Karadeniz Technical University ( or KTÜ) is a public research university in Trabzon, in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Established in 1955, it is the fourth oldest university in Turkey. Karadeniz Technical University is a state university institution subject to the Law No. 2547 on Higher Education in Turkey. It is supported mainly by state funds allocated by the Turkish Parliament. The university has 80 departments, 12 faculties and 6 graduate schools. With 2,159 teaching staff and 31,858 students, Karadeniz Technical University is one of the largest universities in Turkey. History Founded on 20 May 1955, Karadeniz Technical University (KTU) is the fourth oldest university in Turkey, and the first university established outside İstanbul and Ankara. After a period of eight years, on 19 September 1963, the faculties of Natural Sciences, Civil Engineering-Architecture, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and Forestry, which are the foundation stone of today's Karadeniz Technical University, were established. Four months later, on 2 December 1963 the University began its educational activities. The campus site has been gradually expanding since then and, with many social, cultural and sports requirements met on site, it has turned into an outstanding site set in a green belt of woodlands and playing grounds, which makes it one of the best campus settings in the world. Expansion of the university continued with the opening of faculties of Earth Sciences, and medicine in 1973. Twelve km away from the main campus, a new campus has been established where educational faculty with many departments in a variety of teaching fields has been set up. Karadeniz Technical University is still expanding with the introduction of new departments. Faculties of communication and dentistry are the most recent academic units established. Language of instruction Teaching language at Karadeniz Technical University is mainly Turkish. However, the increasing demand towards having courses in English has been taken into consideration by the administration. Recent developments include acceptance of new departments into Obligatory English Preparatory Programme before the commencement of the degree programme. Currently the students of first cycle degree programmes must show the required qualifications in English to be able to start the degree courses. All of the second and third cycle programmes have already been in this process for many years. In departments with English preparatory class, up to 30% of the courses are offered in English. Some of the postgraduate courses are also taught in English. A complete