M. Aykut Attar's research on the dynamics of technological progress in Türkiye received the 2017 Hacettepe Encouragement Award in Social Sciences in June 2018. 

The award was given for two published papers. The first paper identifies the Schumpeterian vertical and horizontal innovation mechanisms in Türkiye, and the second one presents a comparative and model-based analysis of Türkiye's and South Korea's technology adoption processes.

The Hacettepe Encouragement Award in Social Sciences was presented to M. Aykut Attar by the then-rector of Hacettepe University, Professor Haluk Özen. 

M. Aykut Attar is sincerely grateful to Hacettepe University for such a great honor.