Innovation Europe > News > Innovation EU Vol1-1 > Széchenyi István University

Széchenyi István University is one of the most popular and prominent higher education institutions in Hungary in engineering sciences, law and economics. The University’s predecessor, the Polytechnic College of Transport and Telecommunication was established in 1968. After a long process of development (both in size and quality) it has become a university since 1 January 2002. The University is a rapidly developing higher education institution with strong commitment to collaborate with industry.

The University has about twelve thousand students and 600 staff. The teaching and research staff is about 350 persons, mainly with PhDs and higher scientific degrees. The University has two one-cycle, 21 BA/BSc and 15 MA/MSc study programmes. The University has three doctoral schools in economics, in law and political sciences and one multidisciplinary school in engineering sciences with almost 200 doctoral students all together.

The University is well connected to the local economy through collaborative research programmes. The staff is also involved in diverse national and international research programmes (including FP7) earning about E4 million Euros per annum for the University. The University is still in expansion phase, working on a major renewal of its infrastructure with construction new buildings on the campus (ie knowledge management centre incorporating the university library, multimedia rooms, studios, etc).

Complex R&D programmes of the Széchenyi István University

Established in November 2004 the Cooperation Research Centre for Vehicle Industry, Electronics and Logistics (CRC) incorporated three higher education institutions, one institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and 23 companies, including both domestic small and large multinational corporations, eg AUDI, GM Powertrain, Philips and Siemens. Main research areas of the CRC: technologies for the vehicle industry, electronic control, process testing, modelling, computer-based simulation, development of transport-infrastructure and regional economic research. Due to successful implementation, the Centre was selected as one of the “most successful EC-founded projects in Hungary in 2007”.

Other relevant research collaboration programme of the University is the Regional University Knowledge Centre for Vehicle Industry that was established as consortium of the University and three major companies of the region in 2006 and has become the dominant base for vehicle technologies research in Hungary. The Knowledge Centre focuses mainly on R&D activities related to vehicle production technologies and parts construction. The Centre functions as a scientific and technological innovation centre that collaborates closely with industry and operates an outstanding regional R&D network and contributes to the competitiveness and development of the regional and national economy. The laboratories of the Centre are equipped with leading edge instruments enabling high quality research in the fields of production technologies and tooling for high quality vehicle parts; technological development of main vehicle components, research of diagnostic procedures as well as technology and knowledge transfer activities.

Started in 2008, the second phase of the project gained founding from the National Technological Development Programme. The research focuses on the development of an integrated product and technology development system. Various R&D activities and services of the Centre are aiming at enabling cooperation partner companies to bring new technologies and products on the market.

Future plans of the University

The University has the objective to expand further its research and innovation activities through intensive participation in both domestic and international research projects and collaborative research activities. New promising research programs are about to be launched in the fields of computational and applied mathematics and alternative energies used in mobility. Besides aiming at the development of its physical R&D infrastructure, the newly established Knowledge Management Centre aims at exploiting research results produced by professors, support technology transfer and spin-off activities at the University.

Egyetem Sq. 1, Győr, H-9026 Hungary
Péter Tamás SZILASI
Director of Strategy and Development
Tel: + 36 9661 3678
E-mail: szilasi@sze.hu
Dr. Imre CZINEGE
President of Regional University Knowledge
Centre
Tel: +36 9661 3673
E-mail: czinege@sze.hu
Dr.Tibor DŐRY
Director of Knowledge Management Centre
Tel: +36 9650 3400 switchboard 3386
E-mail: doryti@sze.hu