University of Szeged SZEM Magazine by University of Szeged

Bring on the ideas! B

ringing science in the direction of innovation! This is the goal of the University of Szeged! Our predecessors founded this university more than 440 years ago, which served the development of its region as an educational, research, and healing knowledge center at every stage of its history. This heritage obliges us to continue to represent the highest quality in all areas. The University of Szeged is one of Hungary’s most prestigious institutions. For a century of operation in Szeged, it has been striving to apply internationally recognized methods, integrate best practices, and continuously improve the training, research, and healing activities taking place at the university. At the same time, it supports its colleagues in developing and implementing their ideas. The idea alone is not enough, it accounts for no more than 5-10 percent of the innovation. The innovation lies in the implementation, its utilization at the social level, and its integration into economic life. The University of Szeged provides support to its citizens during the stages of this process. We have created an Interdisciplinary Center of Excellence that’s unique in the country. With the help of the Proof of Concept Fund, we support university innovations to move to a higher level of technological maturity, so that they can more quickly reach a stage of development that makes them suitable for commercial use. The changes in the operation of our institution help to ensure that innovations in the fields of education, research, and healing are more closely connected than ever before to the economy of the region and the country, and to people’s everyday lives. Our university is succeeding on this path. In our first magazine called Heureka, we feature the results of the present, and the developments towards the future, as a tribute to the centuries-old past of our university.

A bridge between two Innovation Days T

he University of Szeged is a fourth-generation university of outstanding quality both nationally and internationally and has been the center of the Southern Great Plain innovation ecosystem since 2019 as a Regional Innovation Platform. The challenges we face globally demand a new way of thinking and cooperation from all of us. It has become characteristic of the University of Szeged that we try to involve the best representatives of our students, researchers, and partners in the research work already from the first phase of the innovation projects. As a top-tier research university, we improve our training and research excellence on an international level every year. Our university is at the top of many international rankings and is a member of the EUGLOH, the European University Alliance for Global Health. That is why we are constantly looking for opportunities to strengthen industrial and academic relations. Building on the knowledge base of the University of Szeged, we build cooperation with companies at the forefront of research, development, and innovation. This is what the development of the university infrastructure serves. An increasingly important new node of this network is, among others, the Science Park Szeged, the Incubator House — which is also home to the Hungarian Center of Excellence for Molecular Medicine — the Engineering, Technology, and Innovation Center, and the Automotive Industry Competence Center. Our institution cooperates with world-class, international industrial partners. We successfully extended our University Innovation Ecosystem application in order for SZTE to play the role of innovation generator of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. SZTE’s well-established Innovation Day series provides a cross-section of the innovations of the past period and helps the exchange of experience between industrial partners and lecturers, researchers, and students. Heureka magazine, in which we present the university innovations created on the basis of exploratory research, can play the role of a bridge between two such significant days.

Prof. Dr. László Rovó

Dr. Judit Fendler

Rector

Chancellor

04 – 06 | The Past 4

rowth Rings G of the Szeged Universitas

From Szent-Györgyi to Karikó

rom the Joy of Laboratory Experiments to F the Inventors Hall of Fame

10 – 14 | Focus 10

University's Virtual Faculty

Bridge between the A Researcher & the Society

32 | Robotics & Informatics 32 Robots at the Service of Research

34 | Law 34 T he Market Value of the Work of Art & the Invention

17 – 26 | Health Sciences

35 | Humanities

A Huge Step forward in 3D Innovation

Unique Biobank Development

35 Fighting Fake News

20 Change of Era in Cerebral Pacemaker 22 N ew-generation Implant System Development 24 Interplay of Scientists 26 F rom Morse Code to the Mobile Phone: Telemedicine

28 – 30 | Natural Sciences 28 Together, Strengthning Each Other 30 P rojects Related to Space Research

36 | Agriculture 36 Hungarian Drone Coalition

38 | Informatics 38 S oftware Development or Artificial Intelligence?

