almost
magical properties that scientists could only dream about only a decade ago.
In this talk, we will review some of the recent progress in the field of
photonic nanometamaterials.
See: Ekmel Özbay
Speaker: Prof.
Dr. Varol AKMAN
Affiliation: Bilkent University, Department of
Philosophy and Computer Engineering Department.
Prof.
Akman's talk will be in Turkish.
Title:
Önce Ahlak
Date: February 8, 2012,
15:40 at SBZ14.
Abstract: Ahlakbilim
ile ilgili konuşma yapmak çekicidir çünkü -- aynı siyaset ve futbol gibi --
hemen herkesin üzerinde iyi kötü bir fikri olan bir alandan sözediyoruz. Öte
yandan -- yine siyasette ve futbolda olduğu gibi -- ahlakbilim üzerine pek
düşünülmemiş ya da özgün bir şeyler söylemenin zor olduğu oldukça aşikar
görünüyor. Bu konuşmada ahlakbilim uzmanı olmayan bir amatör olarak hiç olmazsa
ilginç bazı konulardan ve hatta ahlakbilimdeki son çalışmalardan
bahsedebileceğimi düşünüyorum.
See: Varol Akman
Speaker: Assoc.
Prof. İhsan GÜRSEL
Affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and
Genetics, Bilkent University
Title: The
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011
Date: March 7, 2012,
15:40 at SBZ14.
Abstract: Three immunologists
won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2011: Bruce Beutler, Jules Hoffmann, and
Ralph Steinman.
see http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE79213M20111003
Prof. Gürsel will talk about the contents and implications of this
achievement and about his own research related to this topic.
In this presentation, I will describe the rationale behind this year`s Nobel Awards on Physiology and Medicine. This includes the sad story about Dr. Ralph Steinman, and a controversy regarding Dr. Jules Hoffmann. As my Lab efforts are parallel to these laureates` research themes, I will also summarize our recent Lab activities and describe you the major reason why we try to harness these nucleic acids as immunotherapeutic agents. I will specifically focus on how in our Lab, we formulate CpG ODNs and other nucleic acid based TLR ligands for therapeutic vaccine development. In brief, I will mainly focus on the development of nucleic acid containing nanoliposomes, polysaccharide nanocomplexes, modified montanide nano-emulsions, self-aggregating dendrimeric nanoparticles, and cell derived exosome nanovesicles as effective vaccine carriers against viral or bacterial infections as well as their prospects to be utilized as anti-cancer agents.
Speaker: Assoc.
Prof. Burak ÖZBAĞCI
Affiliation: College of Sciences, Koç University
Title:
The Abel Prize 2011
Date: April 4, 2011,
15:40 at SBZ14.
Abstract: Prof.
Ozbagci will talk about 7-dimensional exotic spheres of John Milnor who won the
Abel Prize in 2011 for his pioneering discoveries in topology, geometry and
algebra.
Speaker: Prof.
Oğuz GÜLSEREN
Affiliation: Department of Physics, Bilkent
University
Title: Viewing
the atoms by number crunching for understanding the material
properties
Date: May 2, 2012,
15:40 at SBZ14.
Abstract: Fully understanding of most of material properties needs an atomistic
description from quantum mechanics. This
is also true even for explaining an experimental data, especially for the
systems involving nanostructures. However, the solution of the Schrodinger
equation for such a many-body system is complicated if it is not impossible. To
this end, we present the investigation of several state-of-the-art systems from
first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory. Examples
will include Hall conductance of graphene, Li intercalation of carbon nanotubes
and bilayer graphene for battery applications, nature of the polymer-nanotube
interaction, and titania nanostructures for dye-sensitized solar cells.
Contact person: Ali Sinan Sertöz
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