Following the financial crisis experienced in Türkiye in the early 2000s and the regulatory measures implemented in the banking sector thereafter, the Turkish banking industry underwent rapid development. The sector’s total assets, which amounted to TRY 104.3 billion in 2000, reached TRY 1,421 billion by the end of 2012. During this period, the sector expanded by approximately fourteen times, while its ratio to gross domestic product increased from around 45 percent to over 100 percent, surpassing GDP for the first time in history. This rapid expansion and structural transformation of the banking sector have generated demand not only for qualified human capital to work within the sector, but also for individuals with strong academic orientation capable of conducting systematic analysis and research on the sector.

In this context, the PhD Program in Banking aims to equip prospective candidates with advanced analytical thinking skills by covering banking theory alongside economics, finance, accounting, and quantitative methods. The program seeks to foster a research-oriented and inquisitive academic identity, enabling graduates to contribute both to Türkiye’s scientific and educational environment and to the international academic publication landscape.

In addition to examining economic theories and models related to banking theory through empirical research and testing them using quantitative techniques, particular emphasis will be placed on the analysis of risk and efficiency issues in banking institutions.

In this important field of science, the University aspires to become a leading and central institution in cultivating a scholarly community composed of researchers who have internalized theory and policy, and who can analyze rapidly evolving structural financial transformations in the global economic environment at both the macroeconomic and firm levels, thereby contributing to the advancement of scientific knowledge in Türkiye.