Bahçeşehir University Center for Economic and Social Research (Betam) was founded in 2008 with the goal of establishing a tradition rooted in scientific research, and of becoming a universally accepted research platform. Betam conducts applied research on economic and social issues; it evaluates the efficiency and the success of the current policies as well as producing policy recommendations. In this aspect, the research conducted in Betam aims to increase the social and economic welfare. Hence, the output is shared with academia, research centers, independent researchers and the public, in Turkey as well as abroad. Betam consists of two main units. In the Economic Research Unit, Betam monitors the Turkish Economy and conducts research on current economic issues in Turkey. Main research areas are economic growth, monetary policy, business cycle analysis, labor markets, education and gender in the labor market. The social science research team of Betam is the base of the leading international and European social science projects in Turkey. Main research areas are democracy, social and public trust, socio-political orientations, political and social values, cultural diversity, behavior, attitudes and beliefs on politics, religion, ethnicity and nationalism, environmental politics and climate change.