Debrecen4U July 16, 2025

New doctors were inaugurated at the University of Debrecen

The Friday ceremony was traditionally hosted by the Main Building Auditorium, where, after the National Anthem was played, the rector of the University of Debrecen (UD), Zoltán Szilvássy, greeted the graduates.

“Hard work is behind you, but now you have crossed an imaginary finish line, thanks to which you have become independent, professional researchers. Your most important task from now on is to become successful, to educate the next generation, which will benefit the teacher, the student, and the university alike,” Zoltán Szilvássy said.

The rector quoted the words of Hungarian writer Gyula Krúdy, according to which two things cannot be taken from us: our memories and our knowledge.

“I hope that decades later, those who studied here and their former alma mater, the University of Debrecen, will still be part of both,” Zoltán Szilvássy concluded.

In the fields of agricultural sciences, humanities, medical and health sciences, social sciences, natural sciences, and technical sciences, 72 out of 84 candidates fulfilled the requirements for obtaining the doctoral and PhD degrees with summa cum laude and 12 cum laude qualifications.

The new doctors of science were also welcomed by the president of the Gróf Tisza István Foundation for the University of Debrecen (GTIDEA), György Kossa.

“Today we are not only handing out diplomas. Today we pay tribute to the triumph of science, perseverance, commitment, and human intellectual achievement. I believe that knowledge is the greatest value that a person can possess. It cannot be tangible, cannot be bought, and cannot be preserved for its own sake. The true nature of knowledge lies in the fact that it must be shared. The more we give of it, the more it grows. The results achieved show that they were not satisfied with the knowledge they acquired at the beginning of their journey, but rather they courageously, committedly, and consistently deepened their scientific work. This is an example and a message in itself: a message of achievement, responsibility, and community values,” he emphasised.

At the ceremony, 13 UD lecturers received their habilitation doctoral degrees (2 in the field of agricultural sciences, 3 in the field of humanities, 3 in the field of technical sciences, 3 in the field of medical and health sciences, and 2 in the field of social sciences).

The Senate of the university awarded the work of university private teacher Magda Pál with the honorary title of honorary university teacher in recognition of her long-term high-quality teaching activity and outstanding scientific performance.

The Senate awarded the title of professor emeritus to two retired professors, Péter Pepó (Faculty of Agriculture, Food Sciences, and Environmental Management) and Edit Szűcs (Faculty of Engineering). The title recognises the achievements of the university’s most outstanding professors and their work in the interest of the institution and, at the same time provides them with rights and conditions for their further activities.

At the ceremony, the institution inducted the director of the Interdisciplinary Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Professor Shao Li, and the professor at the University of Hamburg, Jürgen Sarnowsky, into its ranks of honorary doctors.

“The title of doctor honoris causa is a high level of recognition that our university only uses in exceptional cases. Sometimes it honors its former excellent students and outstanding professors, but from time to time it also offers it to domestic and foreign scientists who have earned international recognition and who enrich science by making their scientific achievements public domain. We believe that the university’s exercise of this right concretely expresses the international nature of science, the fact that science, by its very essence, transcends national borders and frameworks, and serves all of humanity with its results,“ Vice-Rector for Science of the University of Debrecen, László Csernoch highlighted.

The event concluded with the presentation of the Excellence PhD Scholarship of the Gróf Tisza István Foundation for the University of Debrecen, which was won by 15 doctoral students.

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