Project Team and Researchers

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Bayrakcı is full-time professor and the Director of the Department of Educational Sciences at Sakarya University Education Faculty. He has been working as an academic person since 2005. He has got his PhD degree in the field of Educational Administration and Supervision. His academic interests consist of Education for Sustainable Development, sustainable schools, inclusive education, school development, information and communication technologies in education and educational administration. Prof. Bayrakcı is currently advising many master’s and doctorate theses and carrying out research projects on these topics. He is also a senior expert in European Union projects. He has taken part in many national and international projects as coordinator and researcher. He has participated in many European Union projects of different types like School Partnerships, Learning Partnerships, Strategic Partnership Projects, Erasmus Intensive Programmes and Network Projects.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gözde Sezen Gültekin is an academician in the Department of Educational Sciences at Sakarya University Education Faculty. She has got her PhD degree in the field of Educational Administration and Supervision. Her academic interests consist of sustainable development and education, teacher training, organizational behaviour, organizational sustainability, organizational resilience, technology in administration, women leadership, entrepreneurship, lifelong education. She has got more than 50 publications about sustainability in education, organizational behaviour, ICT usage in education and administration etc.

Prof. Dr. Seyhan Fırat is currently working in the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Gazi University. He completed his master's degree in 1992 at the Institute of Science, Gazi University. He completed his doctorate at the University of Glamorgan, Cardiff, England. He holds the EU-supported certificate for strengthening the Vocational Education and Training system in Turkey and the EU-supported certificate for developing the Vocational Education and Training system in Turkey. He has coordinated many international projects and international conferences. Prof. Fırat is experienced in curriculum development, educational material development, e-platform and mobile applications, student assessment and evaluation of educational programs. Prof. Fırat teaches undergraduate/graduate courses, conducts master's and doctoral theses, and prepares numerous articles, research projects and theses in these areas. His research results have been published in more than 200 articles/proceedings and book/book chapters. He is the editor of the proceedings of the first and second international earthquake and sustainable materials workshops. He actively participates in international projects. He has successfully completed more than 50 projects at national and international levels. He conducts research and joint projects with International Institutions including Universities in England, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, India, Bangladesh, Greece, Latvia and Bulgaria. He actively carries out studies in this field, aware that Türkiye is an earthquake country.

Prof. Dr. Zehra Ayhan is a professor at Sakarya University, Department of Food Engineering. She received her master's and doctorate degrees in food packaging at The Ohio State University in the USA between 1994-2000. After her doctorate, she worked on topics such as the development of new packaging materials, active and intelligent packaging technologies, the development of sustainable food packaging materials, food-packaging interactions and shelf life. Her current research interests include the development of sustainable and innovative food and food packaging from agricultural and industrial food waste. She has served as an experienced researcher and contributed to many COST activities at the European Union level as a member of the central committee and working groups. She has been working as an independent expert, evaluator and monitor in European Union Projects since 2004.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Adem Tekerek, currently an Associate Professor at Gazi University's Faculty of Technology in the Department of Computer Engineering, has a strong background in software development, artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, data mining, and information security. He completed his undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in Electronics and Computer Education at Gazi University, with a PhD thesis on real-time web application firewall algorithms for web-based intrusion prevention under Prof. Dr. Ömer Faruk Bay's supervision. Throughout his academic career, Dr. Tekerek has held various roles at Gazi University and Hacettepe University. His experience spans roles such as Specialist and Head of Department within Gazi University's Information Technology Department. He has supervised numerous graduate students, contributed to international and national projects, and has an extensive publication record in fields including IoT security, machine learning for healthcare, and artificial intelligence-based security solutions. Dr. Tekerek's technical expertise includes programming languages such as Python, PHP, C#, C, and C++, as well as database management and web design tools. His teaching portfolio covers undergraduate and graduate courses on subjects such as information security, data mining, game programming, and software engineering at institutions including Gazi University, National Defense University, and Ankara Medipol University.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gülden Kaya Uyanık is the director of the Department of Measurement and Evaluation in Education at Sakarya University. She has got her a PhD in the field of Measurement and Evaluation in Education. Her academic interests are classroom measurements, evaluation activities in schools, evaluation of educational programs, and measurement tools used in education. She has worked as a researcher in many national and international projects aiming to develop various educational models.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ömer Cem Karacaoğlu is an academician at Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Education, and currently continues his work as a visiting researcher at the University of Delaware Disaster Research Center in the United States. Here, he focuses on the development of digital disaster literacy and skill-based disaster education programs. Karacaoğlu, who has undertaken important academic studies in the fields of environmental awareness, teacher competencies, and online education in Turkey, leads many projects at Teknopark İzmir and develops software in the private sector. He also shares his knowledge with the academy and the public by organizing various seminars and workshops on topics such as disaster awareness, environmental awareness, teachers' artificial intelligence competencies, and the use of technology in education. Karacaoğlu, who develops education programs at national and international levels, has projects supported by prestigious funds such as Teknopark, Erasmus+, and TÜBİTAK.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Emin Usta currently works at Sakarya University Faculty of Education. Having started working as a faculty member in the Department of Educational Sciences in 2013, Mehmet Emin Usta has undertaken significant academic studies in the field of educational administration. During his tenure, he has held administrative positions at various levels in academic and administrative units. In addition, he has served as a researcher and coordinator in numerous European Union-supported projects. He has contributed to many national and international scientific articles and congresses, and has conducted research on topics such as educational administration, leadership, and school management.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. İbrahim Limon works as a teacher of English at Sakarya Mithatpaşa Anatolian High School. He got his PhD degree in Educational Administration and Supervision in 2019. His doctoral thesis was on teachers’ change fatigue, demoralization, and job performance. He published several articles in both national and international journals. He developed and adapted various scales into Turkish. He presented many papers at conferences and edited an international book in English. His research interests are sustainable leadership, instructional leadership, organizational behaviour, school and teacher resilience and educational change. He is the language editor of an international journal and among the national editorial team. He worked as one of the organizing committee members of an international conference which was held in different countries during the past few years.

