University of Debrecen marks 20 years of food engineering education with new research and facilities

From molecular-level food research to logistics, the University of Debrecen celebrated the 20th anniversary of its independent food engineering degree programme with a scientific symposium at its Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management. The event highlighted how agricultural education has developed into an internationally recognised, comprehensive teaching and research portfolio, which will soon expand with a new packaging facility and a food logistics centre, while research increasingly focuses on molecular-level food production and bioavailability.

“Twenty years ago, we all knew that food education was a forward-looking field within traditional agricultural training. The past two decades have demonstrated the value and success of the BSc in Food Engineering, launched in 2006, together with the subsequent programmes and institutional structure,” said Zoltán Bács, Rector of the University of Debrecen.

He noted that growing numbers of students, including an increasing proportion of international students, are enrolling in these programmes. Food engineering education at the university is supported by excellent laboratory and analytical facilities, a training plant and a packaging facility that is soon to open. A food logistics centre in Újfehértó, formerly known as the Szabolcs Apple Centre, will also soon become available to the university. With 52 cold-storage chambers and a capacity of 10,000 tonnes, the centre will primarily serve public catering services.

Bács added that the university’s food science activities had developed into a comprehensive system and that, as the leader of the Pharmapolis Innovative Food Industry Cluster, the institution also maintained an extensive network of corporate partners.

The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management launched its BSc in Food Engineering in 2006 at the initiative of Professor Zoltán Győri. A master’s programme in Food Safety and Quality Engineering has been available since 2008, while a master’s degree in Nutritional Sciences was accredited jointly with the university’s Institute of Pharmacology in 2009. The Institute of Food Technology was established in October 2014 to provide practical and technology-focused education and meet companies’ research, development and innovation needs.

In his presentation, Zoltán Győri, former head of the Doctoral School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, recalled Debrecen’s food industry developments dating back to the late 19th century, including the milling, meat-processing and canning industries.

He explained that the processing of agricultural products and the assessment of raw material and product quality had been integral parts of the curriculum from the outset. The establishment of a Central Laboratory in 1986 laid the foundations for a specialisation in agricultural product processing and quality assessment, introduced within agricultural engineering education in 1991. In response to growing market and professional demand, the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Quality Assessment was established in 1995, helping to establish the region’s first dedicated educational pathway in food processing and quality assurance.

Alongside the continuous development of its degree programmes, the university has systematically strengthened its analytical infrastructure. Today, the Institute of Food Science’s laboratory is a research facility equipped to a high international standard. This infrastructure has enabled the expansion of grant-funded projects and research into food and feed raw materials, the development of product-processing technologies and the comprehensive analysis of quality management systems.

“People are increasingly demanding high-quality, locally produced food made through short supply chains. We must meet these expectations in processing as well, preserving the beneficial health properties of excellent Hungarian products,” said László Stündl.

He explained that the university established a food-processing training plant in 2015, allowing students to gain practical experience in everything from weighing raw ingredients to manufacturing, packaging and calculating nutritional values.

The dean of the faculty emphasised that the nearly 600-square-metre facility simulates a real industrial environment through six separate units covering meat processing, dairy processing and quality-control testing, milling, baking and confectionery, dried pasta production, and fruit and vegetable processing. A modern packaging facility is also in development, with the operating permit currently being processed.

Deputy Dean for Education Péter Sipos outlined the university’s comprehensive range of food-related programmes. The BSc in Food Engineering, available in English and in a dual education format, focuses on the technological processes involved in food science. The MSc in Food Safety and Quality Engineering covers microbiology, toxicology, food law and quality management, while the interdisciplinary MSc in Nutritional Sciences is jointly offered by the Faculty of Health Sciences and the agricultural faculty. The Doctoral School of Food Sciences provides advanced scientific training.

The university’s newest unit in this field is the Institute of Nutritional Sciences, established in 2017. Its research groups focus on developing innovative functional foods that support health and scientifically demonstrating their beneficial effects. The aim is to contribute to both preventive and therapeutic human nutrition, creating a direct link between agricultural production, the food industry and healthcare.

“Today, nutrition is no longer just about taste and the substances contained in food; it is also about how the active compounds entering the human body are utilised. Alongside shelf life, bioavailability is becoming increasingly important,” said Endre Máthé, head of the Institute of Nutritional Sciences, in his presentation on the challenges facing nutrition research.

He explained that molecular-level research into nutrition suggests that, by the age of 50, the human body produces only half as much of the vital compound NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) as it does during childhood. He identified this decline as a fundamental issue in ageing.

According to Máthé, a key task for future food technology will be to develop processes that support this cellular energy system. Modern research is increasingly investigating how active compounds can be delivered directly to cells and used to activate the body’s internal defence mechanisms. Integrating molecular-level approaches into food production, he said, will be one of the major challenges in the near future.

Béla Kovács, head of the Doctoral School of Food Sciences, reported that the school had been operating as an independent doctoral school since September 1, 2025. It has 10 core members, 18 research supervisors and 42 instructors. Since the doctoral programme began in 2017, it has admitted 155 students, 37 of whom have earned doctoral degrees. The school currently has 33 students, including 19 Hungarian and 14 international students.

All Hungarian higher education institutions involved in food science education were represented at the anniversary symposium. Géza Hitka, deputy director for education at the Institute of Food Science and Technology of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, emphasised that food is a product built on trust between consumers and producers. He also praised the cooperation among Hungarian researchers working in the field.

Sándor Tömösközi, head of the Department of Applied Biotechnology and Food Science at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics; Antal Véha, professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Szeged; and Balázs Ásványi, vice-dean for corporate relations at Széchenyi István University’s Albert Kázmér Faculty in Mosonmagyaróvár, also presented their institutions’ educational programmes and achievements.

To mark the 20th anniversary of food engineering education in Debrecen, a photographic exhibition was also opened in the main building’s atrium at the university’s Böszörményi Road campus.

(unideb.hu)