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The Pekár Imre Doctoral School of Mechanical Engineering offers two programmes and two sub-programmes for prospective doctoral students.Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and President of the University Doctoral and Habilitation Council (abbreviated in Hungarian as EDHT), László Csernoch,  called the newly established doctoral school a milestone in the life of the University of Debrecen, which is a great step forward in the history of engineering education in Hungary.

“In Debrecen and its surroundings, technical developments, the settlement of industrial partners and the related cooperation have significantly accelerated and strengthened in recent years. The industrialisation of Debrecen is particularly significant in the automotive industry and related engineering fields. This has imposed a great task on the University of Debrecen, as it had to and must build technical training and a technical training portfolio that serves this industrialising city. One very important component of this is the newly accredited mechanical engineering doctoral school, which creates an opportunity for the more intensive education of scientific talent locally, and also provides the opportunity for colleagues to obtain their habilitation in this field of science in Debrecen, and thus the teaching staff of the Faculty of Engineering can be further strengthened and broadened,” László Csernoch – emphasised.

Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Géza Husi explained that the doctoral school provides an opportunity to study engineering at the highest level and ensures the continuity of three-level (BSc, MSc, PhD) education in the region.

“The establishment of the school is not only a recognition of nearly thirty years of hard work and commitment, but also the beginning of a new, future-oriented chapter at the Faculty of Engineering. So far, only two universities in the country have operated a mechanical engineering doctoral school, and now we have joined them. The Institute of Automotive Engineering and Mechatronics won the “Excellent Domestic Research Infrastructure” title a few weeks ago, which further increases the quality and attractiveness of the training. It was recently announced that the Debrecen Automotive Cluster was established, practically everything is in place to operate a very good doctoral school with excellent opportunities, background and tool system in order to be able to serve local needs. All this creates an opportunity for our students to not only witness, but also actively shape the engineering innovations of the future,” Géza Husi said.

Applications for the program are already being received, there is a great interest in it, the previously planned budget will probably not be enough, so they may even double the number of places.

Two programs (Building Engineering, Building Energetics Program; Integrated, Intelligent Mechanical Systems Program) and two sub-programs (Mechanical Process Design, Materials and Machine Diagnostics Sub-program; Mechatronics, Cyber-Physical Systems Sub-program) await prospective doctoral students.

The Head of the Pekár Imre Doctoral School of Mechanical Sciences is Ferenc Kalmár, a university professor at the Department of Building Engineering and Facilities Engineering, who said in recent decades, they had worked to have a three-level program, meaning that after obtaining the bachelor’s and master’s degrees, students can continue their journey, obtain a doctoral degree, and become research and development engineers.

“Our faculty has the largest number of students and the longest history in the field of mechanical engineering, and this is also a segment that is of paramount importance in cooperation with industrial players. We had to meet very strict conditions for accreditation, and we have done a lot to be able to jump to the next level. The work is far from over here, and in fact, the lecturers and future doctoral students must also stand their ground for a successful future,” Ferenc Kalmár said.

The doctoral school in mechanical engineering received accreditation from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences until the 13th of December, 2029, and its operation is supported by the research infrastructure of the University of Debrecen and the Faculty of Engineering, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Department of Building and Structural Engineering.

Source and photo credit:dehir.hu