40 | Music 40 Sheet Music Page Turner Application

41 – 42 | Student Life 41

The Healthiest University Student Life

42 D evelop your Digital Skills & get Prepared for the Job Market at the University of Szeged

Special Edition of Szegedi Egyetem Magazine 2023

GROWTH RINGS OF THE SZEGED UNIVERSITAS A time spiral links the cities of Szeged (Hungary), Cluj (Rumania) and Vilnius (Lithuania): the roots of institutions of higher education in these three cities go back to the 16th century. Humanist ruler István Báthory issued the memorandum of association for the Universitas of Vilnius in 1579 and the Universitas of Cluj in 1581. The Universitas of Cluj – forced to revive from time to time by the storms of history – was compelled to relocate to Szeged due to the Treaty of Trianon after the closing of the First World War. The town on the Great Hungarian Plain, where ambitions for founding a university had been growing since the 1700s, admitted the exiled university from Transylvania in 1921. “We are two shoots from one root,” said Albert Szent-Györgyi, rector of the University of Szeged, in 1940. He added, “no legal formulation can express the intimate relationship that binds us to the Franz Joseph University in Cluj.” In his inaugural address, the rector stated that “the university has three main tasks: its most ancient vocation is to collect, spread, and increase human knowledge. Its second task is to educate a small number of future scientists, to whom we will pass this calling. The third and newest, though no less glorious, undertaking of the university is to educate for this country citizens equipped with the weapons of the spirit. Our university also has a special fourth assignment: to become the cultural centre of the Great Hungarian Plain.” With the globalization of higher education, this mission takes on new meaning. The Szeged Universitas shared its birth with the 21st century, uniting the Szeged teachertraining program that traces its roots back to 1840, the colleges of Hódmezővásárhely and Szeged which had been faculties of other universities, and the medical and science universities of Szeged. After its integration, it became the best-rated research university in the country. The twelve-faculty University of Szeged is competitive in the sphere of international higher education.

The Báthory University is reorganised by Queen of Hungary Maria Theresa.

1774 1872

Construction works begin on the university in Szeged.

1919 Education starts at the second university of Hungary, in Cluj.

1921 1926

The Franz Joseph University, temporarily relocated to Szeged, starts its first term by the river Tisza

1930 The students of the University of Szeged set up the first party-independent, nonpolitical labour organization, the Association of Hungarian University and College Students (AHUCS)

1940 1956

The higher education institutions in Hódmezővásárhely and Szeged fuse, under the name ‘University of Szeged’

1996

The Laser Research Centre of Szeged is opened. A Science Park is set up around the ELI-ALPS Research Centre, the largest scientific investment in the modern history of Hungary.

Kuno Klebelsberg, Minister of Culture, dedicates the university buildings at Dóm Square

1937

2000

The University of Szeged splits into two: the Franz Joseph University returns to its original seat in Cluj. The inaugural speech of the newly-formed Horthy Miklós University of Szeged

The institutions of the Association of the University of Szeged are: József Attila University, Szent-Györgyi Albert Medical University, Juhász Gyula Teacher Training College, Liszt Ferenc College of Music, Horticultural and Food Industry Engineering University’s Faculty of Food Industry Engineering College (Szeged), Agricultural Science University of Debrecen’s faculty of Agricultural College (Hódmezővásárhely), and, as joined members, the college of theology and MTA’s Szeged Biological Research Centre.

2004

2017

The Past

1581

Romanian authorities, having occupied Transylvania establish a Romanian university in its place.

Professor of the University of Szeged Albert Szent-Györgyi receives the Nobel Prize in Stockholm.

István Báthory (1533–1586) – prince of Transylvania publishes the charter for the University of Cluj

2021

The Study and Information Centre is opened, which houses the university library. (TIK)

Jubilees of the Szeged Universitas: the 440th anniversary of the founding of the University of Cluj, the 100th anniversary of its moving to the city by the river Tisza.

1581

From Szent-Györgyi to Karikó 1774

1872

1919

“Raising a good issue, asking a good question — is already half the work,” recommends the website of the “Dreamers of Dreams 20” exhibition an idea of Albert Szent-Györgyi, who dealt with metabolic processes and muscle function. On the website that preserves the exhibition about the Hungarian history of science in online form, the other prominent portrait is of Katalin Karikó, who “revolutionized the application of mRNA technology”. The exhibition presenting world-famous inventions, which was open to the public until January 10, 2023, flashed the portraits of around six hundred scientists. Many researchers of the University of Szeged — which celebrated its centenary in the academic year of 2021/2022 — were also featured in this tableau. Let's see some examples. 1921

