The Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science and Environmental Management of the University of Debrecen has started innovative training development related to precision agricultural engineer training within the framework of the Erasmus+ program. The goal of the three-year project is to develop a two-semester MSc course. The results of the program so far were presented on Wednesday at the Böszörményi út campus.
As a member of an international consortium, the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science and Environmental Management of the University of Debrecen is putting together the pilot training with the participation of foreign students in cooperation with 14 partner institutions.
Through its wide-ranging research activities, the University of Debrecen collaborates with many international institutions, among other things, on the possibility of issuing a double degree. The Erasmus+ and Horizon programs largely determine these collaborations, international research and the exchange of student experience. The work of the consortium and the results achieved will further deepen the successful cooperation between universities
– said Endre Harsányi, the University of Debrecen vice chancellor for the development of agricultural and food science, at the opening of the professional day presenting the results of the program.
László Stündl, dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science and Environmental Management, after the presentation of the agricultural education of UD and the research system of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science and Environmental Management, emphasized: about 10 percent of the students of the Faculty of Agriculture are foreign, participation in the Erasmus+ program greatly helps the internationalization of the institution and further improves the competitiveness of the faculty’s courses.
The innovative curriculum developed during the project is related to precision agriculture and agricultural digitalization, the most modern knowledge has been included in the specialized materials. However, the training material does not only provide up-to-date, modern knowledge for the students, it also serves the development of the instructors. In the program, the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science and Environmental Management developed seven subjects, among others in the fields of soil science, crop production and water management. In addition to the precision agricultural engineering course starting in September, the technical materials can also be used in UD’s classical agricultural engineering course
– explained Tamás Rátonyi, head of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science and Environmental Management,’s Precision Technology Department.
As part of the masTER’s course on smArt Agriculture TECHnologies (TERRATECH) program, more than 20 students came to the Faculty of Agriculture in Debrecen, among others from Greece, Nigeria, Morocco, Uzbekistan and Turkey.
In the project, one group of students will continue their studies in Thessaloniki, Greece, at the International Hellenic University (International Greek University, IHU), while the other half will spend the training period at the University of Debrecen. During the two semesters, for a two-week mobility period, students staying at one host institution travel to the other university, join the students there and participate in practical training
– Péter István Fejér, the coordinator of the program, presented the mobility program.
István Péter Fejér emphasized: the students of the project complete a one-month internship at companies cooperating with partner institutions and prepare a diploma thesis with the help of the specialists there. At the end of the training, they take a final exam and obtain an MSc degree, which is issued by the IHU.
On the professional day of the masTERs course on smArt Agriculture TECHnologies (TERRATECH) program, the lecturers of the consortium leader University of Porto, Ruth Pereira and Susanna Carvalho, and the researchers of the International Hellenic University, Theodoros Kosmanis and Dimitrios Tziourtzioumis, presented the results of their research included in the program.
unideb.hu
