How to Find a PhD Supervisor in Turkey (With Email Templates)

Table of Contents

• What does a doctoral thesis supervisor do in Turkey?

• When is a doctoral thesis supervisor assigned?

• Do you have to contact an academic before you apply?

• How do you find academics who supervise in your field?

• What should your first email say?

• Which follow-up message is worth sending?

• Where do applicants misread the Turkish system?

• What should you do next?

• Real-World Examples

• Frequently Asked Questions

• References

• Legal Notice

Introduction

To find a PhD supervisor in Turkey, identify departments running a doctoral program in your field, check who has supervised completed theses there through the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) National Thesis Center, and email two or three of those academics with a short, specific message. The formal appointment is made by the graduate school after admission.

That appointment rule is set by regulation rather than custom, and most guides leave it out. The material here draws on the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training published in the Official Gazette on 20 April 2016, on the Council of Higher Education's principles for graduate programs, and on admission rules published by Middle East Technical University, Istanbul Technical University, Koç University and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University. Each date below is tied to its announcement.

What does a doctoral thesis supervisor do in Turkey?

Under the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training, published in the Official Gazette on 20 April 2016, doctoral thesis supervision in Turkey is an appointed role rather than a private arrangement. The head of the graduate department proposes a faculty member from the university's own roster, and the graduate school administrative board confirms that appointment by decision.

A graduate school is the academic unit within a Turkish university that runs graduate education and manages application and enrolment procedures. In Turkish it is called an enstitü. A thesis supervisor is proposed by the department but appointed by the graduate school, so an informal agreement with a professor is not by itself an appointment.

The role spans the whole doctoral period. Under Article 18, supervisor and student determine the thesis topic and title together, and the proposal goes to the graduate school for a decision. After the coursework stage the supervisor also sits on the student's Thesis Monitoring Committee. A Thesis Monitoring Committee is the committee that periodically evaluates and tracks the progress of a doctoral thesis.

Turkish regulation also limits who may take the role on. Article 18 provides that, outside the departments of dentistry, pharmacy, medicine and veterinary faculties, a faculty member must already have supervised at least one successfully completed master's thesis before supervising a doctoral thesis. Where the thesis calls for it, a second supervisor may be appointed from outside the university, provided that person holds at least a doctoral degree.

When is a doctoral thesis supervisor assigned?

A doctoral thesis supervisor in Turkey must be appointed no later than the end of the second semester. Article 18 of the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training leaves the exact point within the program to each university senate but sets that outer limit for every doctoral program. For a thesis master's program the deadline is earlier: Article 8 places it at the end of the first semester.

The two-semester window is why many Turkish universities admit doctoral students to a program rather than to a named academic. A student can begin coursework, meet the faculty, and only then have a supervisor proposed and confirmed. Middle East Technical University's graduate regulations state that the department chair assigns an academic advisor to each admitted graduate student, and that the thesis supervisor takes over that function once appointed.

Table 1. Which supervisor decisions the national regulation fixes and which each university senate sets, under the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training, Official Gazette, 20 April 2016.

An integrated doctorate is a route allowing admission directly into a doctoral program with a bachelor's degree, without a master's degree. Its supervisor deadline matches the standard doctoral route, although Article 17 sets a longer overall period: ten semesters of normal duration against eight, and fourteen semesters of maximum duration against twelve.

Do you have to contact an academic before you apply?

At most Turkish universities, no. The appointment is made after admission, so an application is not normally rejected because no professor was contacted first. Some universities do build a named academic into their requirements, Istanbul Technical University among them, so the answer depends on the announcement being applied under.

Middle East Technical University sets the mechanism out in its Rules and Regulations Governing Graduate Studies, published in the Official Gazette on 21 September 2016 and amended on 18 April 2017:

The thesis supervisor is assigned by recommendation of the concerned GSD and approval of GSAB latest by the end of the second semester.

— Middle East Technical University, Rules and Regulations Governing Graduate Studies, Article 41, Official Gazette, 21 September 2016

In that regulation GSD is the Graduate School Department and GSAB the Graduate School Administrative Board. The applicant appears nowhere in the mechanism.

Practice at the edges of the rule varies. Koç University tells applicants on its graduate admissions pages that it recommends emailing a faculty member in the program before applying, while stating that an application can still be made without a specific supervisor. Istanbul Technical University goes further: its announcement for the 2026–2027 fall semester states that one of the two required recommendation letters must come from the supervisor the doctoral candidate plans to study with. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University's announcement for the same term describes a preliminary committee review followed by a scientific assessment, with no requirement to approach an academic beforehand. A scientific assessment is a written or oral evaluation of subject knowledge administered by a university as part of its graduate admissions; it is not a centralised examination and its scope varies by program.

