What Is Scientific Preparation in Turkey and Who Is Assigned?

Contents

1. What is a scientific preparatory program in Turkey?

2. Who is assigned to a scientific preparatory program?

3. How long does scientific preparation last and what does it do to your degree clock?

4. What should you check before you accept a place that includes scientific preparation?

5. How do graduate schools differ in how they run the program?

6. How should you weigh an offer that includes scientific preparation?

7. Scientific preparation, language preparatory year and scientific assessment: what is the difference?

8. What to do next

9. Real-World Examples

10. Frequently Asked Questions

11. References

12. Legal Notice

Introduction

Scientific preparation is a set of completion courses that a Turkish university may add before a graduate program begins. It applies to students admitted from a different academic field, or admitted with a degree from another higher education institution. The Regulation on Graduate Education and Training caps it at two semesters. The period is excluded from the master's and doctoral degree clock.

The applicants most exposed to this rule are the ones least likely to have heard of it. An engineering graduate admitted to an economics master's, a graduate whose bachelor's degree was awarded outside Turkey, and an applicant moving between two Turkish universities can all encounter it. In Turkish it is called bilimsel hazırlık, which is why English searches often return nothing useful.

This article draws on the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training published in the Resmî Gazete on 20 April 2016 under number 29690, on the higher education statistics published by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) on 27 March 2026, and on the graduate education pages of five Turkish universities. It answers what the program is, who is assigned to it, how the two-semester limit works, how universities differ, and what to confirm before enrolment. Mezun Kampüsü publishes program and announcement records for applicants who need to check those conditions university by university.

One warning about timing. Admission conditions, course lists and senate rules are decided per academic year, so the section describing institutional differences should be read as a map of what varies, not as a fixed list.

What is a scientific preparatory program in Turkey?

A scientific preparatory program is a set of completion courses that a student admitted to a graduate program from a different field must complete before beginning the main program. In Turkish graduate education it is called bilimsel hazırlık. Article 30 of the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training, published in the Resmî Gazete on 20 April 2016 under number 29690, is the provision that permits it.

The regulation is wider than the field-change case alone. Article 30 also allows a university to apply the program where the applicant's bachelor's or master's degree was awarded by a higher education institution other than the one admitting them. Both grounds share the same stated purpose: closing gaps in subject background before graduate-level coursework starts.

The courses themselves are ordinary university courses, not a separate curriculum. A master's student is generally given undergraduate courses. A doctoral student is generally given master's-level courses, sometimes together with undergraduate ones. The Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University graduate FAQ describes exactly this split.

Two limits matter more than any other detail. Article 30 states that preparatory courses cannot substitute for the courses required to complete the graduate program, so they add work rather than replacing it. Article 30 also states that the grades appear on the record but that the period spent in the program is not counted inside the master's or doctoral duration.

A graduate school is the academic unit within a Turkish university that runs graduate education and manages application and enrolment procedures. The graduate school is where the scientific preparation decision is registered, and where an applicant should direct questions about it.

Who is assigned to a scientific preparatory program?

Article 30 of the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training sets two grounds. A scientific preparatory program may be applied to students whose previous degree is in a field different from the graduate program admitting them, and to students whose previous degree was awarded by a higher education institution other than the admitting one. The regulation permits the program; it does not command it.

That distinction decides a great deal. Because the wording is permissive, two applicants with identical backgrounds can be treated differently by two universities, and sometimes by two departments inside one university. Neither outcome is irregular.

The proposal normally originates with the department or programme council, which compares the applicant's transcript against the graduate program's assumed background. The Istanbul Medeniyet University graduate school describes the chain plainly: the department chair reports the required courses to the graduate school, and the graduate school board approves them before they appear in the student information system.

An international student is a person who is not a citizen of the Republic of Turkey and who is admitted to a higher education institution under international student status. Article 35 of the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training leaves the admission procedures for foreign national applicants to each university senate, which is why the scientific preparation practice an applicant meets is senate-specific rather than national.

Table 1. The two regulatory grounds for assignment and what each one compares

How long does scientific preparation last and what does it do to your degree clock?

Article 30 of the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training sets the ceiling at two semesters and excludes summer teaching from that count. The period cannot be extended except through approved leave of absence. A student who has not succeeded by the end of the period loses enrolment. The same article states that time spent in the program is not counted inside the master's or doctoral duration.

That exclusion is the point most often misread, so it is worth separating into two effects. The first effect is regulatory: the preparation period does not consume the semesters allotted to the degree itself. Eurydice, the education information network of the European Commission, records the rule in its Türkiye entry for second cycle programmes, last updated 19 May 2025.

The duration of the master's program with thesis is four semesters excluding the period of scientific preparation and the program is completed in maximum six semesters.

— Eurydice, European Commission, last updated 19 May 2025

The second effect is practical, and the regulation does not soften it: the preparation period is real calendar time. A student who spends two semesters in a scientific preparatory program before a master's with thesis reaches the thesis stage roughly one academic year later than a student admitted straight into coursework. A master's with thesis is a graduate program completed through coursework and the preparation of a thesis, and its four-semester clock starts only once that coursework begins.

