KutmanLab launches its new website
Research, people, publications and news, now in one place and in two languages.
News
Announcements, new papers, awards and events from the lab.
2026
KutmanLab at Nitrogen 2026 in Gatersleben
Burak Tunçbaş presented a poster on urea-loaded biodegradable superabsorbent polymers and nitrogen use efficiency in wheat at the 6th International Symposium on the Nitrogen Nutrition of Plants.
Nordik biosensor project we co-advise receives TÜBİTAK TEYDEB 1507 support
The LAMP-based biosensor project of Nordik, a venture of two GTÜ Institute of Biotechnology PhD students that our lab helps advise, has received TÜBİTAK TEYDEB 1507 support.
Aleyna Su Bostan gave the valedictorian speech at the graduation ceremony
Aleyna Su Bostan, who presented her graduation project in May, spoke as valedictorian at the graduation ceremony on 11 July 2026.
Ezgi Şengül, Zehra Sena Behram and Emir Taha Selman complete their MSc degrees
Ezgi Şengül, Zehra Sena Behram and Emir Taha Selman completed their MSc degrees and attended the graduation ceremony on 11 July 2026.
Ayşenur Bayrak's paper is published in Agronomy
A paper by Ayşenur Bayrak has been published in Agronomy, another Q1 publication from our lab.
Our team made a technical visit to Keskin Kimya
On June 16, 2026 our team visited Keskin Kimya with the GTÜ Technology Transfer Office to discuss joint projects in plant nutrition, agricultural R&D and biotechnological applications.
Ömer Faruk Taştan's paper is published in Horticulturae
A paper by Ömer Faruk Taştan of our lab has been published in the journal Horticulturae.
Our Cystoseira barbata paper is among the most-read articles in Physiologia Plantarum
Our paper on brown seaweed Cystoseira barbata extracts as biostimulants for wheat seedlings is among the top 10% most-read articles published in Physiologia Plantarum in 2024.
Two TÜBİTAK 2209 proposals from our lab conditionally accepted
Project proposals by Elif Mutluay and Aleyna Su Bostan to the TÜBİTAK 2209 undergraduate programme were conditionally accepted.
Nobel laureate Morten Meldal gave a seminar at the Congress Center
Prof. Morten Meldal, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2022, gave a seminar at the Congress Center on 10 April 2026.
Our research assistant Rıfat Buğra Bildiri wins the best oral presentation award at CSRW26
Our research assistant Rıfat Buğra Bildiri won the best oral presentation award at CSRW26 in Thessaloniki with his study on duckweed and mineral recovery from agricultural wastewater.
Our team's startup Lentify wins first place in the TTO Business Plan Competition
Lentify, an early-stage startup run by members of our team, won first place in the TTO Business Plan Competition and received a prize of 100,000 TL.
We met high school students on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science
On 11 February 2026 Bahar Yıldız Kutman spoke to 300 students at Çayırova Girls' Anatolian İmam Hatip High School, and our team ran a plant pigment extraction activity.
We hosted the management of Teknopark İstanbul at our R&D greenhouse
Teknopark İstanbul General Manager Prof. Dr. Abdurrahman Akyol and Board Member Dr. Mehmet Akif Özyurt visited the R&D greenhouse of the GTÜ Institute of Biotechnology.
2025
Our lab sent 16 abstracts to the Biotech Solutions for Sustainability congress
Our lab took part in the 2nd International Congress on Biotech Solutions for Sustainability, hosted by GTÜ, with 16 abstracts.
Yağmur Arıkan Algül has received her PhD
Yağmur Arıkan Algül, who carried out her doctoral research in our lab, has been awarded her PhD.
Tarım2030 platform project accepted: GTÜ will lead two of its productization projects
The Migros-coordinated Tarım2030 project was accepted under the TÜBİTAK 1833 SAYEM Green Transformation call; GTÜ is a coordinating partner and our lab takes part in the work.
Our high school internship programme has started
Our high school internship programme started on 24 July 2025 at the Plant Biotechnology, Physiology and Nutrition Lab of Gebze Technical University.
Our startup Lentify advances to the third stage of EIT Jumpstarter 2025
Lentify, the early-stage startup run by our team, ranked in the top 10 of the EIT Food category in EIT Jumpstarter 2025 and qualified for the third stage, the Local Joint Training.
Rıfat Buğra Bildiri completed his thesis defence
Rıfat Buğra Bildiri, a member of our team, defended his master's thesis on 7 July 2025.
Our students at the UrbanFarm 2025 final: team Flourish takes first place
Başak Ayyıldız and Simay Akpınar, who did their graduation projects in our lab, represented Türkiye at the UrbanFarm 2025 final in Stockholm; Başak's team Flourish won first place.
