Jeroen Vergeylen, Belgium's Ambassador to Hungary, who visited the Győr campus on 7 February, sees several areas of cooperation with Széchenyi István University. The diplomat spoke positively about the development of the institution and the quality of its infrastructure.

The priority goal of Széchenyi István University is to strengthen its international relations, thus contributing to the development of the region. The visit of Jeroen Vergeylen, Belgium's Ambassador to Hungary, to the institution to learn about possible links and cooperation opportunities contributed to this aspiration.

At the meeting, Dr Eszter Lukács, Vice President for International Affairs and Strategic Relations, introduced the university. She pointed out that the institution, which offers around forty English-language courses and has nearly a thousand international students from almost eighty countries around the world, is now ranked in six world higher education rankings. She pointed out Győr's excellent geographical location: close to the Austrian, Hungarian and Slovakian capitals, whose airports - especially Vienna, less than an hour away - provide easy access to any point in the world. Dr Eszter Lukács explained that Széchenyi University is a founding member of the Regional University Network-European University (RUN-EU) consortium, which since last year also includes the Belgian Howest University of Applied Sciences. She mentioned that dual degree programmes are also offered to students, together with universities in the United States, China, Portugal, Italy and India. The Vice President also spoke about the close links her institution maintains with industry, in particular with Audi Hungaria in Győr.

Tamás Kolossváry, head of the Győr Innovation Park of Széchenyi University, said that the first building of the park was handed over last year in the first phase, and the development will be completed in two more phases in the next years. He stressed that the park will mainly host the university's research and development units and corporate partners linked to cutting-edge technologies, and that this linkage will strengthen the creation of start-ups and spinoffs and innovation.

At the meeting, Ambassador Jeroen Vergeylen said that the development of Széchenyi István University in a relatively short period of time has been impressive and, together with Edith Ránky and Sonja Bender the Embassy's trade and investment advisors, he saw opportunities for cooperation in many areas in the future. Belgium has strong universities and research and development is a top priority, he said. He added that the Belgian economy has the advantage of being open and centrally located, which is why they are interested in developing logistical and other links with Central and Eastern Europe.

The delegation led by Ambassador Jeroen Vergeylen (second from right) with representatives of Széchenyi István University at the Széchenyi statue on the Győr campus (Photo: András Adorján)