Prof. Pınar ÜNSAL
Curriculum Vitae
Prof. Pınar Ünsal graduated from Ege University-Psychology Department. She received her M.S. degree in industrial and organizational psychology and Ph.D. degree in psychology from Hull University, England as a recipient of the Ministry of National Education Scholarship. She started working at Istanbul University-Psychology Department in 1995 and she became a Professor in 2014. She offers courses in the field of industrial and organizational psychology. Her research interests include stress and coping at work life, personality and measurement of personality, personnel selection interviews, and positive psychology. Since 2017, she works as the Director of the Institute for Aviation Psychology Researches.
Istanbul University-Institute for Aviation Psychology Researches was founded with the announcement dated 29.01.2017 and numbered 29946 that was published in Official Gazette. Firstly, the Institute aims to produce scientific knowledge via research regarding selection of the personnel who will work in the aviation industry, protection of their psychological and physical health, supporting them to cope with psychological and physical stress factors that are specific to the aviation field. Secondly, with the existing accumulation of knowledge about aviation psychology, making applications is aimed for meeting the needs of the aviation industry. “Aviation Psychology” Department that is affiliated with the institute was founded in 2018. For the first aim, the request regarding starting the “Aviation Psychology” master’s program was accepted by the Council of Higher Education in 2019. Moreover, for the second aim, the institute has worked on the selection and evaluation of the pilots in cooperation with the Turkish Airlines Corporation Human Resources Department since 2017. As a result of this cooperation, the institute was granted the Outstanding Achievement Award in the branch of University-Industry Cooperation by the Council of Higher Education in 2017. The aforementioned cooperation was based on the protocol signed in 2014 between Turkish Airlines Corporation and Istanbul University Rectorate and it was supported by an extra protocol signed in 2016. Common purposes were presented for providing cooperation between two institutions regarding education and research activities, evaluation of candidate pilots, and developing innovative models that improve the safety of flight. In line with these aims, currently, the evaluation of the 2nd pilot candidates who apply to the Turkish Airlines Flight Training Academy has been maintained by a team that consists of experts from the fields of “psychology”, “psychiatry”, “organizational behavior” and “human resources management”.
OUR MISSION: Producing scientific knowledge in the field of aviation psychology, using this knowledge to fulfill the needs of the aviation industry, offering postgraduate education to raise qualified personnel and researchers who will work in the field of aviation psychology.
OUR VISION: Being the leading institute of the country in the field of aviation psychology with the postgraduate education offered, scientific knowledge produced, and service provided to the aviation industry.
