Debrecen4U April 2, 2026

Associate Professor at University of Debrecen Receives Talentum Award

The National Academy of Scientist Education (NTA) presented this year’s Talentum Awards at a gala held on Wednesday at the Szeged National Theatre.

Established by NTA in 2013, the Talentum Award is presented for a discovery published in the past one or two years that is of international significance. A further condition is that it is awarded to scientists who, similarly to Albert Szent-Györgyi, have carried out a significant part of the research related to their discovery in Hungary. This year, four researchers received the award.

István Lajos Széles, Associate Professor at the Department of Medical Genetics of the University of Debrecen, was awarded the Talentum Award for identifying shared gene regulatory regions of retinoid and vitamin D signalling pathways.

Péter Engelmann, Associate Professor at the Institute of Immunology and Biotechnology of the University of Pécs, was recognised for his comparative experimental investigation into the origins of innate immunity.

Gábor Nyíri, senior researcher and head of the Network and Integrative Neuroscience Research Group at the HUN-REN Institute of Experimental Medicine, was honoured for describing a newly discovered brain reward centre.

Gyula Timinszky, senior research fellow at the Institute of Genetics of the HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, was among the awardees for his research on DNA damage repair mechanisms.

At the 26th Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Talented Students organised by the NTA, the 2026 Outstanding Student of the Year award was also presented to Péter Rőthy-Gruber, a Year 12 pupil at the ELTE Bolyai János Practice Primary and Secondary School.

At the three-day meeting, attended by approximately 4,500 participants—including secondary school pupils interested in life sciences from 218 schools in Hungary and beyond the borders, university students participating in the NTA programme, teachers, junior mentors and mentors—internationally renowned researchers delivered lectures, including Nobel Prize-winning American biochemist and cell biologist Randy Schekman and fellow Nobel laureate Ferenc Krausz.

During the event, an agreement was signed between the NTA and the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network, under which the institutional network will support the talent development programme with mentors, modern laboratory infrastructure and financial resources.

Launched in 2013 and renamed the National Academy of Scientist Education in autumn 2021, the programme aims to support talented young people interested in biomedical research from as early as secondary school, assist their scientific work, make a career in science more attractive, and, in the long term, retain young talents in Hungary.

Training for secondary school “Szent-Györgyi students” is currently conducted at 27 regional training centres, involving 33 lead teachers. National training centres are located in Debrecen, Gödöllő, Hódmezővásárhely, Pécs, Szeged and Szombathely, where modern laboratories provide science education for regularly attending students. From September 2025, in addition to biology, the NTA has also begun developing its programme in chemistry, expected to launch in the 2026/27 academic year, alongside the recruitment of students.

Thanks to the nationwide expansion of the university training programme, university students can now join the academy’s programme not only in Szeged, but also in Budapest, Debrecen and Pécs. At present, a total of 179 Szent-Györgyi Students are conducting research within the NTA’s eight scientific workshops, the statement said.

Source: dehir.hu | Photo credit: Debrecen városa (Facebook)