Graduate Thesis Writing Guide and Graduation Information
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Department of Political Science and International Relations
Undergraduate Program Capstone Project
Students enrolled in the Department of Political Science and International Relations Undergraduate Program must prepare a 6-credit, required Capstone Project in the 8th semester to graduate from this program.
Prior to preparing the Final Project, a faculty advisor is assigned from among the department’s faculty members, and the student defends the Final Project—prepared in collaboration with the advisor—before a three-member committee. If successful, the grade received is added to the student’s cumulative GPA.
For students who will prepare their Final Project in the 4th year, having selected an advisor by the 7th semester will increase the likelihood of success for the Final Project. For this reason, it is particularly important for students advancing to their fourth year to have determined their thesis topic and advisor by the beginning of the 7th semester when selecting their courses.
During the advisor selection process, students must first identify a specific research topic aligned with their own areas of interest or develop alternative topic options. They may seek assistance from their academic advisors in this regard.
Faculty members involved in supervising graduation projects can only advise a limited number of students. Therefore, having alternative topics pre-determined during the advisor selection process will make the process easier for both students and faculty members.
The selection of the faculty advisor will be determined by the Undergraduate Thesis Coordinator, taking into account the topics you have proposed. Once your thesis topic and advisor have been finalized, you must complete the Undergraduate Thesis Advisor Approval Form and have it approved by your advisor.
YILDIZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
GENERAL RULES FOR THE UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
1. At the beginning of each semester, the Department Chair determines the minimum advising load for each faculty member by dividing the total estimated number of students undertaking a bachelor’s thesis by the number of faculty members. The Department Chair ensures that thesis assignments are distributed evenly among faculty members.
2. Department faculty members notify the Department Chair of at least two research/study areas they have identified based on their expertise, to be announced to students.
3. It is recommended that undergraduate thesis projects be prepared collaboratively by a minimum of two and a maximum of three students.
4. After students have determined their research topic and group members, they must complete the Graduation Thesis Form (Appendix 1), have it signed by their advisor, and submit the form to the research assistant assigned by the Department Chair by the end of the second week of the semester.
5. Following this process, students, together with their advisors, determine their work schedules and the distribution of tasks among the group members within the scope of the project.
6. To ensure that the requirements of the thesis are met, third-year students are advised to select their advisors and establish a work schedule no later than the end of the third-year spring semester for those submitting their theses in the fourth-year fall semester, and at the beginning of the fourth-year fall semester for those submitting in the fourth-year spring semester.
7. Theses must be prepared in accordance with the YTU Institute of Social Sciences Thesis Writing Guide.
Submission and Presentation of the Thesis:
8. The final submission deadline for graduation theses is the day the semester final exams begin.
9. Before final theses are submitted to the thesis committee, the advisor must run a plagiarism check using Turnitin. The similarity report generated after this process must not exceed 25%. Theses that do not meet this requirement will not be accepted for defense.
10. Students submit an electronic copy of their thesis to the thesis committee, which consists of the advisor and two faculty members designated by the Department Chair. Students’ thesis presentations to the committee take place on the specified date during the second week of the final exam period. A single thesis grade is assigned for each student in the thesis group, and the grades are entered into the system by the advisors.
DEPARTMENT FACULTY MEMBERS’ BACHELOR’S THESIS AREAS
|
Faculty Member |
Research/Study Areas |
|
Prof. Dr. Cengiz Çağla |
political theory, history of political thought, sociology of politics |
|
Prof. Dr. Esra Danacıoğlu |
History of Turkey, 20th-Century History, History of the Middle East, Oral History |
|
Prof. Dr. Elçin Macar |
History of Turkey, the Balkans, Turkish-Greek Relations, Church-State Relations |
|
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Akif Okur |
International Relations, International Political Economy, Turkish Foreign Policy, U.S. Foreign Policy |
|
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Hacısalihoğlu |
Ottoman and Turkish History, European History, Balkan Studies, Caucasus Studies, Black Sea Studies |
|
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aslı Daldal |
Political philosophy and theoretical studies, Turkish politics, cinema studies |
|
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Nas |
European Union, Turkey-EU relations, politics in Europe, climate change, and the European Green Deal |
|
Associate Professor Dr. Fuat Aksu |
Turkish foreign policy, crisis management, Cyprus, Turkey-Greece relations, law of the sea |
|
Associate Professor Dr. Fulya Memişoğlu |
International migration, human rights policies, sustainability, international development |
|
Assoc. Prof. Dr. İdil Öztığ |
Democratization, the Middle East, refugee influxes, and populism |
|
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ece Öztan |
Political sociology, methodology |
|
Dr. Ahmet Conker |
Hydropolitics, Middle Eastern studies, Climate Change and Environmental Policies |
|
Dr. Türkan Ayda Ersan |
Political communication and lobbying, media and politics, propaganda and social media, digital diplomacy |
|
Dr. Elif Bali |
Foreign policy, South and Southeast Asia, colonialism and post-colonialism, political economy |
|
Dr. Yetkin Başkavak |
Democratization, theories of democracy, global politics, comparative politics |