The most recent scientific findings in the field of sexual psychology have been discussed recently by experts at an international conference in Debrecen. This International Conference on Sexual Well-Being was organized by the joint research group (called Intercultural Sexualpsychology Research Group) formed by the Institute of Psychology of the Faculty of Humanities (BTK) at the University of Debrecen (DE) and the University of Malaga, Spain, on Wednesday, October 15, at the Headquarters of the Debrecen Academic Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Ildikó Horváth, Director of the Pulmonology Clinic and Professor of the University of Debrecen, will be serving for the next three years as Secretary General of the European Respiratory Society (ERS). The new leader was elected last year and she was formally inducted at the most recent conference of this European organization. She will be the first Hungarian professional to hold the high position of Secretary General.
The University of Debrecen continues to remain among the top 1000 institutions of higher education in the most recently published Times Higher Education (THE) ranking. The global ranking published on Thursday as THE World University Rankings 2026 covered nearly 2200 institutions of higher education from as many as 115 countries selected from a total of 28000 universities in the world.
The team from the University of Debrecen came third in the international Hackatom problem-solving competition. The world finals were held in Moscow as part of the World Atomic Week program series and international forum. The two members of the team, called IsotopeX, are students at the Faculty of Health Sciences.
This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell of the United States and Shimon Sakaguchi of Japan. In 2023, the Japanese professor's scientific work was recognized with the Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine by the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Debrecen. Since the award was established, the professor at Osaka University is the third recipient to receive a Nobel Prize.
This year, the Confucius Institute of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Debrecen (DE) organized the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival in Debrecen for the fifth time. On Sunday evening, October 5, musical and dance performances on a stage set up in the heart of the city center welcomed the traditional festival, which has a history of several thousand years in China.
On the occasion of Hangul Day, a holiday dedicated to the Korean alphabet, a Korean Cultural Day was held at the Kölcsey Center. The University of Debrecen was also involved in the event, as Korean has been taught in the city for ten years now, within the frameworks of the Debrecen Summer University.
Two researchers from the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Debrecen (DE TTK) gave a presentation in Japan at the Hungarian Pavilion at Expo Osaka on their efforts to save the Hungarian birch mouse, now on the brink of extinction.
Irish Ambassador to Hungary Ragnar Almqvist has recently visited the University of Debrecen, accompanied by his mother, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, a distinguished representative of Irish literature. The visitors discussed the relationship between literature and diplomacy with students of the Institute of English and American Studies of the Faculty of Humanities.
BMW Group Plant Debrecen has recently expanded its strategic partnership with the University of Debrecen. The strategic cooperation between the German car manufacturer and our institution of higher education, which has been in effect since 2023, has been joined by the Faculty of Humanities as well as the unit Agricultural Research Institutes and Experimental Farm. The relevant agreement was signed on Tuesday by the leaders of the university and those of the company.
The University of Debrecen has recently received a delegation from Zhangjiajie College in China. The delegation from this Far Eastern institution of higher education, which has nearly 20,000 students, a broad range of courses and as many as 52 undergraduate programs on offer, was primarily interested in our university's programs on the arts.
Rector of the University of Debrecen Zoltán Szilvássy and Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Purdue University Bernard Engel have discussed the establishment of a joint food industry engineering program. The Wednesday meeting was also attended by Béla Kocsy, agricultural and food industry diplomat at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, and Endre Harsányi, Vice Rector for Agricultural and Food Science Development.