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Last June, a delegation from the University of Debrecen visited Florida to present the institution’s educational, research, and innovation development directions, best practices, and international relations. Thanks to the strengthening of common strategic ideas over the past year, the partnership between UD and the American university reached another milestone on June 3. Representatives of American and Canadian universities, businesses, and non-profit organizations visited Debrecen for the full-day program of the Hungarian Summit series organized by UD. During the visit, the two universities signed a framework agreement for cooperation in the Sándor Karácsony Hall of the Main Building.
At the ceremonial signing, Zoltán Szilvássy, Rector of UD, highlighted that the two universities have similar profiles, as both deal with science in a diverse manner, which provides opportunities for joint work in several areas.
“This framework agreement of high diplomatic importance promises very fruitful cooperation in many focus areas, given the extremely broad spectrum of the university. UD’s strength is its multidisciplinarity, so, for example, the medical and health sciences cultivated at the university, as well as pharmaceutical research, in combination with agricultural science have already given the world several scientifically and commercially useful products. As Martha Gray, MIT’s director of development and innovation put it, the University of Debrecen operates as a vertically organized innovation system which is unique in Europe. This means that it is an advanced structure, from basic research through industrial research to product launch. If we find the focal points in the framework agreement, then it could bring about an extremely fruitful relationship for both institutions”, said the rector.
The American university is at the forefront of space and pharmaceutical research and artificial intelligence-based developments, which can become the main directions of the cooperation. Over the past two years, the management and researchers of UD outlined the potential focal points of the partnership in professional consultations, under the guidance of Professor Péter Nagy and Carol Ann Dykes Logue, Head of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation program. The two institutions also plan to introduce a joint degree program.
The ceremony was attended in person by Carol Ann Dykes Logue, and online by Nataly Chandia, Vice President of the University of Central Florida Global, and Mark Hartman, Director for International Recruitment and Partnerships for UCF Global. In his welcoming speech, Mark Hartman emphasized that the history and successes of the University of Debrecen in both science and education provide a good opportunity for cooperation.
“I am sure that this agreement points towards the fulfillment of our vision, during which we will be able to expand our joint activities to education, culture and various scientific fields. The University of Debrecen has a rich past in Hungarian education and educational history, we are proud to be able to cooperate with such a prestigious institution, to work together in the field of researcher and teacher mobility, as well as scientific collaborations. We are sure that today’s occasion is just one of the many successful milestones ahead of us”, emphasized the director.
According to György Kossa, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Count István Tisza Foundation for the University of Debrecen, which maintains the University of Debrecen, the cooperation between the two institutions is exemplary and promises beneficial results for society.
“This collaboration breaks down barriers and administrative obstacles so that students, professors and researchers can work together to improve the quality of life of humanity. In a world where there is a value deficit in various societies, universities have a mission, they can only set an example along values; it is not utilitarianism at all costs that matters. The University of Central Florida also operates according to human-centered principles, so it is of outstanding significance that these two institutions found each other”, said the chairman of the board of trustees.
Zoltán Bács, Chancellor of the University of Debrecen, highlighted that both universities operate on a broad spectrum, and the Debrecen institution can gain forward-looking knowledge from the University of Central Florida in the fields of innovation and its utilization, among other things.
“The negotiations began two years ago and continued last summer, and since then the dialogue has been continuous, which has led to today. We expect that our students will have the opportunity to study in the United States, and we would provide the opportunity in return, and we would also like to gain knowledge about innovation and its utilization from which we can benefit a lot. Another important cooperation segment could be sports, which is a priority area for the partner institution too, and in addition, we organize our sports strategy in Hungarian conditions according to the American model”, said the chancellor.
The leaders of the institutions will evaluate the framework agreement between the two universities annually and will decide on the specific scientific and research directions of the cooperation as well as the focal points of the collaboration, based on the experiences.
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