Bülent İçgen

Prof. Dr. Bülent İçgen is a faculty member at Middle East Technical University (METU) in the Environmental Engineering department since 2017. His research focuses on Waste-to-energy biotechnology, Biogas plants, Microbial community dynamics, and Molecular genetic tools for pollution monitoring. He has held visiting faculty positions at MIT (2015) and Princeton University (2011-2012) and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Cape Town (2003-2005).

Education:

• PhD in Biotechnology, METU (1994-2000)
• MSc in Biotechnology, METU (1991-1994)
• BSc in Biology, Hacettepe University (1986-1990)

Research Interests: His work spans bioremediation of contaminated environments, antibiotic resistance gene dissemination, heavy metal biosorption, and biogas production optimization. He employs molecular techniques like FISH, DNA probes, and 16S rRNA sequencing to study microbial communities in wastewater and contaminated waters.

Scientific Awards:

• Middle East Technical University Academic Performance Award (2012-2014, 2014-2016)
• National Research Foundation (NRF) Postdoctoral Fellowship (South Africa)
• Council of Higher Education Visiting Scientist Fellowship (Turkey)

Advising and Grants: He has supervised over 20 MSc/PhD theses on topics like ARG removal, methanogenic activity, and microbial degradation pathways. He leads ongoing projects funded by TUBITAK and METU Research Fund, focusing on biogas plant monitoring and industrial waste treatment.

Labs & Teams: As Chairperson of Environmental Engineering at METU (2018-2024), he oversees research teams investigating microbial processes in biogas plants, antibiotic resistance dynamics, and metal-resistant bacterial isolates. He serves on editorial boards of 12 journals and reviews for international organizations like Horizon 2020 and Eurostars.