Feza Gürsey Bilim Merkezi

About Feza Gürsey Bilim Merkezi

The Feza Gürsey Science Centre (Feza Gürsey Bilim Merkezi, FGBM) is a hands-on science museum inside Altınpark in Altındağ. It is named after Feza Gürsey (1921-1992), the Turkish mathematician and physicist, and is one of the first science centres in Turkey. Ankara Metropolitan Municipality founded the centre, which opened in April 1993, and it is run by ANFA, a unit of the municipality. Its original exhibits were built by the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, which also sent a team to train the Ankara staff. The centre's exhibits, around 50 experiment and display sets by the municipality's count, are mostly interactive or live demonstrations. Faculty members of Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) chose the types of exhibit to follow the secondary-school science curriculum, so pupils can see and touch what they have studied in theory. The municipality describes it as a place that explains everyday natural phenomena in an enjoyable way for visitors of all ages, and school groups visit by appointment. The centre also runs workshops and holiday activities, which it announces on its social media. A visit combines easily with the rest of Altınpark, the park around it.