The maximum period of study is the longest duration set out in regulation within which a graduate program must be completed before the right to enrolment ends. Preparation time sits outside that maximum, which protects the student from being pushed toward the limit by a decision they did not make.

What should you check before you accept a place that includes scientific preparation?

The decision is usually communicated after admission rather than before it, which leaves a short window for questions. Four items settle almost every practical uncertainty: which courses were assigned, whether graduate courses may run alongside them, what the passing standard is, and how the added semesters affect enrolment status. Each of these is answered by the graduate school, not by a national rule.

Course lists are the first thing to request in writing. Article 30 leaves attendance, examinations, grading, repeat rules and withdrawal to be fixed by senate regulation, so the answers live in the admitting university's own text rather than in the national regulation.

The second item is concurrency, and universities genuinely diverge here. Article 30 permits a student to take graduate program courses alongside preparatory ones where the department proposes it and the graduate school board approves. Ege University's Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences describes that route as available. The Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University graduate FAQ describes a stricter practice in which graduate coursework begins only after the preparatory courses are complete.

• Request the assigned course list in writing from the graduate school before enrolment

• Ask whether graduate program courses may be taken during the preparatory semesters

• Ask the graduate school which minimum passing standard applies to preparatory courses

• Confirm how many semesters the department expects the preparation to take

• Ask which senate regulation governs attendance and repeat rules at that university

• Confirm with the graduate school how enrolment status is recorded during the period

The Dokuz Eylül University Graduate School of Social Sciences states that failure to complete the preparatory courses within two semesters ends enrolment. That consequence is why the written course list matters more than any verbal assurance.

How do graduate schools differ in how they run the program?

Article 30 fixes the ceiling and the purpose, then hands the operating detail to each university senate. The result is a national floor with substantial variation above it. Course caps, credit loads, concurrency and passing standards all differ between graduate schools, and all of them are decided locally.

Course volume is one visible axis. The Karadeniz Technical University Graduate School of Social Sciences sets a cap of six courses. Ege University's Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences expresses the limit as a credit load per semester rather than a course count.

Passing standards are a second axis. Several graduate schools, including the Karadeniz Technical University Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Dokuz Eylül University Graduate School of Social Sciences, set a minimum passing grade for preparatory courses that sits above the pass mark used for ordinary coursework. The grades are recorded on the transcript, and the Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University graduate FAQ states that they are kept outside the graduate grade point average.

Table 2. Where graduate school practice diverges above the regulatory floor

How should you weigh an offer that includes scientific preparation?

An offer carrying scientific preparation is still an offer of admission, and the added semesters are governed by a rule that protects the degree clock. The question is whether the added calendar time, the extra coursework and the local passing standard are acceptable in exchange for entry into the field the applicant wants. That calculation is personal, but the inputs are knowable in advance.

Two situations deserve different treatment. Where the program was applied because of a field change, the preparatory courses are usually the subject foundation the applicant would otherwise have to acquire informally. Where it was applied because the previous degree came from another institution, the courses may overlap substantially with study already completed, and it is reasonable to ask the department whether any of that overlap can be recognised.

International applicants have one extra item to settle. A student residence permit is the residence permit granted to a foreign national studying in Turkey, allowing them to remain in the country for the duration of their studies. Because the preparation period sits outside the degree duration in academic terms, applicants should confirm with the graduate school and with the Presidency of Migration Management how the period is treated for permit purposes rather than assuming continuity.

1. Obtain the assigned course list and the governing senate regulation from the graduate school in writing.

2. Ask whether any assigned course can be recognised against study already completed, and on what evidence.

3. Establish whether graduate courses may run alongside the preparatory ones at that university.

4. Add the expected preparatory semesters to the published degree duration to see the realistic total.

5. Confirm the residence and enrolment consequences with the graduate school and the Presidency of Migration Management.

6. Compare the resulting timetable against any other offer before responding.

An integrated doctorate is a route allowing admission directly into a doctoral program with a bachelor's degree, without a master's degree. Applicants considering that route should treat the preparation question as more likely rather than less, since the field comparison in Article 30 is made against a doctoral program's assumed background.

Scientific preparation, language preparatory year and scientific assessment: what is the difference?

Three different things are routinely confused because all three sit between admission and the start of graduate coursework. Scientific preparation closes a subject gap. A language preparatory year builds language competence. A scientific assessment is part of the admission decision itself and happens before either of the others.

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. It produces an admission outcome. Scientific preparation, by contrast, is applied to a student who has already been admitted, which is why an applicant can be assigned to it without ever sitting an examination.

