Professor Richard G. Pestell, the renowned Australian-American oncologist is joining the research and innovation activities of the University of Debrecen. The professor spoke to hirek.unideb.hu about his recent breakthrough cancer research, the experiences of the II. Oncology Workshop, and his future plans.
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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 Faculty of Medicine of the University of Debrecen awarded this year’s Debrecen Prize for Molecular Medicine to molecular geneticist Jeffrey M. Friedman, a medical researcher at the Rockefeller University of New York. The professor and his colleagues identified leptin, a hormone produced by adipose tissue, which plays a role in regulating body weight. Professor Jeffrey M. Friedman received the award at a ceremony held at the University of Debrecen on Tuesday, after which he gave a lecture on the causes and treatment options of obesity.
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.
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.
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.
The most recent graduates from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Debrecen were declared doctors on Friday. There were as many as 147 medical doctors of Hungarian and foreign nationality receiving their diplomas at the ceremony.
According to a report presented at the latest annual meeting of Scientific and Social Advisory Board (Tudományos és Társadalmi Tanácsadó Testület - TTTT), during the course of the past year, the University of Debrecen has covered a lot in the fields of education, science, and international collaboration. At the meeting, which was attended by several foreign professors, the members of the council could also hear about the achievements of the University of Debrecen and its objectives for the coming years.
What does Client Gate have to do with Tibor Kapu becoming an astronaut? What could have silenced the otherwise rather talkative Shux and Tibor Kapu for six minutes on board the spacecraft named Grace? What does it mean in terms of space travel when a file upload gets stuck? These, among other things, as well as the process of becoming an astronaut and the special professional relationship between them were the topics discussed by research astronaut Kapu and astronaut candidate Gyula Cserényi in the theater hall of the University of Debrecen on Wednesday at an interview conducted by Vice Rector for Academic Affairs László Csernoch.
Team Veritas from the University of Debrecen won the international ideas competition OncoTrack Hackathon held between September 11 and 13, where staff members from Innovation Ecosystem Center assisted the Debrecen team on site.