According to the decision of the board, the Tormay Károly Medical Center in Gödöllő will become the property of the university on September 1, 2025, and will continue to operate under the name Semmelweis Health Center, Gödöllő. Outpatient specialist care will be provided by Semmelweis University’s Clinical Center, and the university will take over the organization’s tasks and 116 employees. Until now, top-tier institutions with a high level of progressivity have typically belonged to the university, but it has lacked the lower levels of progressivity associated with frequent cases and outpatient care. This decision will make all of this available, providing care for nearly 170,000 residents. In addition, the number of areas for practical training available to students will increase, and there will also be opportunities to study public health issues. Under the agreement with the local government, the university will also provide primary care in the areas of school medicine, school nursing, and pediatric dentistry. According to the decision, two properties will be added to the university’s assets, where outpatient specialist care and most of the primary care will be provided. A Financial Management Unit will also be set up for the Health Center. In connection with the decision, the senators also approved amendments to the 2025 institutional budget, profit and loss plan, and investment plan.
The senators decided on the award of the title Doctor Honoris Causa.
They voted to amend the Doctoral Regulations and approved the Constitution of the Doctoral Students’ Union (DÖK). This was necessary due to the implementation of the 2025 amendments to the National Act on Higher Education (Nftv.) and the doctoral government decrees. Under the decision, research and teaching credits have been abolished, but the requirement for the number of courses to be completed during the training and research phase, which is not defined in credit points, remains in force. Research performance will now be assessed on a four-point scale. Based on this, students can be reclassified between different forms of training, from fee-paying to scholarship student status, or vice versa. Cooperative and excellence doctoral training has been introduced. Among the general changes to the Organizational and Operational Rules (SzMSz), guidelines for the ethical use of artificial intelligence have been adopted, supervisor accreditation has been simplified, the participation of international supervisors made easier, and the role of DÖK in protecting the interests of doctoral students further strengthened. According to the decision, those who complete their doctoral degree in less than four years can receive their scholarship for the remaining period in a lump sum, provided that the university receives the funds for this under its contract. The president of the Doctoral Council, like other university leaders, can now hold their position for three terms.
The board decided that the university would establish and launch four new master’s degree programs in psychology in the field of medical and health sciences starting next year. The institution’s educational portfolio already includes professional training courses in psychology and psychotherapy, as well as broader-based postgraduate specialist training in the helping professions that is at least partially related to the field of psychology – all of this provides an appropriate professional foundation for the new master’s degree programs. To this end, three university organizational units (the Institute of Mental Health of the Faculty of Health and Public Administration, as well as the Institute of Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the Faculty of Medicine) have established the Semmelweis Psychology Training Platform, which has carried out the preparatory work for the new programs. The four new master’s degree programs are: Evidence-Based General Medical and Clinical Psychology; Health Neuropsychology; Psychobiology; and Systems Psychology. The first two will be taught in Hungarian, while the latter two will be taught in English. The main objective of launching these programs is to train systems-oriented psychologists who, by acquiring relevant knowledge in the medical and health sciences and applied psychological sciences, as well as the related methodological and practical knowledge, will be able to perform tasks in the areas of prevention, health promotion, health development, and health rehabilitation, and to use their skills to understand and develop individuals, families, groups, communities, or organizations. The decision was also based on a reflection on the needs arising from the mental health status of the Hungarian population and the specific characteristics of the healthcare system, as well as on the need to meet increased training demands.
Ádám Szabó
Translation: Dr. Balázs Csizmadia
Illustration: Attila Kovács – Semmelweis University
