After spending almost two hundred and three days in space and orbiting the Earth more than thirty-two hundred times, samples from Hungary’s first space plant experiment, called VITAPRIC program, have returned from the International Space Station (ISS) to Debrecen. The researchers of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management at the University of Debrecen received the experimental materials for their current scientific project from astronaut Tibor Kapu on Monday at UD’s Biodrome, home to the space plant experiment program named HUNOR and the “birthplace” of our university’s space peppers. For the experts in Debrecen, this marked the beginning of a new phase in their research activities.
Hírek Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management címkével
A delegation of agricultural experts from the University of Debrecen has recently paid a series of professional visits to partners in the United States with the aim of strengthening international educational and research collaborations and further developing our already existing partnerships. Their discussions covered the fields of agricultural innovation, animal health, biotechnology and engineering research.
The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management of the University of Debrecen has created the Centre for Regional Border Wildlife Monitoring to assess, monitor and preserve the values of wildlife along the Romanian-Hungarian border. Experts from UD and the University of Life Sciences “King Michael I” of Timișoara are working together in the project, which is implemented within the framework of the Interreg VI-A Romania-Hungary Programme.
A dual degree that is unique in Europe may be earned by the four Hungarian students who have been the first to win scholarships for a program run in cooperation between the University of Debrecen and South Dakota State University (SDSU) in the United States. These selected students from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Science and Environmental Management, who will study at South Dakota State University for two semesters as part of their precision agricultural engineering training, will be leaving for the overseas institution on Wednesday.
A renowned expert has joined the staff responsible for the teaching and research activities of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management at the University of Debrecen. Michael Gonda, a professor of the Department of Animal Science at South Dakota State University (SDSU), arrived at the institution on a Fulbright scholarship. During his four-month stay, he will be teaching applied animal husbandry and quantitative genetics at the faculty and will also be involved in beef cattle genetics research.
It is the first Hungarian space plant experiment, called Vitapric program, that the time capsules placed on Tuesday at the Böszörményi úti campus of the University of Debrecen are supposed to commemorate in the framework of the 4th Plant Breeding Memorial Day and Conference. These capsules contain items from the scientific experiments conducted by Tibor Kapu, the second Hungarian astronaut, as part of the mission Axiom-4 on board the International Space Station (ISS), including sowing seeds, documents and special implements. Bertalan Farkas, the first Hungarian astronaut, was also present at the placement of the capsules.
Increasing the students’ and teachers’ motivation and involving the industrial and business sectors were some of the issues discussed at the CEEPUS Network meeting on circular economy and energy efficiency held recently at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management of the University of Debrecen. There were experts from as many as seven countries participating in this international academic consultation.
The number of foreign students at the University of Debrecen has continued to grow, with almost 7,800 students studying at UD in the 2025/2026 academic year. Attila Jenei, Director of the Coordinating Center for International Education, advocates the continuous development of the English-language training system to maintain the popularity of the institution in the international student market and to increase competitiveness.
The Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies – CIHEAM) supports the internationalization of the Faculty of Agriculture, Food Sciences and Environmental Management at the University of Debrecen (MÉK), as well as the expansion and strengthening of their foreign partner networks, according to a statement made during a visit to the university by a delegation from the professional organization representing 13 Mediterranean countries. Experts from CIHEAM Bari learned about the educational portfolio of MÉK and the research results of AKIT.
Researchers and industrial experts discussed the most recent scientific findings and possible future directions for further progress at the event titled Biotechnológia a Debreceni Egyetemen – 2025 Szimpózium [Biotechnology at the University of Debrecen – 2025 Symposium]. On Thursday, in the Debrecen Academic Committee Headquarters, participants learned about the latest international trends in addition to the research currently conducted at our institution.