- 3,373 applications were submitted by 2,767 national and international participants as part of the application process launched by the Council of Higher Education to strengthen academia’s scientific contribution to COP31, which will be hosted by Türkiye in Antalya

- CoHE President Özvar: “We want to transform COP31 into a strong platform for science and cooperation”

August 19, 2026

The application process launched by the Council of Higher Education (CoHE) ahead of the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31), which will be held in Antalya, Türkiye, attracted strong interest as part of efforts to strengthen the scientific contribution of higher education institutions to the COP31 process.

2,767 participants from national and international higher education institutions submitted applications featuring project, research, cooperation and event proposals for participation in the COP31 process. A total of 3,373 applications were received.

The applications covered a wide range of areas, from research, technology and innovation to university-industry cooperation; from international academic partnerships to events and workshops; and from preparations and awareness-raising activities ahead of COP31.

- Research, Technology and Innovation Ranks First

Of the 3,373 applications submitted, 1,670 were in the area of Research, Technology and Innovation. This was followed by Events, Panels and Workshops with 867 applications; Pre-COP31 Preparations and Awareness with 490 applications; International Academic Cooperation with 180 applications; and University-Industry and Innovation Cooperation with 166 applications.

The concentration of applications across different areas demonstrates that higher education institutions are ready to contribute to the COP31 process not only through research and technology initiatives, but also through academic partnerships, university-industry engagement and awareness-raising activities.

- Academia’s Scientific Knowledge to Be Brought to the COP31 Agenda

The 10 priority themes of COP31 will be taken into consideration in evaluating the applications. These themes include Zero Waste, Oceans and Seas, Food Security, Climate-Resilient Cities, Strengthening Climate Action, Youth and Education, Green Industrialization, Clean Energy Transition, Rio Synergy; and Dynamic and Resilient Health Systems.

Following the evaluation of the applications, CoHE will continue its efforts to ensure that the scientific knowledge, projects and proposed solutions developed by national and international academic communities are brought to greater visibility within the framework of COP31.

The goal is to ensure that the research, technology, innovation and academic cooperation capacities of higher education institutions are more strongly reflected in efforts to advance climate action throughout the COP31 process, which will be hosted by Türkiye.

- Özvar: “We Have Involved All 208 Universities in the Process”

CoHE President Erol Özvar stated that they had transformed the scientific knowledge and expertise of higher education institutions in Türkiye into broad-based and comprehensive academic participation in the COP31 process, noting that all 208 Turkish universities had been involved in the process.

He said that the 3,373 applications submitted by 2,767 unique participants at the national and international levels demonstrated the strong interest COP31 has generated among academic communities.

Özvar noted that the applications had created an opportunity for researchers, universities and academic stakeholders from different countries and fields of science to come together on common ground in the fight against climate change. “We want to transform COP31, which will be hosted by Türkiye, into a strong platform for science and cooperation, drawing not only on the scientific knowledge of our country’s 208 universities but also on the contributions of international academic communities,” he added.

He stated that the projects, research, technology and cooperation proposals put forward by universities in line with COP31’s priority areas provided an important foundation not only for increasing the visibility of scientific knowledge and expertise, but also for turning these contributions into practical climate solutions. “We want to showcase Türkiye’s academic and technological capabilities across different fields, bring together complementary teams at the national and international levels, and turn this collective expertise into practical outcomes,” he said.

Özvar emphasized that the high number of applications in research, technology and innovation demonstrated higher education institutions’ determination to contribute to COP31 by developing scientific solutions, drawing attention to the importance of bringing researchers from different disciplines together around common goals.

Emphasizing that tackling climate change requires the joint contribution of different fields of science, Özvar said, “We need to bring together engineering and the natural sciences with the social sciences, health sciences with law, economics with education, and communications with arts and design to develop joint solutions to these challenges.”

Özvar also stated that Türkiye’s international academic networks would be actively utilized throughout the COP31 process, noting that the COP-SCIENCE platform provides universities, research centers, academic networks and scientists from different countries with an opportunity to develop joint initiatives.