Ondokuz Mayıs University is a state university founded in 1975 in Samsun. The university bears the name “19 May”, which marks the date when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey, came to Samsun in order to start the War of Independence.

With over 52.000 students and 2500 academic staff, Ondokuz Mayıs University is one of the leading universities in Turkey in terms of staff quality and number, academic and social facilities and infrastructure. OMU provides a pleasant and productive environment for its students and staff regarding accommodation, transportation, sports facilities, cultural and social environment.

OMU consists of 15 Faculties (Aeronautics and Space Sciences, Agriculture, Architecture, Arts And Sciences, Communication, Dentistry, Theology, Economics and Administrative Sciences, Education, Engineering, Fine Arts, Law, Medicine, Tourism, Veterinary Medicine), 1 Conservatoire (OMU Samsun State Conservatoire), 3 Schools (School of Civil Aviation, School of Foreign Languages, Samsun Health School), 11 Vocational Schools and 5 Institutes (Educational Sciences, Fine Arts, Health Sciences, Science and Technology, and Social Sciences).

Ondokuz Mayıs University puts emphasis on internationalization process and provision of necessary information, technology, communication and human resources against increasing competition in education in order to make progress in rapidly globalizing world and to be recognized in international platforms. For this purpose, internationalization is one of the main objectives of Ondokuz Mayıs University; enhancement of the quality of education and researches is also of the utmost importance for international employability of graduates. OMU aims to create a campus area in which international interaction and communication are at top level, and to encourage the students and staff to experience international cultures and educational environments.

Bologna Process has acted as an accelerator for establishing an understanding of quality assurance and sustainable development. The Bologna Process aims to create a consistent and competitive “European Higher Education Area” based on mutual understanding and complementarity among European countries. This process, which is rapidly growing and which has a dynamic nature, is not an adaptation of a new system; in fact, it is a movement of “innovation in education” that unifies existing systems.

Within the framework of Bologna Process, OMU makes continuous effort on developing the academic programs in order to enhance the quality of education and research, and to increase the quantity and quality of the international mobility. Every year, increasing number of incoming and outgoing students benefits from mobility programs like Erasmus+ and Mevlana Exchange Programme.

In addition to the mobility programs, academic cooperation protocols also open the way for developing international cooperation. Our University has 196 Erasmus Agreements with 24 European countries, and 75 Mevlana protocols with 25 countries.

The number of international degree students studying at Ondokuz Mayıs University is increasing every year as an indicator of our objective for creating an international campus. Today, Ondokuz Mayıs University is one of the leading universities in Turkey with approximately 2200 foreign students from 89 countries.

Ondokuz Mayıs University started to hold the International Student Entrance Examination (OMU-ISE) as of 2011-2012 academic year, which is the first in Turkey. The main objective of the examination is to provide a standard for the application criteria and to facilitate the application process. For increasing the accessibility of the examination, OMU-ISE was held in 26 centers in 16 different countries (Turkey, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Iran, Kosova, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia South Africa, Switzerland and a Tajikistan) for 2012-2013 Academic Year, and in 34 centers in 22 different countries for the 2015-2016 Academic Year. Approximately 5000 students apply for the examination each year. OMU-ISE is accepted as an admission criterion for international students by 109 Universities (66 State and 43 Foundation) in Turkey.