Dr. Işıl AYAS is a member of the Faculty of Political Sciences at Sakarya University. She completed her doctorate in the Department of Finance at Sakarya University. She conducts research in the fields of public finance and finance theory. The researcher, who has various studies in the field of sustainable public finance, has academic interests in the integration of sustainable development goals with fiscal sustainability, tax, expenditure, and budget policies. He has received extensive training in data analysis and reporting. In addition to being responsible for the project's budget and financial affairs, he contributes to the project's outputs and activities by conducting research on ‘financial sustainability in school organisations’ and ‘the effective and efficient use of economic resources in sustainable schools’.

Dr. Osman Titrek is a Professor at Sakarya University, Faculty of Education and a faculty member at the Department of Educational Sciences. He received his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees from Ankara University, Faculty of Educational Sciences in the field of Educational Administration and Supervision. Her academic interests include education for sustainable development, entrepreneurial schools, lifelong learning, emotional intelligence, leadership school development and management of higher education. Prof. Dr. Osman Titrek is currently supervising numerous master's and doctoral theses and conducting research projects on these topics. He also has significant experience in European Union projects. He has worked as coordinator, consultant and researcher in many national and international projects. He has been involved in many European Union projects of different types such as school partnerships, learning partnerships, strategic partnership projects and Erasmus+ intensive program projects.

Sadık Demirbağ is a lecturer at the Office of the Dean for Research at Sakarya University and a Ph.D. candidate at Dokuz Eylül University on European Union Studies, continuing his academic studies on the digital transformation of the European Union public sphere. The main areas of his work/research are digitalization, EU-Türkiye relations, media studies, migration, and project cycle management. Until now, he has worked as a manager, project writer, and implementer in Erasmus+ projects such as learning mobility of individuals, strategic partnerships, and Jean Monnet support.

Bedir Bayram is a superintendent at Erenler District Directorate of National Education who is responsible for the local and international projects unit and is also the leader of the institution's strategy development department. He is an educational leader primarily responsible for the institution's research and development, innovation and content development, project planning and organization, local and international cooperation and network development. Bedir Bayram has carried out more than 40 projects under the name of Lifelong Learning Programs (Comenius, Gruntvig, Leonardo Vetpro) since 2005.

Dr. Cansu Bayrakcı is a school psychologist at Sakarya Bahçelievler Primary School. She holds a master's degree in Family Counseling and a doctorate in Psychology. She has presented many academic articles and conferences on psychology and education. Bayrakcı will play a role in dialogue and communication between academics and other members of the education system, including those to be taken from the school, participants, local education meetings and representatives of civil society in the SustainEu Jean Monnet Module.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Hatice Neslihan Demiriz is a faculty member at Istanbul Topkapı University. Her research focuses on foreign/second language teaching, teacher competence, and inclusive education through bilingualism, multilingualism, and multiculturalism. She has participated in numerous projects on diverse themes, including EU-funded initiatives such as SUSTAINEU and DESI, focusing on sustainable school models, inclusive pedagogies, and the development of instructional materials for teaching Turkish as a foreign language. With teaching experience at undergraduate and graduate levels, she develops content that supports digital open education, accessible materials, and the integration of critical thinking, academic writing, and research skills into language instruction. Her academic and applied work aligns with European and global citizenship education goals. 

Barış Güngör has been working in his profession for 17 years and has 11 years of experience as a school principal. He holds a master's degree in Educational Administration from Sakarya University. Through the Erasmus+ projects he has conducted at the schools where he has worked, he has provided valuable experiences for both teachers and students. Thanks to his experience in institutional management, where he has taken on coordinator responsibilities, he has gained expertise in combating climate change and sustainability. To date, he has led five multi-partner Erasmus projects aimed at enhancing institutional capacity. He is currently working as a provincial trainer in the sustainability in education program, run in collaboration with UNICEF and the Ministry of National Education.

Pınar Güngör has 17 years of professional experience, including 7 years in management. She holds a master’s degree in Educational Administration from Sakarya University and is pursuing a PhD in Primary Education. Her class performed successfully in international TIMSS exams while she was a teacher. As an administrator, she served as the project contact person for three Erasmus+ projects at the schools she worked at, coordinating these projects. She has built a wide network with colleagues across Europe.