Dr Sedat Gümüş, Associate Professor at the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership, The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), has been awarded the prestigious Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany in 2025.

The Humboldt Foundation grants up to 20 Bessel awards each year to internationally renowned academics from outside Germany, in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in research. Award winners are invited to conduct a research project of their choice at a research institution in Germany in cooperation with specialist colleagues there. The award is named after German astronomer and mathematician Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784–1846) and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Bessel awards are rarely given to scholars in the field of education, making this recognition of Dr Gümüş particularly special. 
 

Dr Gümüş expressed his excitement at receiving the international research award. “This is not only a recognition of my personal efforts but also an acknowledgment of the contributions of our research team and academic environment. I sincerely thank EdUHK for its continuous support. I will continue to dedicate myself with greater focus and passion to advancing academic endeavours and contributing to scientific development,” he said.

Before moving to Hong Kong, Dr Gümüş was an associate professor at Aarhus University in Denmark. He worked as a mathematics teacher in Turkey before moving to USA for his graduate education. He received his PhD from the Department of Educational Administration at Michigan State University, USA in 2012. During his graduate education, he was nationally selected as the David L. Clark Graduate Student Scholar sponsored by the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) and later became a founding member of the UCEA Graduate Student Council.