1926

1930

1937

1940

Pál Kubinyi, who we can honor as the organizer of domestic cancer screening, began his work as an obstetrician-gynecologist at the Ferenc József University, which was moved from Cluj-Napoca to Szeged. The two-time Kossuth Prize-winning pharmacologist, histochemist, physiologist, and biochemist, jr. (or Gidófalvi) Miklós Jancsó's results, known as capsaicin desensitization, are linked to the 2021 Nobel Prize. In the first half of the fifties, academician Árpád Gerecs, head of the applied chemistry department of the University of Szeged, contributed to the production of several drugs, such as ultraseptyl, streptomycin, and vitamins B1 and P, as well as several active ingredients. Academician István Náray-Szabó, the pioneer of domestic crystal chemistry research, is also on this

history of science tableau, as is physicist Zoltán Gyulai, who found an explanation for the phenomenon of detecting crystal defects. The greats of the mathematics school in Szeged - Alfréd Haár, László Kalmár, László Leindler, László Rédei, Frigyes Riesz, Béla Szőkefalvi-Nagy - look into the present from archive photos. Among the discoveries included in the exhibition is the Szilassi polyhedron discovered in 1978. Apart from the tetrahedron, this is the only known geometric body bounded by planar faces, any two faces of which meet at an edge. The world-famous geometric shape was named after its inventor, Lajos Szilassi, an alumnus and retired lecturer at the University of Szeged.

1956

1996 2000

2004

2017

The Past

2021

From the joy of laboratory experiments to the Inventors Hall of Fame

Ilona ÚJSZÁSZI István SAHIN-TÓTH

“I find a lot of mysteries about RNA,” said Katalin Karikó, who emphasises “research work is similar to the excitement of unfolding a complicated detective story.” The mRNA researcher – professor, and member of several academic institutions, who started at the University of Szeged, and is now recognized with nearly a hundred scientific awards, and “driven by the desire to understand” – was also elected to the American Inventors Hall of Fame. “I had not yet met a biology researcher when I decided to become a researcher myself. I imagined that every day I would do something new, something interesting, something different" says Katalin Karikó, recalling the joy of discovery she experienced as a student in Kisújszállás. "I had very good teachers who encouraged me that I was capable of such a thing and they believed in me. This is very important for a young person who is learning about science.” “Where does theoretical biology stand today?” The Biologist Month program organized in February 1973 at the Móricz High School reveals a lot about the experiences affecting the schoolchild. After the “joint study group”, “Katalin Karikó, a student of class 4.b” took a public exam in front of the jury led by “Dr. Pál Juhász Nagy, assistant professor at Eötvös Lóránd University in Budapest, a candidate of biological sciences”. It was then that she won the Jermy Gusztáv Award, her first award, and then she listened to the ELTE researcher talking about “Where does theoretical biology stand today?” “For five years at the University of Szeged, while getting to know the sciences, we could get close to the researchers of the Biological Research Please read on page 8.

Special Edition of Szegedi Egyetem Magazine 2023

I had not yet met a biology researcher when I decided to become a researcher myself.

Focus

Centre and the invited foreign speakers. They were all famous in their respective fields of study and published internationally. Then we imagined that we would like to be like them” she said. “Membrane research has been one of the central problems of biology for several decades now.” This is the first sentence of the thesis of Katalin Karikó, who completed her studies in biology at the University of Szeged in 1978. The dissertation entitled “Investigation of the function of microsomal delta-6and delta-9-fatty acid dehydrogenase”, based on research carried out at the Institute of Biochemistry of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Biological Research Centre in Szeged, is also available in the digitized version of the Karikó collection of the Klebelsberg Library of the University of Szeged. The young scientist, who also gained experience in the beauty of research work at the Biophysics Institute of the Biological Research Centre, crowned her Ph.D. period with the thesis “Development of antiviral material testing: Investigation of the antiviral effect of (2' – 5') 3' dA (p3'dA)2”. “Interestingly, short mRNAs containing modified nucleosides have already been mentioned here,” stated Katalin Karikó, who has been involved in discovering the secrets of messenger RNA for four decades. “The small and large victories achieved in the laboratory, next to the research table, meant the greatest joy in science for me” she summed up her experiences. “Many times when I was disappointed that my experiment had failed, the following Leonardo da Vinci quote written on the lab wall cheered me up: 'Experiments are never wrong, only your expectations are.' So there is no failure, we just have to think critically”.

