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.

Behind ancient Byzantine walls stands the oldest part of Istanbul. These ramparts distinguish and define Cibali, the neighborhood where Kadir Has University's main campus is situated.

Between 1998 and 2002, the Tekel Cibali Cigarette Factory was transformed, by the Kadir Has Foundation, from a warehouse that produced and sold tobacco into an institution of higher learning.  After four years of restoration work, Kadir Has University Cibali campus officially opened its doors on February 13, 2002. Now the new KHU campus combines elegant facades, sunny atria, and large, airy interiors with quality education and research facilities. 

Thus, the new campus of KHU represents a major step in fulfilling the university's mission of building a future out of the country's past, by establishing in the heart of Istanbul a hub where culture, education and scientific research meet to address the changing needs of Turkey and the world. 

Kadir Has University aims to become a research university at world standards that can produce sustainable solutions to local, national, regional and global problems faced by humanity with an approach based on universal and humanitarian values; to train students equipped with individual and professional competencies in their fields of expertise; is able to produce high-impact research outputs as well as human-oriented and innovative solutions for social problems and is capable of transferring the knowledge it produces to the society in all dimensions.

The academic philosophy of our university is based on a New Education Model that educates students with an interdisciplinary approach focused on research and practice, aiming to support students to attain basic humanitarian and universal values, to able to think independently and express their ideas clearly, recognize different world views, adapt to changes easily, question, develop leadership and teamwork skills, have social responsibility awareness and the competencies required by their expertise.