News

« back to home « previous news item | next news item »

The Medical School can look back on a meaningful and a successful academic year: the official naming ceremony of the new theoretical and educational block was held last September, the “Theta” sculpture was also unveiled in memory of Dr. Endre Grastyán; the 37th Medical and Health Sciences Section of the 70th National Scientific Students’ Association Conference took place in April; the southern park was ceremoniously inaugurated in May. In addition to these, perhaps the largest events, promising research results were published, the community of the faculty gained significant recognitions and professional awards, many earned the title of “Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences”, and the proportion of applicants also increased significantly, whose first choice was the University of Pécs Medical School. Professor Dr. Miklós Nyitrai, Dean of the University of Pécs Medical School, summarized the trends and the experiences of the last academic year, also outlined the ideas for the future.

Written by Rita Schweier

„The southern park, our recently completed investment, has become what we imagined: green and functionally more suitable for traffic than the old one. Built environment is an important part of our well-being, so it is essential that it has an inspiring effect on us. This park is maybe our most dignified area, since it is at the main entrance, which is why special attention is paid to it. The feedback on it is positive, although we will be able to see its usability after six months or a year.” said Dr. Miklós Nyitrai.

He said that the three years between planning and inauguration proved that everything is achievable with collaboration, even if difficulties arise along the way. The Chancellery, the colleagues of the faculty, financial specialists, designers and contractors worked together like car parts, if just one of them does not work, the vehicle stops. The lesson was that there are no plans that are too big, the secret is to approach them well by measuring the efforts with the goal.

Investments and educational development

"We are planning further investments and developments. We are constantly monitoring what kind of funds are available and sufficient for developments, so based on this, certain renovations and investments are given the green light. There are also cases where we know how much a development idea will cost, but state or EU funds are required for it, so we have to wait until these become available. Currently, I see two larger investments worth more than one billion forints that could start this year. One is the modernisation of the building at 1 Honvéd utca where we will replace the windows and doors, insulate the facade, and stop the water leakage. Our plan is to create a campus club there as a new community area. The other investment concerns the area at 5 Honvéd utca, between the Preclinical Research Center and the Department of Immunology and Biotechnology, where we will start the construction by leaving some part of the buildings untouched. We would like to create a new research center there, which will house the University of Pécs 3D Printing and Visualisation Center, as well as the Space Research and Defense Laboratory in a renewed organisational structure, which we intend to give a significant role in the future in terms of science and training of future generations.” - he emphasized.

He added that they are also working on several developments: they plan to renovate some parts of the northern park with an investment of 60–70 million forints, and they are continuously modernising the elevators and restrooms in the main building. As part of a 300-million-forint package, they would merge the current administrational spaces with the vacant rooms of the institutes that have moved to the new building, and then renovate them based on a well-thought-out system. The ideas also include the lasting and artistically valuable decoration of the wall of the parking garage at the Department of Immunology and Biotechnology with fire enamel, for which students of the Faculty of Music and Visual Arts can apply. They are also thinking about creating an outdoor sports area, and - connected to the Balassa Dormitory - the implementation of a Well-Being Center having spaces for studying and where mental health professionals would find a home. He also finds it important to renovate the football fields of the dormitory and the International Education Center.

„Developments also affect education: the subject registration system for our instructors has been completed, as has the idea of the Registrar’s Office of ​​improving information technology for a more efficient customer service. We are thinking about creating a digital textbook and an optical streaming system in operating rooms and in other suitable locations. Our plans also include renewing the framework of PotePedia, although our main goal is to ensure its continuity and improve its quality, which we would like to achieve with the help of artificial intelligence.” - he summed up the educational development plans.

Stable income, wage development

He believes that these can be achieved, because the income of the Medical School has been stable for years, and also because preparation is done on several plans, so if funds become available, work can start quickly. He sees the responsibility of the current leadership of the faculty in using the funds allocated for developments for those developments. As he said, the point lies in prioritization, because needs always exceed possibilities. His main consideration in connection with investments is which one affects and reaches more employees or students.

„We also consider it important to continuously increase salaries, which we are able to do, because we see that they will be covered for the coming years. Half of our annual income comes from state subsidies. A similar amount comes from our international program, so it is important that we present a competitive environment and educational portfolio on the international market. The applications are independent from the university, but if there are any, we have an obligation to target these funds in areas that serve our development. We can rely on external or internal sources for developments, but the proportion of it varies from period to period.” - he explained.

Enrolment, continuous dialogue with students and colleagues

Dr. Miklós Nyitrai was pleased to note that interest in general medicine among Hungarian students is growing, the number of applicants has jumped from 300 to around 380 in the past ten years whose first choice was the University of Pécs Medical School, and this year 485 applicants decided to study at the faculty. He also highlighted that English and German enrolment constantly contain tasks and challenges.

“We made great progress in terms of infrastructure in the last couple of years: two floors of in the new building, the Dr. Grastyán Endre theoretical block, are completely dedicated to education, so from this point of view there should be no obstacle to increasing the number of students, but at the same time it should also be noted that since our accession to the EU the number of students has increased significantly, while the number of classrooms has remained the same. Therefore, we are repaying the debts of the past with some of our developments. Fortunately, we have excellent lecturers, whose number has also increased recently.” - he said.

He emphasized that lecturers do a lot to teach in the way students want to learn. The colleagues of the Department of Behavioural Sciences often organise courses and workshops for them, and he also finds commitment, sense of duty, and diligence important on the part of the students.

He considers it important to keep students constantly informed about everything that is happening at the faculty - whether it is in connection with investments, their studies or the education system, because this makes them feel important to be partners in joint thinking and planning. He said that these conversations are fruitful and contribute to strengthening students' trust. He also mentioned that dialogues with the colleagues are also important.

Science: continuous development, new goals

The Dean has also experienced continuous development in the field of science over the past six to seven years. He welcomes the increase in the proportion of quality articles, but he still sees challenges in terms of the results of the applications, just as he expects greater progress in the field of scientific achievements and their economic utilisation.

„I am pleased that the number of colleagues earning the title of “Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences” has never been as high as this year. While previously two or three people earned the title every year, we already have seven in 2025, and the year is not over yet. I believe that an age group has matured, whose scientific achievements, school-building work and public engagement have reached the level with which this title can be obtained.” - he said.

Speaking about the future, he said: he considers it important to create a scientific platform that will provide a way for various scientific fields to cooperate in an integrated manner. According to the plans, the base of this will be a new research center, where representatives of the most diverse fields can work together. As part of a ten-year scientific program - as one of its directions - they will deal with space research. As a long-term goal, they have set the creation of a space capsule that can diagnose and treat injured or sick space travellers without the presence of a doctor or specialist assistant. He highlighted that many partial results may be created during the research work that may also be suitable for everyday social utilization.

„It is important to form a goal that gives a ten-year perspective, and we can link to it. Achieving it will be an evolutionary process in which every scientific field can find a serious task and challenge.” - he emphasized.

Regarding the last year of his term as Dean, Dr. Miklós Nyitrai noted that he is not planning a big plot twist, but he is not sitting back either. He rather represents continuity that has been created so far, because he believes that this serves the interests of the faculty.

Photo:

Judit Ruprech