Special Edition of Szegedi Egyetem Magazine 2023

A “lost case” turns into discovery In the late 1980s and in the 1990s, most scientists considered dealing with messenger RNA a “lost case”. The sensitive molecule quickly degraded while causing an inflammatory process when tested on human immune cells. As a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, Katalin Karikó tried to obtain federal funds for her work. She did not achieve success in this field, so in 1995, she was removed from her position. Despite this, Katalin Karikó stuck to her original research goals. “For me, the turning point was the introduction of a lipid substance that could be used to bring mRNA into cells so that it could be used in animal experiments. It was then that I realised that the therapeutic application of mRNA has a great future,” said the Jedlik Ányos Prize-winning researcher in the short film presenting her work. Katalin Karikó and her research partner, Drew Weissman, published their first joint article in 2000. The title of their publication published in 2005 is: “Inhibition of RNA Recognition by Toll Receptors: The effect of nucleoside modification and the evolutionary origin of RNA”. This modified, synthetic mRNA is at the heart of Covid-19 vaccines. The synthetic mRNA is coded to instruct the cells to make the spike protein of the SARSCoV-2 virus, while a component alerts the immune cells to take action and react by producing antibodies. Later, the body's immune system recognizes the real virus and a rapid immune response occurs, which protects against serious illness. The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccine against Covid-19, developed by December 2020 to combat the disease caused by the new coronavirus, SARSCoV-2, identified in 2019, has already been administered to billions of people. This has saved millions of lives. The discovery of the Karikó and Weissman research team paved the way for further applications of modified mRNA. Among the wide

THE RNS INNOVATION COMPETENCE CENTER IN FOCUS

THE DREAMERS OF DREAMS — SZEGED RESEARCHERS Mentored by Katalin Karikó, Norbert Pardi, who also started at the University of Szeged, “joined the research community that laid the foundations of mRNA vaccine technology at the University of Pennsylvania”, highlighted the exhibition “Dreamers of Dreams 20”, which dedicated a special space to the work of the two researchers. Pardi — as a colleague of Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman — “played a pioneering role in the development of the nanodroplets that help deliver the genetic information responsible for the effect of new generation mRNA vaccines into our cells.”

range of recent research directions, experimental treatments for cancer and heart diseases receive a lot of attention. “Science builds on science” “What we know about messenger RNA is the result of the work of many researchers. Because that's what science is like — science builds on science. I thought like many other researchers: my results will be further developed by other researchers, and maybe it will benefit someone. This is what every researcher wants,” said Katalin Karikó at the opening of the document and photo exhibition presenting her recognitions at the University of Szeged.

The biggest breakthrough in biomedical research in recent years was brought about by RNA-based technologies: the application of mRNA-based vaccination and other RNA-based technologies in the field of human medicine will form the basis of many developments in the near future. In order to increase its scientific and development potential, SZTE established the RNS Innovation Competence Center as part of the Center of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation, Life Sciences Cluster. It hosts RNA-based therapeutic developments based on research findings on basic research topics related to RNA molecules. With the creation of the knowledge center, we are turning the work of research groups with a long and excellent history in biomedical research into a specific, coherent direction. The aim of the competence center is for the University of Szeged to be able to participate as effectively as possible in the development of the wide application of RNA-based technologies developed by the two world-renowned mRNA researchers who graduated from the University of Szeged, Prof. Dr. Katalin Karikó and Dr. Norbert Pardi, as well as in the development of the wide application of other RNA-based technologies. Another aim is to contribute to the development of therapeutic solutions for human diseases that pose a large public health burden, through the utilization and rapid translation of the research results and developments achieved here.

SZTE PROJECT ON THE DAY OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE “We can all do our part to unlock the world's vast untapped talent pool — starting by filling classrooms, laboratories, and director's offices with women scientists,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. In 2015, the UN General Assembly decided that February 11 would be the day of women scientists. As the first Hungarian event of the “International Day of Women and Girls in Science” (IDWGIS), on February 10, 2023, the second stop of the traveling exhibition presenting Katalin Karikó's scientific recognitions in press and art photos was opened in the headquarters of the Academic Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Szeged. In the spring of 2023, the documentary and photo exhibition entitled “Katalin Karikó's recognitions from academic competitions to the Lasker Prize” has been to — among others — Kisújszállás, Salgótarján, and Budapest. The joint project of SZTE NKI and SZTE Klebelsberg Library draws attention to the message of IDWGIS: gender equality and the strengthening of the role of women and girls will contribute decisively not only to the economic development of the world, but also to the achievement of all the goals and objectives of the Sustainable Development Agenda for the period up to 2030.

