History:

2015- Memorandum of Understanding (the Agreement) between Hacettepe University (HU) and Michigan State University (MSU) was signed on 12.02.2015 after the approval of Council of Higher Education.

2016- Within the scope of this agreement, on April 9-23, 2016, MSU was visited by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Remziye Yilmaz from Hacettepe University Engineering Faculty Food Engineering Department.

2017- As a result of this visit, it was decided to organize an International Food Biosafety and Biotechnology Workshop on 9-11 October 2017, as well as it was decided to open the International Food Biosafety and Biotechnology Research and Extension Center (IFBBC). The people interviewed during this visit are listed below:

• Professor Dr. Satish Udpa / Vice Rector
• Professor Dr. Brad Day / Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences
• Professor Dr. Rebecca Grumet / Department of Horticulture
• Professor Dr. Karim Maredia / The World Technology Access Program
• Sean C. Lawrie / The Center for Global Connections in Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources
• Professor Dr. Steve Hanson /Associate Provost/Dean, International Studies & Programs
• Professor Dr. Norman Graham, Director, Center for European, Russian & Eurasian Studies
• Professor Dr. Muralee Nair / Department of Horticulture
• Professor Dr. Perry Ng / Associate Chair, Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition
• Professor Dr. Carrie R. Feeheley / College of Law, Interim Assistant Dean of Admissions and International Programs.
• Nurten Ural / Honorary Consul General of Turkey, Detroit and International Advisor to MSU.

On 30 October 2017, with the realization of the workshop and the opening of the Center, a Success Story was read by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) at the American Parliament.

2018- In July 2018, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Remziye Yilmaz, Prof. Dr. Umran Uygun and Prof. Dr. Halil Vural from HU IFBBC participated in the first Scientific Board of Directors meeting at MSU. In November 2018, Prof. Dr. Muraleedharan Nair and Dr. Sean Lawrie from MSU visited Hacettepe University to give various seminars. Also, Nurten Ural, US Honorary Consul General of North America, visited Hacettepe University to introduce MSU.

2019- In March 2019, from MSU, Prof. Dr. Zeynep Ustunol, Dr. Robert Coffey and Lewis Cardenas and Honorary Consul General Nurten Ural visited Hacettepe University to give a conference and to make various contacts to increase coordination between the two universities.   

With the establishment of the center, Mevlana and Erasmus+ K107 (Key Action 1 – Mobility for learners and staff – Higher Education Student and Staff Mobility Inter-institutional agreement 2014-20[21] between HU and MSU) Agreements were signed between Michigan State University and Hacettepe University.

On 12-26 May 2019, Researchers from MSU visited Hacettepe University to carry out the project titled as “Performing Risk Assessment in Genetically Modified Food and Feed Products Using Omic Technologies”.

In June 2019, IFBBC was nominated in the “International Cooperation” category for the Council of Higher Education Corporate Excellence Award as a successful international cooperation model.

Established in a medium-sized area, IFBBC will host such meetings under the current HUNITEK (Hacettepe University Applied Technologies Application and Research Center) and the cooperation between the two universities will continue to increase.