Kadir Has University (KHU) was founded in 1997, in Istanbul. The university, with its five faculties of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Economics and Administrative Sciences, Communication, Law and Fine Arts, as well as its several vocational schools, is dedicated to becoming a leader in educational and cultural fields in Turkey, as well as establishing itself as an international center for research and scientific development.

The mission of Kadir Has University is to provide academic education to students who have fundamental humanitarian and universal values and the competencies of our age and the future, who can think independently, and who can put forward concrete solutions to the global problems facing both our country and the world, with a research-oriented approach; to ensure the highest standards for academic and research infrastructure for our academic staff and students; to produce high impact research outputs internationally; to implement social projects that will ensure that all the knowledge and resources produced are beneficial for our country and the world, with a corporate structure based on stakeholder participation and continuous improvement. 

Kadir Has University aims to be a world-class research university that puts forward high-impact research outputs, provides academic education to students furnished with up-to-date competencies and offers innovative solutions to social problems.

Kadir Has University is located on the grounds of the Historical Tekel Cibali Works, which began operations in 1884 as the state tobacco depot and cigarette factory and continued to operate until the founding of the university when the building was faithfully renovated and transformed into the main campus. Located on the shores of the Golden Horn in an area of Istanbul particularly rich in history, the main campus building, a recipient of the Europa Nostra Award, is ideally suited to the dynamics of today’s world as a center for research and education.

The interior of Kadir Has University’s Cibali campus measures over 45,000 square meters, with classrooms, labs, and the university’s central library, in addition to faculties, institutes, the rectorate, and deans' offices.