Focus

University’s Virtual Faculty The innovation and research system of the University of Szeged is unique in Hungary. We asked Prof. Dr. Zoltán Kónya (pictured), vice-rector for science and innovation about the purpose of the SZTE Center of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation (IKIKK), about the methods of increasing scientists' performance, and the practical utilization model of their results. — “In addition to basic research at the university, it is necessary to create knowledge that is also useful in people's everyday lives. We need to define and make SZTE's research image more contoured, we need to fill the existing form with new content.” You said this at the time of your appointment. Where is this process now? — The most important step forward is that we managed to fill the Center of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation (IKIKK) with content. In the 21st century, the structure and role of universities began to change. In practice, the responsibility of university faculties concentrates on education, that’s what we have optimized these units for. As more and more research began, it became clear that a separate coordination unit had to be created for applied research to preserve and improve efficiency. In general there is less and less exploratory type of research connected to one single discipline, rather specialists need to carry out interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary work, typically in response to industrial needs. It is no longer possible to control this within the framework of a traditional university faculty. One example: in the case of research related to renewable energy, led by Dr. Csaba Janáky, in addition to chemists, lawyers and economists also play an equally important role. Alternative fuel raises serious economic and legal issues in the European Union, and we deal Please read on page 12.

Special Edition of Szegedi Egyetem Magazine 2023

Ferenc LÉVAI

WHAT IS IKIKK?

Anna BOBKÓ

At the University of Szeged, domestic or internationally-funded research and development activities outside the scope of basic research can be carried out within the framework of the Center of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation (IKIKK in Hungarian). IKIKK aims to increase the innovation performance of SZTE, to increase the practical utilization of research results, and to strengthen cooperation between the actors of the research development and innovation ecosystem. In the organization of the IKIKK, dual, professional (scientific), and operative (management) leadership and coordination is implemented at all levels of the organizational hierarchy. The operative manager tasks of the individual levels and the project manager tasks assigned to the research groups are performed by the staff of the Directorate General of Strategy and Development (SFF) of SZTE. This is true for all SZTE employees and all development processes, regardless of the form of financing.

PATENT PORTFOLIO 2018

USABLE INNOVATION The professional leader of SZTE IKIKK is the vice-rector for science and innovation of SZTE, and the operational leader is the director-general of SZTE's Directorate General of Strategy and Development; their task is to generate, manage, and carry out the projects, including the financial and legal parts. Research takes place in six disciplinary clusters - life sciences, physical sciences, clinical research, humanities, social sciences, and the so called third mission of the University. These also have a professional leader and an operational leader. The clusters are made up of competence centers, which are made up of research groups. The SZTE created the structure of the IKIKK similarly to the “University Faculty - Institute - Department” model. Researchers receive all the help they can to ensure that the result of their work becomes an innovation that can be used both economically and socially.

Focus

with them as a whole within the university. So, due to the quality and complexity of the research, these processes have outgrown the frames of a single university faculty. The scientific and innovation centers, started by the former vice-rector of SZTE, dr. Lajos Kemény and his colleagues, have now become effectively operational. The IKIKK will be the organizational unit within the University of Szeged that will define and publicize the image of research to the public. We have created a complex database in which we summarize and organize the equipment and knowledge base that the SZTE has, the kind of specialists it has, the kind of research we had in the past on which we can build upon, and the projects that are currently running. This helps us make research offers to the partners of the region, the country, or even internationally, for example our SZTE EUGLOH partners. IKIKK is the image through which the University of Szeged will be accessible in the field of scientific research. Parallel with this, education and basic research remain within the competence of the faculties. — One of the most important organizations in domestic research is the network of National Laboratories. How does SZTE fit into this system? — Our role in this association is decisive: in the National Laboratory of Renewable Energies, as well as in the National Laboratory programs of the Hungarian Center of Excellence for Molecular Medicine (HCEMM)