How do you find academics who supervise in your field?

Start from completed theses rather than staff lists. A department page shows who works there; the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) National Thesis Center shows who has supervised a thesis to completion, because its search screen, checked on 7 September 2026, filters records by supervisor as well as author, title and subject. That matters, since Article 18 of the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training ties doctoral supervision to prior supervision experience.

Work through the sources in this order:

1. Use Atlas or a university's own program list to confirm which graduate schools run a doctoral program in your field, and in which language.

2. Search the YÖK National Thesis Center by subject and university, recording the supervisor named on every thesis close to your topic.

3. Open the YÖK Academic profile of each name collected. YÖK Academic is the Council of Higher Education's public search interface over the YÖKSİS academic database, bringing publications, projects and institutional affiliation together in one place.

4. Read two or three recent publications by each candidate through DergiPark or TR Dizin, both run by TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM, the national academic network and information centre of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, so an email can cite specific work.

5. Check the department page for the person's title, courses and institutional email address, and confirm they remain on the roster.

Two constraints shape the list. The Council of Higher Education's principles for graduate programs cap the number of graduate students one faculty member may supervise at fourteen across thesis master's and doctoral programs combined, so an established academic in a popular field may have no capacity at all. Those principles also require at least six faculty members on the roster to open a doctoral program, at least two holding the professor title, so a small department may cover a narrow range of specialisms.

What should your first email say?

A first email to a Turkish academic should be short, specific and answerable in two minutes. Name the program you intend to apply to, name one piece of the academic's published work, state your research interest in two sentences, and ask one clear question. Attach a curriculum vitae and nothing else. Long attachments and open-ended requests are the commonest reason a message goes unanswered.

Table 2. Contact moments compared by purpose, attachment and realistic outcome.

Template 1 — First contact, before applying

Subject: Doctoral application in [field] — [your name], [your country]

Dear Professor [surname],

I am writing about the doctoral program in [department] at [university], for which applications close on [date from the announcement].

I completed my master's degree in [field] at [institution] in [year], with a thesis on [topic in six words]. Your [year] article on [specific subject] is close to what I would like to work on, in particular [one concrete point from the paper].

May I ask whether you expect to take on new doctoral students for the [term] intake? My curriculum vitae is attached.

Kind regards,

[Full name]

[Email address]

Which follow-up message is worth sending?

One follow-up to an unanswered first email, sent about ten working days later, is worth writing. A second chasing message is not, although a fresh message at a later stage is a different matter. Silence usually reflects a full inbox or a full supervision quota rather than a judgement on the applicant, and the Council of Higher Education's cap of fourteen graduate students per faculty member means capacity runs out quietly.

A follow-up should be shorter than the original and give the academic an easy way to close the conversation. Naming a deadline explains the second message without applying pressure.

Template 2 — Follow-up, ten working days later

Subject: Re: Doctoral application in [field] — [your name]

Dear Professor [surname],

I wrote on [date] about the doctoral program in [department]. The application window closes on [date], so I wanted to check whether you had a moment to consider it. If your supervision capacity is full for the [term] intake, I would be grateful to know, and will direct my application elsewhere in the department.

Kind regards,

[Full name]

A third message belongs to a later stage, and it is the one applicants most often forget. Once an offer of admission arrives, the Article 18 clock starts running: the graduate school must confirm a supervisor by the end of the second semester.

Template 3 — After admission, before the appointment

Subject: Newly admitted doctoral student in [department] — thesis direction

Dear Professor [surname],

I have been admitted to the doctoral program in [department] for the [term] intake, and I am writing before supervisors are proposed for our cohort.

I would like to work on [research direction in one sentence], which overlaps with your work on [specific subject]. A one-page outline is attached. Would you be willing to meet for twenty minutes during [month] to discuss whether the direction is workable?

Kind regards,

[Full name]

Where do applicants misread the Turkish system?

The commonest misreading is that a professor's positive reply functions as an acceptance. It does not. Under Article 18 of the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training the appointment is made by the graduate school administrative board on the proposal of the head of the graduate department, and admission is decided separately through the university's own evaluation process.

A second misreading concerns nationality. Article 18 requires the first supervisor to hold a post on the university's own roster, which is a question of employment rather than citizenship. Anadolu Agency reported on 18 March 2024 that the Council of Higher Education's updated principles for graduate programs allow foreign national researchers to act as first supervisors, and that existing programs were given until the end of the 2026–2027 academic year to align with the revised criteria. Article 18 also allows the graduate school administrative board to appoint a supervisor from another higher education institution where the university has no faculty member with the qualifications its senate has set.

