The most ambitious project in German-Turkish research and education cooperation is the Turkish-German University (TDU) in Istanbul.

The TDU is a Turkish state university that is supported by a German consortium of now 38 German universities and the DAAD (Konsortium "Türkisch-Deutsche Universität" (K-TDU) e.V.).

Teaching at the TDU began in 2013. The University of Cologne was involved from the beginning, among other things by establishing the master's program "European and international Affairs" in 2013. In addition, it took the lead from the German side for the establishment of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences of the TDU and for this reason has been a member of the presidium of the K-TDU since the beginning. 

The final expansion of TDU is planned to be reached in 2030 with a total of 6125 students (3900 students in 17 BA programs, 1100 students in 23 master's and 18 doctoral programs, and 1250 students in the language preparatory year).