The 2026 course of Debrecen Summer School has come to an end, and a total of 116 certificates have been awarded by the organizers to the participants, half of whom studied Hungarian for the entire length of four weeks, while the other half took turns in staying for either the first or the second two weeks of the course. As all of them passed the final exam successfully, these language learners were satisfied and happy without exception when they returned home on August 15.
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Péter Lakatos will retain his position as Dean of the Faculty of Music at the University of Debrecen. According to the dean, who has been at the helm for the past seven years, the Debrecen institution covers the broadest spectrum of higher education in music at present, but expansion and development continue to remain primary goals at the Faculty of Music of the University of Debrecen (DE ZK). Péter Lakatos, who has just been re-elected for another five years, regards it an important task to make studying music both for Hungarian and international students at our university even more attractive than it currently happens to be, while making sure that the Faculty of Music should continue to be ranked among the best institutions.
Endre Harsányi aims to enhance the innovation activities at the University of Debrecen through building on the multidisciplinary knowledge base of our institution and linking the healthcare industry, agriculture, the automotive industry, robotics, artificial intelligence and other strategic areas. The vice rector responsible for sectoral development reckons that the overall objective is to establish an integrated development system that facilitates closer cooperation among the various faculties, research centers and industrial partners of the university, while increasing the practical application possibilities of research findings and enhancing our international competitiveness at the same time.
The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), ranked 7th in the QS World University Rankings for Education and Training, hosted an international conference between July 28 and 31 with the participation of researchers from more than twenty different countries. The Faculty of Humanities of the University of Debrecen was also represented at the event, where its delegates presented current research activities conducted at our university and discussed further opportunities for collaboration.
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 international English-language linguistics summer course OVA 2026 (Omnes Voces Acceptamus 2026) was held for the first time in Debrecen between July 27 and August 7 by the Department of English Linguistics at the Institute of English and American Studies of the Faculty of Humanities (BTK). All in all, there were approximately 100 participants coming to our city from more than 20 different countries for this event in order to expand their knowledge of linguistics with the help of a distinguished international faculty of instructors.
The list of objectives with which Attila Jenei began his work as Vice Rector for International Affairs include the following items, among other things: the improvement of the international visibility of the university, the expansion of academic, strategic and industrial partnerships, the increase of the practical benefits of international relations, advancing in higher education rankings, strengthening student and researcher mobility, and developing a long-term and sustainable international brand-building and communication strategy for the institution. The director of the Coordinating Center for International Education has been responsible for overseeing the international activities of the University of Debrecen since July 1.
Sixty students received their certificates at the end of the second week at the Debrecen Summer University, and thirty-three new students arrived for the next session. Everyone did well on the exam, and the new students have successfully integrated into their groups, where they continue to study the Hungarian language diligently.
Coached by László Dávid and featuring Sugár Battai, the Hungarian women's saber team won the gold medal at the World Championships in Hong Kong.