İstanbul Aydın University Faculty of Pharmacy was established in accordance with the Presidential Decree No. 7477 dated August 3, 2023, and published in the Official Gazette No. 32269 on August 4, 2023.
The mission of our Faculty of Pharmacy is to educate pharmacists who can undertake responsibilities throughout the entire process—from drug research and development to the rational and effective use of medicines—while upholding ethical values, contributing to national and international scientific advancement, and providing scientific consultancy to institutions related to pharmaceuticals and pharmacy.
Our faculty is located on the Istanbul Aydın University Florya Campus. The campus, which offers open access areas for our students, consists of 300,000 m² of open space and 280,000 m² of indoor facilities. Our faculty operates in Block M and benefits from campus amenities such as 10 conference halls, 6 classrooms allocated specifically to our faculty, two libraries with access to more than 700,000 resources including over 103,000 printed books in Turkish and foreign languages, 42 databases, study areas equipped with modern computers, cafeterias, dining halls, a health center, a girls’ dormitory, a living center, guesthouses, recreational areas, sports and social facilities—all allowing our students to engage in a wide range of cultural and social activities.
Our faculty comprises three departments—Pharmaceutical Technology, Pharmaceutical Professional Sciences, and Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences—and eight divisions under these departments. Each division includes esteemed academic staff who are experts in their respective fields, have completed their doctoral studies in pharmacy faculties, and have long served in pharmacy education.
Our curriculum has been prepared in alignment with Bologna criteria and the National Pharmacy Core Education Program, aiming to train pharmacists who are recognized both nationally and internationally. The first two years of education cover foundational courses and introductory professional courses. Professional courses, including theoretical lectures and laboratory practices, will continue throughout the program. During their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years, students will complete summer internships, and in the 5th year, they will undertake internships during the academic term in community pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, or pharmaceutical/cosmetic production facilities. Our internship directive is prepared in accordance with the core internship education program. The fact that our faculty is located on the same campus as the Istanbul Aydın University Faculty of Medicine Hospital contributes significantly to the effective execution of hospital internships and clinical pharmacy education.
The laboratory infrastructure of our faculty has been designed to meet educational and instructional requirements. In accordance with the minimum standards necessary for initiating and maintaining pharmacy programs, our faculty includes five fully equipped laboratories for undergraduate education: Pharmaceutical Technology Laboratory, Pharmaceutical Botany and Pharmacognosy Laboratory, Biochemistry/Analytical Chemistry/Pharmaceutical Chemistry Laboratory, Pharmaceutical Toxicology/Pharmaceutical Microbiology Laboratory, and a shared Microscopy Laboratory used jointly with our Faculty of Medicine. The equipment in these laboratories is sufficient in number and capacity to allow students to conduct individual studies.
Additionally, the infrastructure of the Istanbul Aydın University Health Sciences Research Laboratories—which includes an ELISA reader, PCR devices, electrophoresis systems, gas chromatography, a cell culture laboratory, -80°C freezers, and cold rooms—may be utilized for student research projects conducted with academic advisors, as well as for research activities performed by faculty members.
With the guidance of advisors and well-structured course plans, students will gain advanced competencies in the areas they choose—community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, industrial pharmacy, or clinical pharmacy—through elective courses taken in their final year. The diploma supplement, issued alongside the diploma, will enhance graduates’ international employment opportunities by documenting their elective courses, completed projects, and academic performance. Students are also encouraged to continue part of their education abroad within the framework of Erasmus programs in partner faculties of pharmacy.
During the 5th year, students will prepare a research project on a topic determined together with their advisors and will present it before a jury, thereby qualifying for graduation at the master’s level.
Graduates of our faculty will be able to work not only as community pharmacists but also—in line with their elective course preferences—in hospital pharmacies, the pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical warehouses, cosmetic production facilities, R&D centers, public institutions such as the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency, and as academics in universities.
We place great emphasis on collaboration between the pharmaceutical industry and universities in pharmacy education. One of our primary goals is to train highly qualified pharmacists who meet the needs of the pharmaceutical industry. We have established partnerships to bring students together with the industry during their internships and graduation projects. Our faculty laboratories have the physical infrastructure and technological equipment required to carry out all kinds of academic research alongside undergraduate education. Following student admissions, it is planned to establish graduate programs to continue academic studies and encourage students to pursue postgraduate education.
Works continue between Büyükçekmece Municipality and Istanbul Aydın University to establish the Büyükçekmece Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Center. Within the Faculty of Pharmacy, studies can be carried out on the extraction of essential oils, fixed oils, and herbal extracts from medicinal and aromatic plants, and their evaluation in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry—such as the development of colognes, soaps, creams, skincare products, room sprays, and pharmaceutical excipients. Preparing a herbarium collection and a digital herbarium, along with providing field practice opportunities for students, are also among the objectives of this project.