Special Edition of Szegedi Egyetem Magazine 2023

Teaming; and also in the work of the ELI National Laboratory, the National Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence or the National Laboratory of Health Safety. In several cases, we provide professional guidance. The essence of the National Laboratories is exactly the same on the national level as that of the IKIKK at the university's level: there should be focal points at all levels that support research and they should be clearly visible at the regional, national, and international levels. Thus, it is clear to everyone that if the question is, for example, “carbon dioxide research in Hungary”, the answer is: “University of Szeged”. This system directs research, resources, researchers, and companies immediately to Szeged in the case of a request from the European Union. — How important is innovation and how exactly does it appear in your work? — There is no need to explain the tasks of an academic vice-rector, it is a fundamental and clear part of my work. At the same time, every innovation has a scientific basis, so the two areas cannot be separated from each other. Everyone at a university deals with science, but much less with innovation. Science almost goes by itself, everyone acquires, discovers, and passes on information in their own field. The usable, socially useful knowledge is created from a close mixture of these two things, and it is one of the most strongly developing trends in Hungarian higher education. We would also like to be at the forefront of this in the country. — Why is the establishment of IKIKK a significant step at the national level? — The creation of IKIKK at the University of Szeged is a social innovation. Several domestic and foreign universities were also interested, they came to see and learn about this new system, and many want to adopt it. The ministry also considers it a good example and supports and promotes our model with its own means. The essence of the IKIKK is that research continuously progresses through a “channel”, transparently, with the support of all relevant areas. Its significance is also

We are working on such innovation projects that can improve

SZTE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT & INNOVATION CLUSTER OF LIFE SCIENCES Professional leader:

Prof. Dr. Márta Széll Operational leader:

Dr. Lívia Berkecz-Kovács

the quality of life for millions of people.

13 CLUSTER OF SCIENCE & MATHEMATICS Professional leader:

shown by the fact that the total amount of applied research here is already over HUF 40 billion. This unit is like a virtual university faculty. These projects continue to be managed by the rector and the chancellor, but we have started to make the necessary joint thinking much more direct and – we hope – more effective. — In what way does the change in the university's operational model support university innovations? — The transformation of the mode of operation of the University of Szeged (the so-called new model) created a financial source that we can use for our own research — this did not exist before. If we find a research project within the university that we think is worth funding, because it could be very important later, or we can build on it in the future, we can also implement this from internal sources. In addition, predictability and plannability are also huge advantages. Thanks to the new model, we can plan not only for the duration of one tender, one or two years but also for a longer cycle. This contributes to retaining our best specialists and even bringing outstanding foreign researchers here. — What plans does SZTE cherish in the field of innovation? — We focus on the important global challenges of today, such as the safety and quality of the food supply or mitigating the effects of climate change. We are working on many innovative projects that can improve the quality of life for millions of people. Materials science and photonics are also priority areas, as the ELI-ALPS Laser Research Institute provides us with unique opportunities in research. In the long term, I see the biggest opportunities in attitude formation. We offer the students of the University of Szeged the opportunity to learn about and understand innovation with the help of more frequent and popular programs. An example is the SZTE Innovation Week event, the highlight of which is the distribution of the Innovation Awards; the Hungarian Startup University Program is also noticeably successful. We started to open this to high school students as well. If the young people were to think about how the acquired knowledge can be used in a new direction, to create a surplus, then the processes could be greatly accelerated, and ultimately the whole society would benefit from this.

Focus

Operational leader:

Prof. Dr. Zoltán Kónya Péter Maróti

CLUSTER OF HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES Professional leader: Operational leader:

Prof. Dr. Péter Zakar Zsolt Bolgár

CLUSTER OF THE UNIVERSITY’S THIRD MISSION DEVELOPMENTS Professional leader: Operative leader:

Prof. Dr. Ildikó Csóka Zsolt Bolgár

CLUSTER OF EDUCATION MODERNIZATION & INNOVATION Professional leader: Operational leader:

Prof. Dr. Klára Gellén Péter Szakál, Zsolt Bolgár

CLUSTER OF HEALTHCARE DEVELOPMENTS Professional leader: Operative leader:

Prof. Dr. Csaba Lengyel László Jancsó

Bridge between Researchers & the Society

Anna BOBKÓ

The pool fo knowledge gathered at the University is enormous. The most important task of the Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence (IKIKK) is to seek out and advance the ideas of students and researchers - says Prof. Dr. Ildikó Csóka (in the picture), Strategic Director. — How and why was the Center of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation created? — At the university, the students, and the public in general, receive much more information about training and education than about science, even though there is a UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCES in Szeged. There is a lot of exciting research going on in the 12 faculties and 19 doctoral schools, and the activity at the Scientific Student Associations' Conferences (TDK) is enormous. Our basic idea was that research should play a much more prominent role. For the past five years, we have been working to map out where research is concentrated that can be useful for society as well, that is, it can be used on the market. International literature calls these nodes "hubs". — The method and structure that has been developed is featured at roadshow-like presentations at Hungarian universities ever since. What is the point of this method? — We have collected the researchers around whom the projects arrive at the University of Szeged. Why is this important? Because these research projects have already won a domestic or European Union fund, that is, an external evaluator has already found them worthy of support for some reason. They were well-submitted tenders, in many cases, the researcher was connected with the industrial partner. Such were the GINOP 2.2.1

Special Edition of Szegedi Egyetem Magazine 2023

tenders, from which SZTE won tens of billions of forints. It is worth noting that in the recent period, SZTE was the university that won the most applications in terms of R&D resources. By gathering the researchers together, we created a map onto which we projected the publications. By building these on each other the nodes, that is, the potential, the people who bring a significant volume of SZTE's performance, were formed. — Within the Interdisciplinary Center of Excellence, five major areas of excellence have been defined. What are these? — Translational biomedicine, drug research, materials science, photonics-laser physics, IT science. We "pulled" the complete field of humanities and social sciences horizontally on all of this, since ethics, psychology, law, or economic aspects also play a role in all research. Interdisciplinarity is a characteristic of SZTE, and this is also reflected in the research. Just as life does not unfold according to subjects, but consists of a set of situations, problems, and challenges, for which our students have learned solutions in several courses and majors. In research, it often happens that researchers from several fields come together to find a solution to a social problem. For example, I would mention the self-

PUBLICATION ACTIVITY OF SZTE:

2018 – 2020

Book and book excerpt foreign language: Hungarian:

driving car project, which started at the Faculty of Economics, but it required a psychologist and a doctor, and Publication since it was a human study, ethical foreign language: Hungarian: regulation was also necessary, so it had a legal aspect and an economic impact, which also had to be examined. — It is not enough to just find excellent research, it must also be managed in the direction of social utilization. What is the essence of innovation management? — In general, a large proportion of research does not necessarily deal with what would otherwise be a social need; regardless, they can serve as a basis for later — We need to consider how to make knowledge a developments, so they are useful, we must pay attention public resource. What can be patented, what can be sold, to the results. There are diseases for which much more protected, copyrighted, and what can be know-how. research would be needed, but spontaneous focusing Individual knowledge must be protected so that it can be does not necessarily occur, so it must be initiated and used as a basis for social use. Our task is to determine which supported. Research topics are also generated by life, as of the research have novelty value and can be used because is the case with the pandemic, for which it is necessary these will be marketable. We need to see what a product or to quickly assemble research groups from several service can be built from. scientific fields. It is the task of the General Directorate — How does a project go from basic research to market of Strategy and Development of SZTE to find these utilization? "diamonds" in SZTE's scientific portfolio, from which a — The 9-point scale developed by NASA, the so-called potentially marketable solution to real social problems Technological Readiness Levels, TRL, can be used to assess and needs can be created. The goal is to take the research how far a product or service is from market utilization. idea towards market utilization, to guide it through the Management intervention in the development of the given innovation value chain, seeing and searching for these product or service is required depending on its level of treasures that are there in our researchers, in our young readiness. The basic research carried out at the faculties is TDK and Ph.D. students. It is important to show them at TRL levels 1-3. The idea is born, it is developed, published, what industrial partners would expect and need. In other and we determine whether it can be copyright protected. words, we bring together the need and capabilities, and Next is the TRL 4-5 phase, when the prototype is born. The potential. next phase is also called the "valley of death" because most — How can intellectual property be made public? research projects get stuck here, as the cost requirements

Focus

of the subsequent phases increase dramatically. To support the best ideas, we created the so-called "Proof of Concept" fund, the essence of which is to provide researchers with funding for the functionality of the prototype so that they can advance to the TRL 5-6-7-89 level. — What other support can a good idea and its owner get at the university? — IKIKK, as a center of excellence, manages research development and innovation projects at SZTE by grouping them into clusters and providing management support. The essence of this is that research groups and research projects in the same scientific field and working in synergy with each other are channeled into one place. The cluster manager sees all the projects in the area, and together with the project management, they examine the application possibilities, and with the innovation management team, they have the opportunity to run the industrial connection possibilities and the novelty research. The Directorate General works in a matrix operating model, and SZTE provides full support for developments with rapidly forming agile teams. Speed is key, as we entered the competitive market with the model change.

