“In the period between 2014 and 2020, the University of Debrecen has won 53 grants in the framework of the GINOP (Economic Development and Innovation), 31 in the EFOP (Human Resources Development), and 6 in the KEHOP (Environment and Energy Efficiency) Operational Programmes. The institution will receive HUF 6.2 billion in EFOP grants, which will be supplemented by HUF 2.6 billion from the institution’s own resources. Out of the above amount, HUF 5 billion will be spent on new constructions, 1.6 billion on conversions, 200 million on renovations, approximately 2.3 billion on the purchasing of various assets, and 254 million on project preparation and ancillary expenses,” Zoltán Bács, chancellor, summarised at the project opening event held on Monday.
The investment representing the highest value will be the multifunctional Learning Center to be constructed on the main campus on Egyetem Square. The new facility to be built next to the Sports Science Building will have a total floor space of 4,450 square metres, and will serve the purpose of integrating the large, multinational student body into a unified learning community. It will include several lecture, seminar and examination rooms, study carrels, separate consultation spaces, a server room and space for building machinery, and the university gift and bookstore will also be located here.
“With the emblematic building of the Learning Centre, we can enhance our competitiveness on the education market, by making the University of Debrecen attractive to even more students. We have won HUF 2.2 billion in grants for this investment, which will have to be supplemented by HUF 2,6 billion from our own resources. The execution drawings of the Learning Centre are finalised, and the plans call for a completion date in the summer of 2020,” the chancellor added.
In addition to the new investment, grant no. EFOP-4.2.1-16-2017-00015 also provides an opportunity for the conversion of eight, the expansion of three, and the renovation of four more buildings.
“In addition to the above, we will also purchase new assets in a significant value, with developments affecting all faculties of the institution,” Attila Törös, head of the Technical and Investments Division of the University emphasised.
The plans were discussed by the heads of the organisational units concerned at the project opening event held on Monday. It was mentioned, for example, that HUF 831 million was allocated for the modernisation of the dental technology and the phantom laboratories at the Faculty of Dentistry, and a new bicycle storage facility will also be built. At the Faculty of General Medicine, HUF 464 million will be devoted to the development of the Skill Laboratories, with the conversions affecting the Department of Operative Techniques and Surgical Research and the Department of Ophthalmology. HUF 367 million is proposed to be spent on modernising the arts and humanities and the natural sciences units of the University Library, which are located in the Main Building and the Life Sciences Building respectively, while the Faculty of Science and Technology will be able to renovate several laboratories in its building in Bem Square, as well as purchase some high-value equipment in order to improve the conditions of the engineering education.
In the interest of improving the standards of the practical education, the Faculty of Health and the Faculty of Public Health will improve their Skill Laboratories and purchase equipment, while the Faculty of Engineering will create new spaces for use by the students on its Ótemető Street campus. At the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, the soil examination laboratory and the machine shed will be renovated, and new laboratory, experimental and analytical equipment will be added to the available assets.
The Faculty of Arts and Humanities is planning to renovate several classrooms, as well as to implement technological and IT developments from the grant, with the aim of improving the quality of the education and research activities. The Clinical Center will create teaching spaces, including lecture and seminar rooms, as well as offices for the teaching staff, on a total area of 270 square metres in the loft area of Building “C” of the Department of Internal Medicine.
In addition to the above, significant information technological developments will also be realised at the University of Debrecen thanks to the EFOP grant. The bandwidth on the wired network end nodes and backbone network connections will be increased, 40 GE technology will be introduced, the active assets of the backbone network and the WiFi network will be upgraded, and the possibility of real-time live broadcasting in high definition will be created.
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