Debrecen4U
September 1, 2025
The Debrecen City Ball supported the project implementation of talented students
The Debrecen City Ball was also held in the spirit of charity in 2025. The organizers—the Municipality of Debrecen, the University of Debrecen, and the Hajdú-Bihar County Chamber of Commerce and Industry—donated a total of HUF 10 million from the event’s proceeds to support talented Debrecen students and their mentor teachers.
The support is being implemented through the “Support for the Implementation of Talented Students’ Projects” application for secondary school students, launched by the Public Foundation for Talented Debrecen Youth. The application, which aims to contribute to the secondary school studies and professional development of exceptionally talented young people and to enrich the city’s vocational training system and the quality of grammar school education, also aimed to draw attention to the importance of mentoring young people and to popularize mentoring activities.
By the application deadline—June 30, 2025—a total of 28 applications were received, of which the 10 students who prepared the most excellent projects were supported by the board of trustees of the public foundation.
The grants were presented at a ceremonial handover ceremony held at the Old Town Hall on August 29, 2025. In his welcoming speech, László Papp, Mayor of Debrecen, said, among other things, “The biggest question in the life of a city is always how to plan and prepare for the future. What can it do to ensure that the future is perspective? Debrecen is a school city due to its historical traditions. Nearly five hundred years ago, our ancestors decided not to buy weapons or build a castle wall around Debrecen, but to build a school—because they believed that knowledge would take this city forward.” According to László Papp, we are worthy of our ancestors if we follow this mindset and carry it forward. Because knowledge is what best ensures the future of the city. That is why the local government of Debrecen has always stood by talent development programs with great joy and commitment. The mayor highlighted that more than fifteen years ago, thanks to Katalin Pappné Gyulai, the talent development program was launched in the city, which many people in the country now refer to as the “Debrecen example,” and which drew attention to talented students. But in order for these talented students to truly achieve results, develop, start a successful life, and then live a happy, balanced, successful life that is in line with their professional qualities, mentoring, support, and further development of skills are necessary. The city of Debrecen treats this process with priority, which is embodied, for example, in the form of the Civic Talent Scholarship and the Békessy Béla Sports Scholarship, as well as the current project implementation support, in the latter case in collaboration with the University of Debrecen and the Hajdú-Bihar County Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “I would also like to encourage talented young people in Debrecen to create with project implementation support, and I want young people to feel that the city is committed to them, helps and supports the development of their skills—they can count on Debrecen.” László Papp emphasized that Debrecen can claim huge results on an international level as well. The mayor thanked the students for discovering the talent within themselves and thanked the mentor teachers for their work and for standing behind their students. The city is happy to support the development of talents in the future as well.
Zoltán Szilvássy, rector of the University of Debrecen, emphasized that secondary school students, and in this case we are talking about them, are the most educated people in the world. Secondary school students are creative, so they should participate in innovation competitions and have projects. The great discoveries in medicine, for example, are also linked to young students. The rector highlighted that the Hungarian Innovation Association and the National Development Agency have announced an innovation competition for students with a September application deadline, information about which has already been sent to schools. According to Zoltán Szilvássy, Debrecen has been characterized by a commitment to knowledge, innovation,, and creativity for 500 years. And young people should take the opportunities offered by this commitment seriously. The rector mentioned as a good example that students of different nationalities from the University of Debrecen recently won an international study competition related to nuclear medicine. They took advantage of the opportunities that Debrecen and the University of Debrecen offered them. Zoltán Szilvássy believes that the opportunities in Debrecen and at the university are unlimited. He encouraged young people to make the most of these opportunities!
Ferenc Miklóssy, president of the Hajdú-Bihar County Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says that Hungary has two treasures: land and human capital. And the country will prosper in the way it manages these two treasures. As he said, he also emphasizes that if the achievements and inventions associated with Hungarians were to disappear from the world overnight, the world would become dysfunctional. So we can be proud of what we have given to the world. Ferenc Miklóssy also mentioned that at the beginning of the 2000s, the United States government commissioned a study to find out what the secret to the success of a nation might be. As it turned out: their education system. At the beginning of the 2000s, Japan’s education system proved to be the best, but the study also stated that the best secondary school of all time was in Hungary, where teachers taught who could compete with any professor at the best American universities. According to Ferenc Miklóssy, there are still highly knowledgeable, committed teachers in our country today, and the appropriate conditions must be created for high-quality education, since excellent education and the support of talented young people bring excellent results. He suggested that talent development could be supported in a similar way to the TAO offer for sports.
The beneficiaries are:
Bence Budai, 10th-grade student of the Ady Endre Grammar School in Debrecen. His mentor teacher is Dr. Edit Krisztina Bagossi.
The project is titled “Behind the Mask.” Its goal is to create a short film based on the figures of commedia dell’arte and the importance of theater and art. The message of the story is the beneficial effect of theater, acting, and art in general on the human soul, and that the power of art can forge people into a community despite their differences. During the implementation of the project, we can get acquainted with film art, and as a result, with the eternal message for everyone that theater, acting, and art belong to everyone, and their effect is healing and liberating.
Dániel Czapák, 10th-grade student of the Medgyessy Ferenc Grammar School, Artistic Grammar School, and Technical School. His mentor teacher is Dr. Viktória Borbélyné Bacsó.
