Bayer and YGA Launch "Meeting with Science" Project

Bayer and YGA Launch Meet Science Project The final day of Meet Science, a joint initiative by Bayer and YGA to contribute to science and science literacy in Turkey, took place on 18 July in Istanbul. Twenty-one volunteer high school students from across Turkey gathered in Istanbul and were divided into 5 groups to present their work to the jury at Bayer Central Office. Following the jury's evaluation, students who had prepared successful projects to find science-based solutions to problems they observed around them—based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals "Good Health and Well-Being" and "Zero Hunger"—were selected. The Ekologos and Permaculture teams were found to be successful with their awareness projects for young people. The project evaluation jury included YGA Turkey Country Director Feyza Fulden Akçay, Assistant Professor Emre Aksoy from Middle East Technical University Department of Biology, NBE Newspaper Coordinator Journalist Didem Eryar Ünlü and Bayer Corporate Communications Director Nevra Çağman. Prior to jury presentations, the young people participated in a 3-day Meet Science Ideathon Camp. During the camp, they heard from Bebar Science founder Cengiz Çalışkan, Malty founder Berkan Mifleh and Microsoft Project Manager Duygu Kayaman. They received mentoring from YGA alumni and finalized their projects. On the final day, the students hosted by Bayer had the opportunity to visit Bayer Central Office and meet with Bayer employees. Special guests at the final day—entrepreneurs selected for the G4A Startup Acceleration Program; Kidolog founder Eray Uğurelli and Albert Health founder Serdar Gemici—shared their inspiring experiences.  

Bayer will provide funding in the next stage to implement the winning projects, and mentors from YGA and Bayer will continue to support the student teams.

Bayer Corporate Communications Director Nevra Çağman: "At Bayer, our mission 'Science for a Better Life' guides all our work. In this context, we value and support the innovative projects of young people who are aware of their community's needs and problems and are sensitive to their surroundings. Since we launched the Meet Science Project together with YGA in 2021, a total of 1,219 high school students registered for this year's program. We have provided students with specially designed training since January. In addition, we offered them the opportunity to meet accomplished role models in their fields and draw inspiration from their stories. We are very pleased that we were able to enable young people to express their creative and solution-focused ideas and turn them into practice. We thank all our students for their participation and outstanding efforts, and we heartily congratulate the selected teams. We also extend special thanks to the YGA team for their valuable cooperation," he said. Selected projects focus on raising awareness about agricultural sustainability The Ekologos project, developed by Recep Emirhan Gökmen, Büşra Nur Kaya, Ilgım Caşkurlu, and Nurülhüda Şahin, aims to introduce young people to soil through a micro-greening system as a solution to hunger, direct them toward agricultural production, and raise awareness about sustainability. The Permaculture project, prepared by Çınar Aygören, Zeynep Lina Yıldız, Simay Yüksel and Ece Önal and also focusing on the zero hunger problem, aims to raise awareness among middle school students about permaculture. About the Meet Science Project "Meet Science," a corporate social responsibility project launched in 2021 through a partnership between Bayer and YGA, aims to support 10th and 11th grade high school students in developing innovative science-based solutions to local problems. A total of 3,267 students applied to the project over two years. Bayer and YGA provided all finalist high school students with a specially created online curriculum and an environment to develop themselves with many successful mentors in their fields. During the dual-track education platform, students engaged with experts including METU Faculty Member Dr. Emre Aksoy, UP School founders Melike Aydın and Mina İlköz, University of Maryland Electrical and Electronics Engineering Ph.D. Student and Research Assistant Utku Noyan, and Research and Development Manager Barış Arıcı at Reap Battery.