The Ministry of Technology and Industry (TIM) and the University of Debrecen signed a long-term cooperation agreement in the fields of the health industry, medicine, vehicles and mobility, the food industry, and sports on Thursday in Debrecen.
Prior to the signing, the Minister of Technology and Industry László Palkovics said that in order for the ministry to be able to perform effective work in the field of energy, transport, or industry, it needs partners, and the first “logical partners” were the universities.
In the past eight years, we have built this direction – said the minister, recalling that in 2014 there was still a “distance” between universities and industry in this respect, but today Hungarian higher education has become a defining part of the domestic industrial environment.
The University of Debrecen represents a very serious industrial environment, and the ministry has to deal with this in all areas – confirmed László Palkovics.
He said that Debrecen serves as a base for industrial development, the vehicle industry, and, for example, the Hungarian-owned vaccine factory, and they will also start testing programs that are important from the point of view of the country. As an example, he cited the complete transformation of the energy system, in which the transition from gas-based energy to electricity-based energy plays an important role.
In addition to the change in technology, an important issue for the country’s future is the fulfillment of energy independence, greening, and availability-affordability criteria, and there is no element of the serious government program aimed at this in which the city of Debrecen and the University of Debrecen cannot participate – stressed László Palkovics.
Zoltán Szilvássy, the rector of the university, spoke in his welcome speech about the strategic goal of making Hungary as self-sufficient as possible in some important areas, and these overlap to a large extent with the cooperation between the ministry and the university so far.
With the agreement, this may now shift into a higher “gear”, thanks to the fact that, in addition to the faculties, the university also has various sectoral cabinets, where innovation activities are carried out – said Zoltán Szilvássy, noting that the current agreement primarily covers the health industry, medicine, the vehicle industry – and mobility, it affects the food industry and sports.
The rector said that the university no longer only has research and development projects, but also products, and its programs are at a stage where it has to solve certain industrial development tasks.
At the event, Zoltán Bács, the chancellor of the university, emphasized that after eight years of close work together, there was now an opportunity to continue cooperation with the ministry for another four years.
This shows that, in addition to education, research, and patient care, the university can also be relevant and involved in innovation, specifically in the industry – said the chancellor.
MTI
