Prof. Burcu Balçık Honored with Professor Luk Van Wassenhove Career Award at 2023 EURO HOpe Conference in Recognition of Her Contributions in Humanitarian Operations

Prof. Burcu Balçık, a faculty member at the Industrial Engineering Department and the Academic Director of the Sustainability Platform at Özyeğin University, was honored with the prestigious Professor Luk Van Wassenhove Career Award at the 7th EURO HOpe Conference held in the United Kingdom this year in recognition of her outstanding research and valuable contributions to humanitarian operations.

This distinguished accolade is presented to researchers who have drawn attention to practical challenges in humanitarian operations, employed rigorous research methods in their research, disseminated their research results through peer-reviewed publications and case studies, contributed to practice with applicable recommendations, and completed their doctoral studies at least 7 years ago.

Prof. Balçık attended the award ceremony online on September 18, and expressed her gratitude to those who nominated her for the award, the award jury, conference organizers, fellow researchers, and her students. In her speech, she also fondly commemorated her late doctoral advisor, Prof. Benita Beamon, who introduced her to the field of humanitarian logistics and sadly passed away at a young age in 2014. Prof. Balçık also extended special thanks to Luk Van Wassenhove for his significant contributions to the field of humanitarian operations.

Prof. Balçık highlighted that the past year has been challenging, particularly in the aftermath of earthquakes in the country. She noted that this challenging period required significant efforts from her and many fellow academicians in the field. She also stressed that this meaningful award would serve as a great source of motivation and strength to face future challenges. Prof. Balçık pointed out that numerous studies are currently concentrated on Istanbul's resilience and preparedness, given its vulnerability to a high-magnitude earthquake. She expressed her hope that the dedicated efforts and hard work of academicians and other stakeholders will yield prompt results.