We held an ICP-OES workshop on element analysis for the GTÜ-BİOS club
On May 24, 2025, research assistant Burak Tunçbaş from our lab trained GTÜ-BİOS club students in element analysis with ICP-OES, from acid digestion to interpreting the results.
We presented our research to an Anadolu Group Holding delegation
On May 9, 2025, an Anadolu Group Holding delegation with representatives from Migros, Coca Cola, Anadolu Efes and Adel visited the GTÜ Institute of Biotechnology and heard about our research.
Ümit Barış Kutman joined the water episode of Günlük Hayat Bilimi on TRT Belgesel
Ümit Barış Kutman, one of the principal investigators of our lab, took part as a guest expert in the water episode of Günlük Hayat Bilimi on TRT Belgesel.
İGSAŞ delegation visited our lab and the R&D greenhouse
On April 22, 2025, our PIs Bahar Yıldız Kutman and Ümit Barış Kutman accompanied an İGSAŞ delegation on a tour of the GTÜ Institute of Biotechnology and our R&D greenhouse.
Naturalg project takes second place at TechXtile Challenge'24
Buse Bıyıklı and Rıfat Buğra Bildiri's Naturalg project won second place in the Level-Up category of the 6th TechXtile Challenge Design Competition.
Undergraduate projects we advise win TÜBİTAK 2209-A support
In the 2024/1 term of the TÜBİTAK 2209-A programme, 11 undergraduate research projects from the GTÜ Institute of Biotechnology were funded, several of them advised by our PIs.
Five of our six TÜBİTAK 2209-A applications were accepted
Five of the six TÜBİTAK 2209-A applications submitted from our lab were accepted.
2024
We completed our sixth OpenLab event
At OpenLab 6 on 21 December 2024 the lab shared elemental analysis results for mineral waters alongside the values on their labels.
Bahar Yıldız Kutman speaks at the Gastromasa Gastronomy Conference
At the Gastromasa Gastronomy Conference in Istanbul on 13-14 November 2024, our PI Bahar Yıldız Kutman discussed university and industry collaboration with Eataly Istanbul chef Claudio Chinali.
The Agriculture Minister of the Philippines visited our greenhouse
On September 3, 2024, the Agriculture Minister of the Philippines visited the greenhouse that our lab runs at the GTÜ Institute of Biotechnology.
Three oral presentations from our lab at Biotech4Sus'24
Rıfat Buğra Bildiri, Ayşenur Bayrak and Elif Özlem Günçaldı gave oral presentations at Biotech4Sus'24.
GTÜ TTO invests in Agriverts, a student start-up advised by our PI
GTÜ TTO Inc. took a 3% stake in Agriverts, the vertical farming AI start-up founded by GTÜ student Abdullah Duman and advised by our PI Ümit Barış Kutman.
2023
We completed our Open Lab 5 event at the GTÜ Institute of Biotechnology
We completed our Open Lab 5 event at the GTÜ Institute of Biotechnology on December 23, 2023.
Our PI Ümit Barış Kutman joined a panel at the Green R&D Conference
Our PI Ümit Barış Kutman spoke about green R&D and start-ups in agriculture on the Green Start-Up World panel at the Green R&D Conference on 15 November 2023.
Visit to Plant Factory's İstinyePark vertical farm with the GTÜ rector
Together with GTÜ Rector Prof. Dr. Hacı Ali Mandal and Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Işıl Aksan Kurnaz, we visited Plant Factory's vertical farming facility inside the İstinyePark shopping mall.
Seven talks from our lab in one block at the BioTürkiye congress
Seven researchers from our lab gave oral presentations at the BioTürkiye congress in Istanbul, 28 to 30 September 2023.
Our second 1003 project in the TÜBİTAK and TAGEM joint call has been accepted
Our second proposal to the TÜBİTAK and TAGEM joint 1003 call was accepted at the end of a rapid revision process.
Our lab ran a stand at the GTÜ and İstanbul Teknopark protocol launch
Our lab ran a stand at the launch of the GTÜ and İstanbul Teknopark cooperation protocol.
Plant Factory opens at İstinye Park
The Plant Factory opened at İstinye Park on 27 April 2023, and its first produce went on sale at the İstinye Park Macrocenter.
BAP ADEP project on a soilless substrate from tomato waste accepted
Our project to develop a soilless growing substrate from tomato waste was accepted under the ADEK programme with a total budget of about 1,116,000 TL.
Our TÜBİTAK 1003 project on mycorrhiza and bacteria consortia from domestic isolates is accepted
Under the TÜBİTAK and TAGEM 1003 Agricultural Research Joint Call, the mycorrhiza and bacteria consortium project led by Ümit Barış Kutman was accepted for support.
Özgür Altundaş defended his MSc thesis
Özgür Altundaş successfully defended his MSc thesis at the Institute of Biotechnology on 6 March 2023.
