“I do hereby confer upon you the degree and title of doctor…” | University of Debrecen

As ever, this year’s ceremony was also held in the venue called Aula of the Main Building, and it began with the entrance of the doctoral candidates, followed by the arrival of the professors of university management.

After listening to our national anthem, Zoltán Szilvássy, Rector of the University of Debrecen (UD) welcomed the candidates to be inaugurated.

“Today, you have become professional researchers. This represents a gateway that leads very far and, from now on, you will be taken seriously as researchers. To use a term from the field of medicine, your knowledge is differentiated in a specific functional direction, depending on the discipline in which you have obtained your degree,” said the Rector in his speech.

“However, your studies do not come to an end here and now, as the university also offers PhD master courses, where you can learn from the leaders of our institution, who are highly respected industrial and academic experts, how to use this knowledge, as the doctoral degree you receive today is worth incredibly much for yourselves, for your families and for our country,” concluded Zoltán Szilvássy.

Out of the 130 candidates in the fields of agricultural sciences, humanities, medicine and health sciences, social sciences, natural sciences and computer sciences, 110 graduated summa cum laude and 20 cum laude, fulfilling the requirements necessary for the award of a doctorate (PhD).
17 UD lecturers were awarded dr. habil. degrees (1 in agricultural sciences, 3 in humanities, 2 in engineering, 7 in medicine and health sciences, 3 in social sciences and 1 in natural sciences).

The Senate of the University of Debrecen conferred the title of professor emeritus on two of its retired professors: Professor Lajos Csaba Marton (Faculty of Agriculture, Food Science and Environmental Management) and Professor István Fazekas (Faculty of Informatics). Professor Fazekas was not able to attend the ceremony, so he will receive his diploma at a later stage.

András Guttman, who is an academic Scientific Advisor at the Center for Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, was awarded the title of Emeritus Advisor.

As a token of appreciation of his role in the field of ecology and nature conservation and in the establishment of the Biodiversity, Climate Change and Water Management Coordination Research Cente, the University of Debrecen awarded a Pro Universitate Prize to Csaba Aradi, retired Director of Hortobágy National Park.
For his outstanding achievements in the field of research on the history of medieval and early modern Central Europe, for his work as an organizer of scholarly and academic activities and for his merits in strengthening the international prestige and reputation of the University of Debrecen, our institution awarded the title of honorary doctor (doctor honoris causa) to Helmut Flachenecker, professor at the University of Würzburg in Germany.

Professor László Pósán, on behalf of the nominating Institute of History of UD’s Faculty of Humanities, told the portal news.unideb.hu that University of Würzburg Professor Flachenencker had played a major part in putting history research conducted in Debrecen on the European academic map and in expanding the Institute's international relations.

“As a matter of course, our joint work does not come to an end with the conferral of the honorary doctorate, as a joint English-Hungarian volume in our cooperation is being prepared right now, of which Professor Flachenecker is the editor and also one of the authors,” said László Pósán.