His project is titled “Modular wireless device for flexible, sensor-based predictive maintenance.” The project aims to create a new type of maintenance device applied to production lines. The device consists of an accelerometer sensor that can be placed on any motor using a 3D case and is easy to use in industrial situations. The device calculates the FFT (Fast Furior Transform) peak value from 1000 pieces of data and sends this data to a dedicated website. If the peak value deviates, the user is notified by e-mail. The test bench predicts the failure of production lines so that timely maintenance can be performed to avoid the line failure.
Tamás Fodor, 9th-grade student of the Debrecen Vocational Training Center Building Technology and Engineering Vocational School. His mentor teacher is Bernadett Varga.
As part of the project, the applicant would like to create furniture history displays that contribute to the enrichment of students’ professional knowledge. The 10 planned panels will provide a visually appealing and accurate overview of the stylistic features and furniture types of each period. They are well suited for flexible learning paths such as the “Dobbantó” program, the Workshop School, and students in the orientation year.
Áron Máté Gubacsi, a 12th-grade student of the Mechwart András Mechanical and Informatics Technical School of the Debrecen Vocational Training Center. His mentor teacher is Gyula Levente Hagymási.
The project is titled “Guiding Thread—Communication Platform for School Systems.” The project aims to develop a modern cross-platform mobile application that supports the flow of information and communication within the educational institution. The system pays special attention to authentic, verifiable, and expedient information communication, as well as effective cooperation between participants. The development mainly aims to strengthen the digital connection between teachers, students, and institutional leaders.
Anna Horváth, a 13th-grade student of the Debrecen Vocational Training Center Creative Technical School. Her mentor teacher is Tibor Sándor Kohári.
The project “Dream Forest,” a mystical journey on the border of art and nature, aims to create a natural, dreamlike, and interactive exhibition that helps visitors immerse themselves through visual experiences. The exhibition offers both an aesthetic experience and a community space where art, nature, and fantasy meet. The aim is also to encourage young people to engage in creative activities, provide mental stimulation, and provide a platform for artistic and social self-expression.
Szabolcs Kovács, an 11th-grade student at the Debrecen Vocational Training Center Baross Gábor Technical School, Vocational School, and Dormitory. His mentor teacher is Zoltán István Kovács.
Project title: Development of a simplified examination system to support the software developer industry exam. The aim of the project is to develop simple, web-based examination software that helps to conduct IT industry exams, instead of overly complex platforms, specifically serving simple, stable execution of industry exams. To create a system specifically developed for examinations that is easy to use, reliable, and capable of automatically conducting the entire process of the theoretical exam, from the assignment of questions to time management to automatic evaluation.
Sára Köszörüs, an 11th-grade student at the Kodály Zoltán Secondary School of Music and Music School – Elementary School of Arts. Her mentor teacher is dr. Kapusi Kálmán.
The title of the project is “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” The choice of the English title is not accidental, as the aim of the project is to create a 35-45 minute, 6-song Hungarian-language video with English subtitles from a part of the highly successful and extremely popular work by young American composer Jorge Rivera-Herrans entitled “EPIC: The Musical.” If the author contributes to the singing of the songs and their presentation in Hungary based on the completed material, it will also enable the possibility of the original musical’s domestic premiere in the future.
(The certificate was received by her mother on behalf of Sára Köszörüs. Dr. Kálmán Kapusi was also unable to attend the event, so he will receive the certificate later.)
Mezei Benjámin, a 9th-grade student of the Ady Endre High School in Debrecen. His mentor teacher is dr. Edit Krisztina Bagossi.
The aim of the project is to realize the musical play “Tomorrow is still waiting for you!” The play is about teenagers. About their everyday lives, their difficulties, their disappointments, their inner struggles, and their boundless rebellion. Mezei Benjámin is responsible for the entire realization of the project. He is the writer and songwriter of the story, as well as the director of the play, which is a very significant challenge for such a young person. However, his talent and dedication are a guarantee that a truly great production will be born.
Áron Sarkadi, an 11th-grade student of the Debrecen Vocational Training Center Commercial and Hospitality Technical School and Vocational School. His mentor teacher is Zsolt Polgári.
The title of the project: “Green school kitchen—environmentally friendly solutions in practice.” The central element of the project is the creation, cultivation, and maintenance of raised beds on the school grounds where herbs and seasonal vegetables are grown. The vegetables and herbs are intended to be used and stored fresh in the practical classes in the school kitchen and dried after the season. In parallel, they also want to build a composting system and use the compost in the community garden in the old garden. Another goal is to involve local sustainability initiatives, such as Future of Debrecen, in the project.
Péter Tanyi, 10th grade student of the Fazekas Mihály Grammar School. His mentor teacher is László Adorján.
The project’s title is “National Science and Innovation Olympiad—Ad-Ex technology: An Innovative Response to the Challenges of Efficient Cooling.” The aim of the project is to develop a patentable cooling technology engineering solution called Ad-Ex technology through the systematic development of related operational relationships, computational models, simulations, and technical drawings. This technology enables significantly faster cooling than current, widely used compression cooling systems, creating a greater temperature difference and offering a more efficient solution in certain cooling devices.
(László Adorján was unable to attend the event, so he will receive his certificate at a later date.)
Students from the Ady Endre Grammar School in Debrecen also participated in the event: Bence Budai, Csenge Figeczki and Balázs Szoboszlai.
Source and photo credit:debrecen.hu
