Department of Economics

History of the Department

Istanbul Ticaret University offers undergraduate programmes in economics in both English and Turkish. The English programme was launched in 2011, followed by the Turkish programme in 2012. As of 2024, there are 7 faculty members and approximately 200 students enrolled. Since its establishment in 2011, Mehmet Babacan, Ali Osman Öztürk, Elçin Aykaç Alp and Ahmet Kara have served as department chairs. Faculty members who have served or are currently serving in the department include Elçin Aykaç Alp, Mehmet Babacan, Ömer Faruk Batırel, Aydın Çelen, Oğuz Demir, Nurullah Gür, Ahmet Kara, Yunus Özcan, Ali Osman Öztürk, Sinem Sefil and Murat Ali Yülek. The English and Turkish Master’s programmes in the Department of Economics were opened in 2012. The Department of Economics provides four-year undergraduate education at the Faculty of Business. The language of education in the Department of Economics is English. Preparatory education is provided at the Küçükyalı campus, while undergraduate education is provided at the Sütlüce campus.

Aim of the Department

Economics is a fundamental tool for understanding the complex and dynamic structure of the world. Economics is a discipline that examines and influences many areas such as the distribution of resources, consumption habits, business activities, and national and international economic policies. The Department of Economics at our University aims to provide students with the fundamental principles of the discipline, develop their analytical skills and equip them with the tools necessary to solve real world problems. The rapid development of information technology has also had an impact on economics.

Istanbul Ticaret University Department of Economics aims to not only provide students with a strong foundation in economic theory and principles but also to exploit the innovations brought by information technologies in scientific education, to benefit from the potential of proposing solutions to economic problems with the benefits they bring, and within this framework, to strengthen the “knowledge-technological” dimension of graduates’ professional formation.

In addition to courses in mathematics, statistics and econometrics, which enable students to develop their analytical skills and provide them with the necessary tools to solve real-world problems, additional courses have been offered since 2022 as part of the “Concentration in Artificial Intelligence in Social Systems and Processes” project, and the curriculum has been enriched in this direction. It is envisaged that the strategy of producing future-oriented science, which will determine the Department’s place in the academic community, will also be based on the intensive use of information technologies.

Areas of Employment for Graduates

Graduates of the economics department can work as analysts and managers in the financial sector, such as private and public banks, investment companies, and capital markets. They can work as economists and analysts in public institutions such as the Ministry of Finance, the Treasury, the Central Bank, and TURKSTAT. They can also find employment opportunities in international organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and similar organizations.