University of Szeged - Where knowledge and challenge meet

Partnership in research, also serving quality education and innovation are integral parts of the University of Szeged which in recent years has produced tangible results both in terms of joint efforts with businesses and cooperation with other actors of higher education.Thanks to partnership in research and innovation with various companies and organizations, the successes of scientific activity at the University of Szeged promote the attainment of practical, significant and remarkable results that will positively affect education as well. The innovation strategy of the University of Szeged is highly reliant on the traditional scientific workshops of the Dél-Alföld, the growth potential of small and medium-sized enterprises in the region, the available intellectual and material potential as well as the latest trends in research and development.

 

Certain research at the University of Szeged is carried out with involvement of local and other Hungarian businesses, professional organizations, scientific societies and foundations. Major partners of the university in research and education include micro-, small- and medium sized companies as well as large corporations.

The research and knowledge centres operating as financially independent units of the university support its strengthening innovative efforts.
The Dél-Alföld Cooperation Research Centre for Natural and Material Sciences (DEAK) is engaged in coordinating the goals of research, education and technology transfer to promote knowledge-driven economy in the region. Set up in collaboration of the university with ten industrial partners and through the support of Economic Competitiveness Operative Programme in 2005 and now an exemplary project, DEAK unites the knowledge base of three faculties of the university. Thus its portfolio includes both programmes of material and natural sciences. Its aim is to establish the entire innovation process ranging from research to utilization and to adjust research done by the university to actual economic demand. Efforts are focused on five major areas of research: development of medical imaging methods, development of anti-ageing skin care treatment, utilization of renewable and unused energy resources, bioremediation and bioconversion program and waste recovery program. In line with the concept of the New Hungary Development Plan, research done in cooperation continues at the beginning of 2008, mostly in coordination by the company established by the university, DEAK Zrt.

The Dél-Alföld Neurobiological Regional University Knowledge Centre (DNT) was established in cooperation of the University of Szeged, the Szeged Biological Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, EGIS Pharmaceuticals and ten biotechnology companies. By the establishment of DNT, an R&D network was born which develops new and efficient molecules and diagnostic agents for healing diseases affecting the central nervous system (Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, anxiety). This network extends to a number of segments of pharmaceutical research and development. Thanks to leading experts and advanced equipment at the Neuroproteomics Centre set up by DNT, it has grown into an important centre for examining human diseases.

The Regional University Knowledge Centre for Environmental and Nanotechnology (KNRET) has achieved remarkable results through research, development and activities in five research areas including environmental technology, nanotechnology, energetics, health and IT. The programmes managed by the knowledge centre range from waste treatment to utilizing biomass, from research into the possibilities of applying nanotechnology in health care and cosmetics, the pharmaceutical industry or for therapeutic purposes to the utilization of geothermal energy. Information technology serves these fields of study and appears as an independent area of research and development. The results produced by the knowledge centre leading the coordination of applied research improve the quality of our environment, enhances industrial development in Dél-Alföld and promotes better health among locals.

 

From among the programmes managed by the Albert Szent-Györgyi Clinical Centre, the most outstanding one is clinic-pharmacology research. As a result of this, a test facility of pharmacology, accredited by the Hungarian Institute of Pharmacy, was established on the I. Hospital for Internal Diseases in 2007. The test facility suitable for conducting clinical trials with healthy volunteers was set up in cooperation with Richter Gedeon Nyrt and with support from the National Research and Development Program. An indicator of the research quality and the high number of applications submitted may be that the University of Szeged receives on average more than 10 percent of annual total research revenue of Hungarian higher education institutions, whereas the proportion of our university’s teachers and researchers in Hungarian tertiary education is considerably lower.

In line with the partnership principles of education and within the framework of the regional cooperation established among higher education institutions of the Dél-Alföld in the past years including the Kecskemét College, the Sámuel Tessedik College in Szarvas, the József Eötvös College in Baja and the University of Szeged, these institutions have worked out joint education programmes to increase the competitiveness of tertiary education in the region.
Thanks to its good reputation for high-quality education and research, the University of Szeged has varied and established international relationships. Making research results public and recognized both domestically and internationally has always been one of the goals of the Unversitas and to build economic and scientific relationships bringing scientific experiences and progress.