The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) 2015 Entrepreneurial and Innovative University Index, which lists Turkey's top 50 entrepreneurial and innovative universities, was announced yesterday by Science, Industry and Technology Minister Fikri Işık at a press conference held at TÜBİTAK.

While Sabancı University topped this year's list with 88.40 points, it was followed by Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) and Boğaziçi University with 85.96 points and 79.66 points, respectively.

This index, which began being compiled four years ago, has become a list that everyone waits impatiently to hear the results. Işık emphasized that this index is not a list that ranks universities in order according to their educational quality or a rating system that represents the most successful university. "The aim of this index is to measure the entrepreneurial and innovative performances of universities," Işık stressed.

Universities are categorized based on 23 different indicators of scientific and technological research abilities, intellectual property pool, cooperation and interaction, entrepreneurship and innovation culture, economic contribution and commercialization. The points of all universities in the list this year increased compared to the previous year, suggesting a countrywide trend of placing more focus on entrepreneurship and innovation.