Our contributions to the fourth edition of Marschner's Mineral Nutrition of Plants
Ümit Barış Kutman wrote chapter 9, Mineral Nutrition and Crop Quality, and Bahar Yıldız Kutman the Nickel section of chapter 7 of the fourth edition, published in December 2022.
2022
LignoNANO project accepted under the 1004 Centres of Excellence Support Programme
The LignoNANO project, coordinated by the Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM) and with our lab as a research partner, has been accepted under the 1004 Centres of Excellence Support Programme.
Cooperation protocol signed with MNS University of Agriculture, Multan
Gebze Technical University has signed a cooperation protocol with MNS University of Agriculture in Multan, Pakistan, and our lab has been invited to the partner's online seminars.
Taşkın Kerem Koçak defends his thesis at GTÜ
Taşkın Kerem Koçak defended his thesis on 17 August 2022 in the amphitheatre on the basement floor of our new building at GTÜ.
Our vertical farming R&D facility with Plant Factory opens at GTÜ
The indoor vertical farming R&D facility built with Plant Factory in the greenhouse area of the GTÜ Institute of Biotechnology opened on 28 July 2022.
Arzum x Vahaa Smart Garden, developed with our lab, is launched
The home soilless smart garden, first product of about a year of R&D collaboration between the GTÜ Institute of Biotechnology and the start-up Vahaa, was launched in Istanbul on 27 May 2022.
Domestically built smart agriculture automation device Farmomnia installed at GTÜ
Farmomnia, a domestically produced smart agriculture automation device developed under the MANAKİN and GTÜ collaboration, was installed in the LAVFARM laboratory on campus.
2021
We took part in the first GTÜ and GÜBRETAŞ R&D workshop
The first GTÜ and GÜBRETAŞ R&D workshop was held at the GTÜ Congress and Culture Centre, with our PI Ümit Barış Kutman among the participants.
Student startup Agriverts to give soilless and vertical farming training
Agriverts, a startup founded by GTÜ students and alumni, will give soilless and vertical farming training in pilot schools with GTÜ TTO and our institute, the GTÜ Institute of Biotechnology.
Our university GTÜ signs a protocol with MANAKİN on smart farming automation
The GTÜ Smart Agriculture Research and Application Center (ATAM) and MANAKİN Elektronik Yazılım signed a protocol on domestic smart automation systems for vertical and soilless farming.
TÜBİTAK 3501 support for our Cystoseira barbata seaweed project
Our project on the biostimulant potential of Cystoseira barbata seaweed extracts on wheat, led by Asst. Prof. Bahar Yıldız Kutman, was accepted for TÜBİTAK 3501 support.
Dr. İbrahim Bodur Test and Analysis Laboratory opens on our campus with Kale Group support
Kale Group set up a Sustainable and Traceable Agriculture Test and Analysis Laboratory on the GTÜ campus for high-sensitivity element analysis of soil, fertilizer, plant and food samples.
Büşra Elkatmış's TÜBİTAK 2209-A project on nickel and cobalt in alfalfa accepted
Büşra Elkatmış's TÜBİTAK 2209-A project on the effects of nickel and cobalt nutrition on nodulation and biological nitrogen fixation in alfalfa has been accepted.
Ten-year cooperation protocol signed with Mavruz Tarım of Kale Grubu
Our lab signed a protocol with Mavruz Tarım of Kale Grubu that runs for ten years and brings an element analysis laboratory and 1,050,000 TL worth of instruments to our university.
Ten times the yield per unit area with vertical farming on our campus
In LAVFARM, the LED-supported vertical farming lab on the GTÜ campus, 20 plant species were grown without soil or sunlight and gave ten times the yield per unit area.
Burak Tunçbaş defended his thesis and we celebrated in the greenhouse
Burak Tunçbaş defended his thesis on 26 January 2021, and we celebrated the same afternoon in the greenhouse.
Zehra Sena Behram and Hande Mutlu Durak win the best seminar awards
Zehra Sena Behram won the best MSc seminar award and Hande Mutlu Durak won the best PhD seminar award.
2020
We signed a four-year R&D protocol with Plant Factory on vertical farming
GTÜ and Plant Factory signed a four-year R&D cooperation protocol on indoor soilless vertical farming in December 2020; our lab runs the academic side.
Teke Tek Bilim's Mars episode, with a studio guest from our lab
Asst. Prof. Ümit Barış Kutman spoke about food production beyond Earth on the Mars episode of Teke Tek Bilim, broadcast live on Habertürk on 29 November 2020.
Our R&D greenhouse opens, the first concrete step of the GTÜ and GÜBRETAŞ partnership
The Institute of Biotechnology R&D Greenhouse, built under the 2019 protocol between GTÜ and GÜBRETAŞ, opened on 23 October 2020; our lab runs it.