Local services
“2025 will be the year of cooperation in Debrecen. This year will see the results of processes, joint projects, investments and developments that will be remembered for a long time to come,” László Papp said in his speech to the members of the Deutsches Wirtschaftsclub last week. The Mayor added that, “International economic cooperation in the fields of society, culture and education will also bring tangible results this year, all of which show that in Debrecen, cooperation is becoming a reality in an exemplary way.”
In the field of education, there have been major improvements so far. The Debrecen Vocational Training Centre (abbreviated in Hungarian as DSZC), for example, already has active relations with 250 economic partners, most of which are dual cooperation partners. DSZC works with 15 strategic partners, which represent a deeper, more comprehensive relationship. They promise to announce more new strategic partnerships in the coming period.
“Debrecen’s economic development processes and educational cooperation have contributed greatly to the fact that the number of students at the Debrecen Vocational Training Centre has increased significantly, practically doubling in the last ten years, “as Chancellor Zsolt Tirpák told Dehir.hu.
The 2024/2025 academic year started with almost a thousand more students than the previous one, so the total number of students has already exceeded 13,000.
Nearly 2,000 students are studying in the relevant professions of specialised mechanical and automotive engineering, electronics and electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, directly related to the automotive industry, in the schools of the DSZC, of which more than 700 are participating in dual training.
The University of Debrecen is also in partnership with hundreds of companies, with nearly 50 bachelor and master courses also open for dual training. The university’s popularity is unbroken, and the previous admission procedure in 2024 was the second best in the last ten years, with more than 32,000 students. Technical education is being strengthened, and the Faculty of Engineering (which is undergoing a major extension and renovation) has laboratories for several companies, where students can learn about their activities and technologies.
Both the Debrecen Vocational Training Centre and the University of Debrecen cooperate closely with large companies that have been present in Debrecen for a long time. For example, TEVA Pharmaceuticals, NI Hungary Ltd., HUNÉP Universal Construction PLC, Deutsche Telekom and EPAM System Ltd. have departments at the university, but the Schaeffler Academy, which will be 17 years old this year and has hundreds of students in its dual training courses, is also an excellent example of cooperation between companies, universities and vocational training.
The educational partnerships have been further expanded thanks to the city’s economic development achievements over the past ten years.
Since 2014, more than HUF 5,000 billion of working capital has arrived in the city, and 20,000 new jobs have been created or are being created by the companies that have moved in. Companies emphasise that they are building on a local, skilled workforce, and education is a priority.
Krones Hungary Ltd. for example, very quickly signed a cooperation agreement with the Debrecen Vocational Training Centre and then with the university, where they also started a department. Vitesco Technologies has followed the same path, but Deufol has also entered into cooperation with both DSZC and the university, and Semcorp and EcoPro have not been left out of the educational cooperation.
BMW Group Plant Debrecen, which is implementing the most significant industrial development in our city, concluded a cooperation agreement with the University of Debrecen covering the fields of education, science, and research and development, even during the construction of their plant.
“It is important to find the right people with the right attitude. For us, culture is central because we believe it is the key to success. We always emphasise that we are building the future of BMW here in Debrecen. And at the university we have found an important partner in making this a reality,” Director of BMW Group Plant Debrecen Hans-Peter Kemser said back then at the signing ceremony.
Of course, BMW also quickly got in touch with the Debrecen Vocational Training Centre, and in 2023 they launched a joint dual vocational training programme with 100 students, which this year already has 200 students.
They emphasised, the three-year training programme offers full-time students the opportunity to acquire career-long skills in the high-tech manufacturing environment of the BMW Group Debrecen plant and in the Training Centre, which is equipped with the most modern educational infrastructure available, covering an area of almost 7000 square metres.
According to the Debrecen Vocational Training Centre, students are highly satisfied; BMW provides them with quality learning opportunities, programmes and support to achieve their training and career goals. They also added that, as the selection is made for positions, a job placement rate of almost 100 percent is predicted.
Test production is already underway at the BMW plant, but large companies that are still in the early stages of building their companies are also looking for opportunities to work with the educational institutions. Representatives of the University of Debrecen, and CATL Debrecen signed a strategic agreement last October.
The cooperation aims to promote the practical training of technicians, the development of curricula and joint research projects in the fields of battery technology and energy.
CATL has also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Debrecen Vocational Training Centre. Under this agreement, joint training and career support programmes will be launched. Students from the four schools of the Vocational Training Centre will be able to participate in training courses on state-of-the-art technologies and skills.
EVE Power, the main supplier to BMW in Debrecen and a major supplier of lithium batteries, has not been slow to respond. Last year, the company signed a cooperation agreement with the University of Debrecen and the University of Vuhan to remain at the forefront of research, development and innovation. As underlined at the signing ceremony, this trilateral partnership will not only bring new opportunities in the field of research and development, but will also strengthen the link between education and industry, thus laying the foundations for future innovations.
It is therefore expected that in 2025, partnerships will be further strengthened, enabling students to learn about cutting-edge technologies and perhaps even find their future jobs.
Source and photo credit:dehir.hu
