In July last year, the Parliament established the Count István Tisza Foundation for the University of Debrecen, which is responsible for the operation of the University. The newly created fifty member Scientific and Social Advisory Board will support the work of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation with its professional advice, taking scientific, social and international trends into consideration.
The Hungarian members of the panel are researchers, professors and leaders of the following institutions, universities and institutes: the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Semmelweis University, the National University of Public Service, John von Neumann University, the University of Veterinary Medicine, the Nuclear Research Institute, the Department of Radiation Biology and Radiation Health of the National Public Health Center, the Transtibiscan Reformed Church District, the Hungarian Swimming Association and the Association of Hungarian Farmers' Groups and Farmers' Cooperatives.
The foreign members of the panel are researchers and faculty members from international institutions, universities and academies such as the Tohoku University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Environmental Health and Molecular Toxicology, Alabama University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Nephrology, University of California, University of Lund, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Oslo University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Centre, INSERM National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Paris, University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine, Leiden University, Institute of Mathematics, Hannover Medical School, Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Jagiellonian University, Institute of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Medical Biotechnology, Nicolas Copernicus University, Institute of History and Archival Sciences, and the Centre for Molecular Biophysics in Orléans.
According to György Kossa, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Count István Tisza Foundation for the University of Debrecen, the Board will assist the university to make the most scientifically sound decisions, which will make the institution even more effective in the fields of research and education, as well as in building and expanding international relations.
"This is a panel that has a broad vision for the future of the university. After a thorough examination of the disciplines, members formulate and forward comments that can be used to develop new practices and proposals at faculty level, strengthen industrial links and further align education and science. Its activities can open new avenues in the field of science, foreign scholarships and university cooperation. The presence of experts can draw the attention of highly ranked foreign universities and developed countries to the University of Debrecen. This can lead to important collaborations that can facilitate student and researcher exchanges and cross-border knowledge sharing."
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees added that they would like to formulate new approaches and directions, and that these new solutions can help the university - whether it is science, research or education - to become better known and more popular at the national and international level.
"Our task is to do this by enhancing the image of the institution through a wider range of channels. Through the Board, the added value of knowledge can be given a prominent role," emphasised the President of the Board of Trustees.
The President of the Advisory Board, Péter Nagy, who, in addition to being a professor at the University of Debrecen, is the Scientific Director and International Relations Director at the National Institute of Oncology, a member of the European Academy of Cancer Research and the Hungarian delegate to WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Péter Nagy stressed that a wide range of disciplines are represented in the board to ensure that different disciplines receive balanced attention.
The nationally unique Science and Society Advisory Board will announce its formal establishment at its first meeting and it is to start its operational work afterwards. Face-to-face meetings will only take place if the pandemic regulations permit it.
The list of members of the Scientific and Social Advisory Board is available through this link.
Nobel Prize-winning American scientist and pharmacologist Louis Joseph Ignarro, professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who shared the 1998 Nobel Prize in medicine for his discovery of the physiological effects of nitric oxide, as well as members of the Nobel Prize Committee, professors from renowned foreign universities, Hungarian academicians, university professors, the former rector of the University of Debrecen and a number of internationally renowned experts have accepted the invitation to become members of the Scientific and Social Advisory Board established for the further development of the University of Debrecen.
