News

An international symposium was held at the Faculty of Informatics at the University of Debrecen on new trends in artificial intelligence, the innovative possibilities and challenges of the technology, and the significance of industry certifications and exam opportunities available in this field. At the AIDA AICET 2026 event, experts summarized, among other topics, the impact of machine learning, large language models, and agent-based systems on science.

A more thorough recognition and understanding of the various cell types in cartilage may lead to the development of new therapeutic options for the treatment of osteoarthritis. The latest research findings on this topic have been analyzed and synthesized by Csaba Matta, a researcher at the University of Debrecen, and his co-authors. His review article is now published in Nature Reviews Rheumatology, one of the leading journals of the field. The scientific achievements of his work have also been recognized by earning a Publication Award from the University of Debrecen and the Count István Tisza Foundation for the University of Debrecen.

Researchers at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Debrecen have investigated a physico-chemical treatment method for so-called bathroom greywater (BGW). This is water that has already been used once in the bathroom (gently) but can be reused for certain non-potable purposes after treatment. The findings were published in the journal Results in Engineering. This article has also been honored with a Count István Tisza Foundation for the University of Debrecen and the University of Debrecen Publication Award.

Bertalan Meskó is a “medical futurist” who believes that practical methods of futures studies, like foresight and scenario analysis, should play a greater part in scientific decision-making. In his view, the examination of possible futures and risks could turn out to be helpful in planning research programs more flexibly and in making well-informed decisions concerning research funding. Together with his co-authors, he has published his proposals related to this topic in Nature, one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world. Meanwhile, Bertalan Meskó is already busy establishing a workshop at the University of Debrecen focused specifically on medical futures studies.

A research team at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Debrecen has explored the connection between periodontal disease, as a risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), and its possible inflammatory, microbial and genetic background. The research team members concluded that periodontitis is normally associated with a heightened risk of developing later neuro-degenerative diseases, even after having been accounted for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, metabolic and inflammatory comorbidities.

A professor at the Faculty of Music of the University of Debrecen has examined the effects of music on mental health in her latest research. According to Judit Váradi, it is not fully understood yet how the activity of listening to music outside of school affects the emotional development of children or the risk of dementia at a later stage of life for that matter, although there is already some empirical evidence available in this respect, together with scientifically supported findings.

Even low concentration levels of toxins in apparently clean surface waters can be fatal to the plant kingdom, reveals one of the latest studies from the Department of Botany at the Faculty of Science and Technology (TTK) of the University of Debrecen. The study, published in the journal Environmental Pollution, presents at the cellular and molecular levels how toxic substances and herbicides in our environment damage the inner defense mechanisms of plant cells. These internationally significant findings have been recognized with the Count István Tisza Foundation for the University of Debrecen Publication Award.

The city of Debrecen, together with the University of Debrecen, share an opportunity to emerge as one of the most important new centers of European electromobility and battery manufacturing. This assumption is also supported by a meeting on Thursday, during the course of which the management of our university received a high-ranking Chinese delegation in the Rector’s Council Chamber of the Main Building. The primary focus of the discussion at the meeting was the university’s official accession to the global professional association of its Far Eastern partners.

The cooperation between the University of Debrecen and the Slovak University of Agriculture (SUA) in Nitra is on the way to expand by involving new academic fields of study. Apart from their collaboration in agricultural and food sciences, the two institutions are now building closer connections in the fields of engineering and economics, too. The latest agreement between the two sides about, among other things, faculty and student exchanges, joint conferences and research projects was signed on Thursday, July 9.

At a ceremony held on Saturday, July 4, in the venue called Aula of its Main Building, the University of Debrecen inaugurated 104 new doctors. Titles for habilitated doctorate and Professor Emeritus status, as well as Excellence Ph.D. Scholarships of the Count István Tisza Foundation for the University of Debrecen were also awarded at the event.