As Other Danone Institutes, Danone Institute Turkey is an independent non-profit entity which is funded by DanoneTurkey. It is the 16th one of Danone Institutes network.It has been established as an association in Turkey.

Institute members are chosen from the local scientific community for their expertise in diet and nutrition.

Danone Institute Turkey is composed of:

• Institute Scientific Council made up of 10 members representative of the local scientific community in terms of expertise and scientific thinking.
• A Board, composed of 5 members, independent experts in nutrition science. It is chaired by an independent scientist.
• Corresponding and honorary members, who are scientists active in fields related to the Institute's focus.

All members are selected from the local scientific community; they work in major hospitals, universities or research centers; and are known for the quality of their work.

Danone Institute Turkey functions according to guidelines which guarantee a clear and democratic organization.

The Scientific Council determines Institute initiatives and promotional activities and selects research proposals to receive Institute support.

The Board implements policies made by the Scientific Council. It is responsible for such strategic decisions as determining the Institute's areas of focus and budget allocation.

General Meetings are held annually. During these meetings, the Institute's activities and budget are reviewed and new members proposed by the Scientific Council and the Board are elected.

Mission of Danone Institute Turkey is to promote public health by developing and disseminating knowledge on the links between nutrition, diet and health.

3.Goals 

The goal of the Danone Institute Turkey is to link scientists involved in nutrition research with health and education professionals. Through these efforts, it aims to bring relevant scientific knowledge about diet to the attention of the general public.


To accomplish our goals,
 

• Support research on the relationship between diet and health,
• Inform and educate health and education professionals on all subjects related to diet and nutrition.
• Develop and disseminate educational materials on nutrition for the general public.

Danone Institute Turkey is non-profit organization and independent from the Danone Turkey company.. It defines its own programs in order to be relevant in Tukish local environment.

• Institute has no commercial objective.
• It acts freely and independently.
• Danone Institute Turkey publications contain no commercial information
• Members, whether speaking in the context of the Danone Institute or not, have complete freedom to express their opinions, questions, and conclusions on matters of nutrition, diet and health.

There are 16 Danone Institutes around the world:

• 15 national entities in Belgium, Canada, China, Czech republic, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey, United states.
• 1 international entity named Danone Institute International.

Each national Danone Institute develops its own programme of activities taking into account local conditions including nutritional needs, habits, diet and health information programmes.
 
In parallel, Danone Institute International promotes: 
 

• The sharing of experiences resulting from existing programmes developed by national Danone Institutes
  
• The development of collaborative international programmes, such as research projects and scientific meetings, on topics of common interest.

Major topics of common interest of Danone Institute around the world are:

• The impact of nutrition and diet on children’s growth and development,
• Feeding Behaviors in Humans
• Food safety
• Food for health

Danone Institute Turkey has awarded best posters with a money reward as a little aid for the winners’ researches by the participation of main congress. Best posters have been decided by the congress scientific committees.

It has been decided to give “Best Poster Award” 4 scientific congress per year. Until today, Best Poster Prizes have been given to their owners at 5th International Nutrition and Dietetics Congress and 42. Turkish Pediatric Congress. Moreover, Danone Institute Turkey is going to attend 50th National Pediatric Congress and 23rd National Gastroenterology Congress with “Best Poster Awards”.

Danone Institute Turkey offers grants to both graduate and doctorate students. The scholarships are established for the purpose of supporting young researchers into the field of health and nutrition. The total scholarships amount per year will be 16000 Euro/year. The Graduate scholarship will be given to two students for one year, and scholarship program for overseas research will be given to one student as at most 20,000 YTL to aid doctorate students to research abroad.