Time capsule placed for University of Szeged’s Sustainable Mobility Industry Relations Center

A time capsule was placed at the future site of the Sustainable Mobility Industry Relations Center (FMIKK) at the University of Szeged Science Park, marking the launch of a new facility focused on the complex challenges of the era of electromobility, the University of Szeged announced in a press release.

The center will serve as a materials science and automotive industry hub, operating as a research, development, measurement, and education facility.

At the ceremony, Prof. Dr. Zoltán Kónya, Vice-Rector for Science and Innovation at the University of Szeged and professional director of the Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation, presented details of the new investment.

“The University of Szeged aims to conduct research and development activities at the Science Park that contribute to the development of the city and the region in cooperation with its industrial partners,” Prof. Kónya said. “The new center will focus on the key sectors of the 21st century — green energy and electromobility. It will serve as an industry relations hub where our researchers will work with partners such as BYD, Rheinmetall, MOL, Audi Hungaria, and 4iG Nyrt. on industrial, research, and educational development projects.”

According to Kónya, the building will house accredited laboratories covering all areas of materials science, as well as measurement facilities dedicated to the automotive and electromobility industries. Education will also play a key role in the center, as research and development laboratories will provide hands-on training opportunities for students.

Kónya also highlighted the university’s recent infrastructure developments, including the AI-dedicated supercomputer inaugurated this summer and the announcement of a cryo-electron microscopy center unique in the region. “In the field of research and innovation, we are currently the strongest university in Hungary,” he added.

Dr. Judit Fendler, Chancellor of the University of Szeged, emphasized that the new center will strengthen the university’s innovation capacity.

“It’s important that the FMIKK can be integrated into the symbiotic relationship the university has already built with the companies located in the Science Park in the fields of research and education,” she said.

Fendler added that the new building will repurpose the former theater of a Soviet-Russian military barracks, a site the university has long planned to utilize.

“There were earlier plans to build a conference center here, but that would have been unsustainable. At the University of Szeged, we strive to ensure that all our developments are sustainable,” she said.

Prof. Dr. Ildikó Csóka, Director General for Strategy at the University of Szeged, noted that the university has been developing the Science Park for the past ten years. The 100-hectare site has been expanded in two phases with more than 12 billion forints in state funding, and now industrial partners are arriving.

“Physically, this area represents the meeting point between university applied research and industrial application,” Csóka said. “We have also implemented an internal concentration of expertise. As an organizational innovation, we established the Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation, which brings together all our applied research activities offered to industry. We have clustered basic research from our 12 faculties, along with patents and know-how stemming from PhD programs and innovation-driven projects. The Sustainable Mobility Industry Relations Center will belong to the inanimate natural sciences cluster, with its accredited laboratories also functioning as key instrument hubs for as many industrial partners as possible.”

The new facility will include experimental and development areas suitable for hosting prototype laboratories and testing systems for university research groups. The FMIKK will also feature advanced photoacoustic measurement equipment to help partners such as BYD and others reduce harmful emissions, monitor air pollutants, and develop green technologies.

The center will house the university’s planned IT server room and data center, which will have TIER 3 certification, giving the institution a leading regional role in AI applications, simulations, and big data analysis.

It will also become home to the Renewable Energies National Laboratory’s partner center, which focuses on low-footprint energy technologies, green hydrogen production, transport, and storage, as well as CO₂ utilization.

Featured image: Ferenc Bodrogi (Managing Director, Bodrogi Ltd.), Prof. Dr. Ildikó Csóka (Director General for Strategy, University of Szeged), Dr. Judit Fendler (Chancellor, University of Szeged), and Prof. Dr. Zoltán Kónya (Vice-Rector for Science and Innovation, University of Szeged) place the time capsule for the Sustainable Mobility Industry Relations Center. Photo by Ádám Kovács-Jerney