Definition of the term 'Biomaterial': Materials that partially or completely come into contact with biological systems for either supporting or entirely replacing a tissue, an organ and/or a biological function for short or extended durations are defined as biomaterials.

The Reflection of Biomaterial Studies to the Health Sector:

Health sector is the most common field of application of biomaterials ( Refer to Appendix 1 for other fields of application). The annual health expenses of the United States of America exceeds 1 trillion dollars and approximately 40 billion dollars of this amount is spent for biomaterials. It is known that almost 11 million Americans carry an implant (a biomaterial that is placed into the body). The health sector in Turkey is mostly dependent on other countries; however, the current efforts in the R&D are insufficient. This is not the case for the rest of the world; 'Biomaterials' departments, institutes, and similar institutions are being established throughout the world and research and education activities in a significant rise (Appendix 2).

Education includes both theoretical and practical stages and in certain situations these departments and institutes get into direct contact with the industry through technoparks.

The activities being conducted in the field of biomaterials at METU can be classified as follows;

Biomaterial related courses are being given in both undergraduate and graduate level

Basic Biomaterial research is being carried out.

Applied research and development is being carried out.

Industry is served in biomaterials, biocompatibility, measuring and characterization issues.

Conferences are organized (for example International Biomedical Science and Technology Symposia)

As can be stated from the above information; the biomaterial related activities is greatly diversified, however, currently these efforts are not conducted in a sufficiently coordinated fashion.

The courses are being given and research is being conducted in many different departments with the contribution of a significant number of researchers. However, due to the lack of a joint platform, the number of courses offered to the students is insufficient and the research collaborations is mostly restricted to disciplines. The first step that must be taken in order to improve this situation and to create a synergy is to establish a graduate (M.S. and Ph.D) programme which would enable a stronger and a more fertile education with better research facilities. This would also create the opportunity to contribute to METU and the society in a more extensive fashion. For example; it will be possible to organize summer schools, courses, seminars, scientific conferences and publishable material.

Considering all these factors establishment of a structure for the education in the area of Biomaterials at METU at the graduate level would be very beneficial.