Mission & Vision

VALUES, MISSION AND OBJECTIVES OF THE CENTER

Based on the "Regulation on the Welfare and Protection of Animals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes" published in the Official Gazette dated December 13, 2011 and numbered 28141, the basic values, mission and objectives of the Experimental Researches Application and Research Center (DEKAM) can be summarized under the following headings:

MISSION OF THE CENTER

• the production of conventional experimental animals (rat, mouse and rabbit) by paying attention to the issues on animal welfare and health,

• to raise, care, feed and to shelter experimental animals that will be used for experimental and other scientific purposes,

• to keep production records and to inform the relevant authorities,

• to follow the working and procedures of the manufacturers, suppliers, users and institutions authorized to conduct research,

• to evaluate scientific projects approved by the Ethics Committee,

• to authorize the procedures,

• to supply experimental animals and to grant approval for research,

• to establish the necessary infrastructure for scientific projects carried out in the center,

• to provide technical services with the support of a Veterinarian, Veterinary Health Technician and Biologist and to carry out necessary applications, the ethics committee approval of which has been obtained for the studies, with the researchers in accordance with the procedure.

• to ensure to put an end to the experimental animals’ lives under the supervision of the technical staff with ethical committees and appropriate euthanasia techniques in the event that the experimental stage of scientific projects are completed,

• to determine the experimental animal type that will be used in the projects or the working principles and rules that will be obeyed and to inform the project staff,

• to ensure the health/welfare conditions and safety of experimental animals produced or supplied in order to use in scientific projects,

• to establish the infrastructure that will ensure the production, raising, caring and feeding of animals at international standards,

• to provide necessary theoretical/practical training in the field of experimental animal science and to collaborate with domestic and foreign institutions for research and applications in this field,

• to provide experimental animals that will be used for educational purposes, laboratory conditions and technical staff required for applied training in the “Experimental Animals and Application Methods Certificate Program”, which is a Scientific Preparation course for graduate and doctoral students within the Graduate School of Health Sciences.

• to provide experimental animals that will be used for educational purposes, laboratory conditions and technical staff required for applied training in the “Experimental Animals and Application Methods Certificate Program”, which will be organized by Erciyes University Continuing Education Center (ERSEM),

• to ensure that all applied courses on experimental animals at the center are carried out within the framework of ethical rules in cooperation with the Animal Experiments Local Ethics Committee.

VISION OF THE CENTER

• to be an exemplary and a leading research center at the national level, favorite and prestigious at an international level, in order to serve human health,

• to ensure the conventional production of more than 2000 experimental animals per year in line with the demands of researchers, apart from the breeding herd produced healthily, safely and in accordance with the animal welfare,

• to increase the number of projects carried out every year and to increase the satisfaction of the researchers regarding the center,

• to organize the distribution of the produced experimental animals to the projects,

• to ensure the efficiency and competence of the technical staff with in-service courses

• to ensure the control of the projects carried out at the center by paying attention to ethical rules,

• to conduct continuous and regular checks of animal welfare and health with veterinarians, biologists and veterinary technicians,

• to establish the mission and vision of the center by cooperating with the animal experiments local ethics committee.