The language confusion is the more consequential one. A Certificate of Turkish Proficiency is the document showing an applicant's level of Turkish and required for admission to Turkish-medium programs; the accepted level varies between universities. TÖMER is the common name for the Turkish language teaching centres attached to Turkish universities, which provide Turkish courses and issue certificates of Turkish proficiency. A year spent at a TÖMER centre or in an English preparatory class is a language matter and is governed by different provisions from Article 30. Being exempt from one carries no implication for the other, and a student can be required to complete both.

ALES is the centralised examination administered by the Student Selection and Placement Centre (ÖSYM) and used in applications to graduate programs and in academic staff recruitment in Turkey. ALES sits at the admission stage, alongside the scientific assessment, and has no bearing on whether scientific preparation is applied afterwards.

What to do next

The practical sequence is short. Identify whether either Article 30 ground applies to the specific program, ask the graduate school directly rather than inferring from another university's rules, obtain the assigned course list in writing, and build the preparatory semesters into the timetable before responding to an offer. None of these steps requires waiting for the academic year to begin.

Field comparison is where an applicant can do useful work early. Comparing the subject content of the completed degree against the graduate program's published course list gives a reasonable indication of whether a department is likely to see a gap, well before any decision is issued.

Applicants whose degree was awarded abroad have a second thread to manage in parallel. A Certificate of Recognition is a document confirming that a higher education institution abroad, and the specific program attended there, appear among the institutions recognised by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK); it does not mean the diploma has been declared equivalent to a Turkish qualification. Recognition and scientific preparation are separate processes that can run at the same time.

• Compare the completed degree's subject content against the target program's published course list

• Ask the admitting graduate school, in writing, whether Article 30 is applied to that program

• Request the assigned course list and the governing senate regulation before enrolment

• Add the expected preparatory semesters to the published degree duration

• Confirm enrolment and residence consequences with the graduate school and the Presidency of Migration Management

• Recheck conditions for the academic year of application, since senate rules are reviewed annually

Conditions are set per academic year and vary between universities, so a rule confirmed for one intake should be confirmed again for the next.

Real-World Examples

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

Amina — a field change between degrees. Amina holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and is admitted to a master's with thesis in urban planning. The department council compares her transcript against the program's assumed background and proposes a preparatory course set. Amina asks the graduate school for the list in writing and learns that the university allows graduate courses alongside preparatory ones with board approval. She requests that route, and asks the department whether two of the assigned courses overlap with modules she already completed. The department declines the overlap request but confirms the concurrent enrolment, which shortens her realistic timetable without changing the regulation that applies.

Daniyar — same field, different institution. Daniyar completed his bachelor's degree abroad and is admitted to a master's program in the same discipline at a Turkish university. He assumes scientific preparation will not apply, because his field has not changed. The graduate school explains that Article 30 also covers a previous degree awarded by another higher education institution, and that the department reviews course coverage rather than field alone. Daniyar asks which specific coverage gaps were identified. The answer lets him prepare for those courses over the summer and gives him a concrete question to raise if a similar decision arises in a later program.

Leyla — two preparatory tracks at once. Leyla is admitted to a Turkish-medium master's program and receives two separate notifications: one about Turkish language preparation and one about scientific preparation. She initially reads them as the same requirement. The graduate school confirms they are governed by different provisions, held in different records, and that completing one does not exempt her from the other. Leyla asks the graduate school how the two run in sequence at that university and plans her timetable around the answer rather than around an assumption drawn from another university's practice.

Emre — weighing two offers. Emre holds offers from two universities in the same discipline. One applies scientific preparation, the other does not. He builds the preparatory semesters into the published degree duration for the first offer and compares the totals. He then asks each graduate school which senate regulation governs preparatory coursework and what the minimum passing standard is. The comparison does not settle the decision on its own, since supervisor fit and program content also matter, but it replaces a vague worry about delay with a timetable he can actually weigh.

About Mezun Kampüsü
Mezun Kampüsü is a platform that brings together the graduate programs, application calendars and academic announcements of universities in Turkey. Applicants weighing a scientific preparation decision can compare program fields and course structures through Atlas, follow the application periods of individual graduate schools, track announcements from universities as conditions are revised for each academic year, and start a free application through the Universities section.
Update Information
Published: 31 August 2026
Last updated: 31 August 2026
Next review: 30 September 2026

Legal Notice

This article is general information about scientific preparatory programs in Turkish graduate education. It is not personal academic, legal, financial or immigration advice, and it does not assess any individual application.

The primary regulation described here is the Regulation on Graduate Education and Training, published in the Resmî Gazete on 20 April 2016 under number 29690. Regulations of this kind are amended from time to time, and the consolidated current text should be checked in the Resmî Gazete before any decision is taken. Article 30 leaves attendance, grading, repeat rules and withdrawal to be determined by each university senate, so institutional rules differ and are revised by academic year.

Program conditions, course lists and application calendars are set by individual universities and change between intakes. Applicants should confirm every detail with the admitting university and graduate school, and should confirm residence and permit matters with the Presidency of Migration Management, before acting on any point in this article.

Sources were last checked on 31 August 2026.