Marshak Lectureship: The Turkish Accelerator Center, TAC

The Turkish Accelerator Center (TAC) project is comprised of five different electron and proton accelerator complexes, to be built over 15 years, with a phased approach. The Turkish Government funds the project. Currently there are 23 Universities in Turkey associated with the TAC project. The current funded project, which is to run until 2013 aims \begin{enumerate} \item To establish a superconducting linac based infra-red free electron laser and Bremsstrahlung Facility (TARLA) at the Golbasi Campus of Ankara University, \begin{enumerate} \item To establish the Institute of Accelerator Technologies in Ankara University, and \end{enumerate} \item To complete the Technical Design Report of TAC. The proposed facilities are a 3$^{rd}$ generation Synchrotron Radiation facility, SASE-FEL facility, a GeV scale Proton Accelerator facility and an electron-positron collider as a super charm factory. \end{enumerate} In this talk, an overview on the general status and road map of TAC project will be given. National and regional importance of TAC will be expressed and the structure of national and internatonal collaborations will be explained.