News

This year, almost 80 students from as many as 27 countries are coming to Debrecen Summer School to learn Hungarian language and culture. At the current summer course, which lasts from July 21 to August 15, the youngest student is 16 years of age, while the oldest is 86. The number of young people learning the Hungarian language abroad is growing, and more and more start to learn Hungarian because of their family ties and heritage.

In keeping with tradition, Jürgen Sarnowsky, the newly inaugurated honorary doctor of the University of Debrecen (UD), presented his scholarly work and his most recent research findings in the form of a lecture. The professor of history at the University of Hamburg was awarded the title of Doctor honoris causa during a ceremony held in the venue called Aula of the Main Building on Friday.

Members of a delegation from the Beijing-based Center for Language Education and Cooperation of the Ministry of Education of China discussed the possibility of establishing a Bachelor of Arts program in Chinese language and culture at the University of Debrecen on Thursday with the leadership of our institution and that of the Faculty of Humanities.

The University of Debrecen and Sunway University of Malaysia have renewed their three-year cooperation agreement, which was signed on Wednesday 18 June and will further expand educational and scientific relations between the two institutions.

On Saturday, 14 June, during the Festive Book Week, the volume Xántus and Borneo: A 19th century Hungarian naturalist on the island of Borneo, based on the joint research of the University of Debrecen and the Sunway University of Malaysia, will be presented. Published by Sunway University Press, the publication presents the accounts of János Xántus's 1870 voyage to Borneo in Hungarian and, for the first time, in English translation.

Owing to the results of an interdisciplinary research program launched one and a half years ago, a comprehensive cooperation agreement between Concordia University, Montreal, and the University of Debrecen will soon be available to assist research into the past of Hungarians living or residing in Canada. This partnership is also expected to enable launching further projects.

Employees of the BMW company in Debrecen have joined the training program for students of automotive engineering at DE MK, the Faculty of Technology of the University of Debrecen. At the training center of the Bavarian automobile manufacturer's new Debrecen plant, the students could acquire the most recent technological knowledge in the subject called Vehicle Manufacturing II.

In the framework of a thematic conference, the members of a research team of the University of Debrecen (UD), supported by Nemzeti Kutatási Kiválóság Program STARTING Kutatópályázat [STARTING Call for Research Proposals of the National Research Excellence Program], presented their research project plans for the years ahead, the purpose of which is to shed new light on the significance of the Balkans. The kick-off workshop of the project, titled Geopolitical Trends and Balkan Strategy of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy: Individual Sources and Foreign Policy Actors (1878-1918), was held on Thursday at the Institute of History of the Faculty of Humanities of UD.

New academicians were elected and announced at the 199th General Assembly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA). Five professors of the University of Debrecen (UD) were elected to act as corresponding members, while four of the hitherto corresponding members became full members of the Academy.