The Senate decided to establish the John von Neumann Institute for Data Science on December 1, within the framework of which the Center for Molecular Fingerprinting (CMF) – headed by the Nobel Prize-winning Dr. Ferenc Krausz – and Semmelweis University will conduct joint research. The institute, which is a research and education unit under the direct leadership of the rector of Semmelweis University, will have five research foci: molecular phenotyping, causal relationships in health information, digitization of health data, artificial intelligence, and health environment analysis. The mission of the institute is to provide an innovative approach to data science; by integrating new molecular fingerprinting and profiling techniques into health datasets, it can enable a comprehensive assessment of human health and early detection of circumstances leading to serious chronic conditions. Within the framework of the collaboration, the joint research and scientific results produced at the new institute will be reflected in the scientific output of both CMF and the Hungarian higher education system, in particular that of Semmelweis University.
The Senate adopted the rector’s report on the previous year’s activities. When presenting his report, Dr. Béla Merkely stressed that the vision of Semmelweis University always had to be kept in mind: to be among the top 100 universities in the world. As he pointed out:
This serves no other purpose than to train Europe’s top doctors and healthcare professionals, and to be a driving force for health and pharmaceutical innovation in the region. Each year we are getting closer and closer to achieving our strategic objectives. The goal we set ourselves earlier, which was for Semmelweis to be ranked among the top five medical universities in Europe, has already been achieved.
Describing the realization of the strategic goals of the rector’s second term, he said that the curricular reform had been fine-tuned, the university had made demonstrable progress in scientific terms, and in patient care it was making steady progress towards completing its portfolio. The university’s greatest asset is its human resources. One of the most important aspects in every step we take is the financial and moral appreciation of Semmelweis Citizens, he said. In this context, he spoke about salary reviews, the continuation of career models, awards and honors to encourage excellence, as well as fringe benefits and the ever-expanding Family Friendly University Program.
Speaking about infrastructure development, he stressed that 2025 would be a record year, with more than HUF 50 billion going to this area. He also underlined the importance of communication, pointing out that he was placing great emphasis on internal communication, for which a new structure had been set up, and that the university was maintaining its leading role in providing information to the public.
Dr. Béla Merkely said that the university had successfully met all the indicators of the public funding contract, the number of students was increasing, as was the citation rate of scientific publications and the number of highly cited publications.
The senators approved the proposal to add a futsal hall to the Zágrábi Street sports complex in cooperation with the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ) and Eötvös Loránd University’s limited company for competitive sport, ELTE 2008 Versenysport SE. The contractor and financier of the project is MLSZ, which will provide HUF 1150 million, and the owner of the futsal hall, after its completion, will be the Foundation for National Health Care and Medical Education, which maintains the university. The futsal hall will be operated by the university for its own sporting purposes, with Eötvös Loránd University as the sponsoring sports organization having free use of the pitch during certain time slots. The sports facility thus obtained free of charge will significantly improve the university’s sports infrastructure, thereby reducing the leased capacity and costs for university sports.
Two amendments have been made to the part of the Organizational and Operational Rules (SzMSz) containing admission regulations, which affects the Advanced Training in Social Service Management at the Health Services Management Training Center of the Faculty of Health and Public Administration (EKK) starting next spring semester; also, the rules governing admission to the Healthcare Manager Master’s Program have been clarified. In addition, an amendment to the model curriculum of the postgraduate specialist training course in mental health in the workplace at EKK’s Institute of Mental Health was adopted, which will make the course, launched for the first time last academic year, even more practice-oriented.
The proposal for the amendment of the Intellectual Property Management Code – which was necessitated by the creation of the Semmelweis Technology Transfer Center Plc. (TTC) and the establishment of a framework that guarantees the exclusive exploitation rights of the TTC – was adopted. The amendment also specifies that the director general of the TTC will be a member of the University Innovation Committee.
The senators also reviewed current leadership and research proposals.
Pálma Dobozi
Translation: Dr. Balázs Csizmadia
Photo (illustration) by Attila Kovács – Semmelweis University