A third misreading is that the arrangement, once made, is fixed for the whole doctorate. Supervisor changes run through the graduate school on the route that created the appointment.

One route sits outside the ordinary process. A seventh paragraph was added to Article 16 of the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training on 6 March 2026, in Official Gazette no. 33188, covering doctoral student selection in priority fields designated by the Council of Higher Education; for foreign nationals, selection follows procedures the Council sets separately.

What should you do next?

Turn the reading into a dated plan. Fix the application window for each graduate school on your list, work backwards to leave room for a first email and one follow-up, and treat the supervisor conversation as continuing after admission. Every cycle needs fresh dates.

Two calendars from the 2026–2027 fall semester show how far apart Turkish universities sit. Istanbul Technical University opened applications for international students on 24 April 2026 and closed them on 26 June 2026, with interviews between 1 and 3 July 2026. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University's Institute of Graduate Studies opened applications on 1 July 2026 and closed them on 23 July 2026, with the scientific assessment on 3 and 4 August 2026 and decisions on 12 August 2026. An applicant working to one remembered deadline would have missed one.

The qualifying examination is the next fixed point. A qualifying examination is the assessment of a doctoral student's subject knowledge and research capability after the coursework stage, and is the condition for proceeding to the thesis stage. Article 19 requires students who entered with a master's degree to sit it by the end of the fifth semester, and those who entered with a bachelor's degree by the end of the seventh.

• List the graduate schools running a doctoral program in your field, with each application window from its announcement.

• Search the YÖK National Thesis Center by subject and record the supervisor on every thesis close to your topic.

• Open each candidate's YÖK Academic profile and read two recent publications on DergiPark or TR Dizin.

• Check each announcement for a required recommendation letter from the intended supervisor.

• Email two or three academics, with a curriculum vitae attached and one question asked.

• Send one follow-up ten working days later, then apply regardless of the reply.

• After admission, request a meeting before the end of the second semester, the Article 18 deadline.

Real-World Examples

The examples in this section are illustrative scenarios created to explain situations applicants may encounter.

Amina, engineering, applying where a named supervisor is required. Amina reads the Istanbul Technical University announcement for the 2026–2027 fall semester and finds that one of her two recommendation letters must come from the supervisor she plans to work with. The email is no longer optional. Six weeks before the 26 June 2026 closing date she writes to three academics whose names appeared as supervisors in the YÖK National Thesis Center, attaches a curriculum vitae and asks one question each. Two reply and one agrees to write the letter.

Diego, social sciences, applying where no prior contact is expected. Diego finds that his target graduate school runs a preliminary committee review followed by a scientific assessment and asks for no supervisor letter. He applies on the published dates and prepares for the assessment rather than writing to professors. After admission he spends the first semester attending seminars, identifies two academics whose work fits his direction, and requests a meeting before the Article 18 deadline at the end of the second semester.

Priya, life sciences, receiving no replies. Priya sends eight emails and receives one reply. Rather than resending, she returns to the YÖK National Thesis Center and searches by subject across a wider set of universities, which produces eleven further names. She reads the Council of Higher Education's cap of fourteen graduate students and accepts that silence often means capacity rather than rejection. She applies to two programs on their published dates and treats the emails as preparation rather than as a precondition of applying.

Karim, first-year doctoral student changing direction. Karim is admitted with one research plan and finds during his first semester that his interest has moved. He raises the shift with the head of his graduate department before the end of the second semester, so the proposal reaching the graduate school administrative board reflects the direction he intends to pursue. He also asks the graduate school how a later change of supervisor is handled, and learns that it follows the same proposal-and-decision route as the original appointment.

About Mezun Kampüsü
Mezun Kampüsü is a platform that brings together the graduate programs, application calendars and academic announcements of universities in Turkey. For applicants working out which departments run a doctoral program in their field, Atlas allows programs to be explored and compared by university, level and language of instruction. Application periods and university announcements can be followed from one place, and a free application can be started through the Universities section.
Update Information
Published: 7 September 2026
Last updated: 7 September 2026
Next review: 7 October 2026

Legal Notice

This article is general information about doctoral supervision in Turkey and is not personal academic, legal or financial advice. It rests on the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training, published in the Official Gazette on 20 April 2016 and last amended on 6 March 2026 in Official Gazette no. 33188, and on the Council of Higher Education's principles for graduate programs.

Regulation and institutional practice change over time. Conditions attached to individual universities and programs, including application windows, required documents and assessment stages, vary by academic period and appear in each graduate school's own announcement. Applicants should confirm every detail with the relevant university and with the Council of Higher Education. Sources were last checked on 7 September 2026.