Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University is non-profit (waqf) institution, founded in 2010. However, the university at the same time sees itself in a historical context. Those claims centre on a main building dating which has been home to the Agricultural and Veterinary College since 1892.
Mehmet Akif Ersoy, author of Turkey’s national anthem was both alumnus and former staff member of its Agricultural and Veterinary School.
Its rector argues that "although our university is new in terms of its foundation, it is a well-established institution in terms of its culture, intellectual accumulation and expertise".
The site at Halkali is described as "a campus university in the middle of history".
It aspires to be "one of the world’s prominent comprehensive universities" and to "raise leading individuals who embrace the values of our civilisation, generate science and serve humanity and shape the future".
The university is strong in the social sciences and humanities, and can also point to high-quality faculties of engineering and architecture. Classes are taught in Turkish, English and, in particular in the faculty of Islamic Science, Arabic. Enrolment has reached five figures within a decade of opening, with postgraduates making up around 30 per cent of the student body and around one in ten students coming from outside Turkey.
The University has more than 15 Research Centers and host first International Centers for ‘Islamic Economics and Finance’ and for ‘Islam and Global Affairs’.