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— What are your plans for the future? — As I mentioned at the beginning of the interview, SZTE KNOWLEDGE is huge and extremely valuable. The biggest task in the coming years is to find, integrate and support the outstanding ideas of students and researchers in the established structure. We provide the necessary training, forums, meeting opportunities with industry partners, etc., through which those working on individual research projects reach the "critical mass" and put the University of Szeged on the map in a visible way on the international stage. We transform knowledge into application, we build a bridge between the researcher and the citizen of the 21st century.

A huge step forward in 3D innovation

Gizella LÉVAY Anna BOBKÓ

The project of the 3D Center of the University of Szeged supports individualized treatment, life science research, related education, medical training, and innovation. The 3D Center, established in the building of the Economic Office of the Szent-Györgyi Albert Clinical Center of SZTE, already provides a background for numerous medical and industrial collaborations, as well as several domestic tenders. “The realization of the 3D Center is a milestone in the life of the University of Szeged. With the explosive development of 3D printing technology, new dimensions are opening up for medicine and patient care that were unprecedented” said Dr. Judit Fendler, chancellor of SZTE, at the closing event of the project. The aim of the development was to create the infrastructural background of a unique, complex 3D printing technology research base, in which metal, polymer, and biological structures, as well as medical devices are created, and their characteristics are examined and developed. In the future, it may become a reality if an otolaryngologist, oral surgeon, orthopedist, heart or neurosurgeon plans an operation on a model created with the help of a 3D printer, or places an implant printed based on the patient's individual parameters in the patient's body. With three-dimensional spatial printing, they can create unique organs and biological tissues, small organs of the ear, prosthesis, skull or jaw bone replacement, and joint cartilage surfaces.

At the project closing event of the 3D Center, Prof. Dr. László Rovó, rector of the University of Szeged and director of the ENT and Head and Neck Surgery Clinic, called the creation of the new center a huge step. He stated that as a practicing physician, he experiences the importance and impact of medical science and the medical technology development that supports it on the quality of patient care. “The University of Szeged implemented the 3D Center in accordance with its mission regarding education, research, healing, and industrial relations,” pointed out Dr. Judith Fendler. She said that she was very proud of the self-sacrificing work and outstanding performance of her colleagues. * The SZTE, in partnership with the Szeged Biological Research Center, realized the development of new digital medicine with more than 615 million forints from the European Union in the application number GINOP-2.3.3-15-2016-00040, “Individualized medicine through 3D printing of life science structures”. At the event, Dr. Zsolt Geretovszky, the project's professional coordinator, spoke about future plans.

PRINTERS & SCANNERS

The equipment park of SZTE's new center currently includes three high-value, professional 3D printers. One of these is a metal printer, the other two are plastic printers. Five desktop printers also work in the center. Next to these, a number of additional tools were acquired to support 3D printing and the medical decision-making process, for example, the planning of surgical, dental, or oncotherapeutic interventions. Among other things, 3D scanners, a 3D optical microscope, a desktop electrodynamic tester, and 3D design and control workstations. Furthermore, the SZTE Faculty of Dentistry received a portable oral cavity 3D scanner, and the Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry of the SZTE Faculty of Science and Informatics received a Tandem LA/LIBS spectrometer.

Health Sciences

Unique biobank development 18

SZTE's news portal continuously reported on the main stages of the development of SZTE Biobank. Here is the timeline of SZTE Biobank: 2020 “The 12-ton, world-class sample storage equipment of the new Biobank of the University of Szeged has arrived,” began the report on November 26, 2020. 2021 The foundation stone laying ceremony of the Biobank of the University of Szeged was held on January 21, 2021. “The University of Szeged (SZTE) is the only university in Hungary to join the Biobanking and BioMolecular Resources Research InfrastructureEuropean Research Infrastructure Consortium (BBMRI ERIC) infrastructure network, which oversees the biobanking activities of the member states of the European Union.” — The University of Szeged has more than 75 years of experience in collecting and storing biological samples, which are the bases of many clinical, biomedical, and physiological researches, said Prof. Dr. László Rovó, Rector of SZTE. “The assembly of the world-leading robotic biobank sample storage system has started. SZTE has also expanded the capacity of the Biobank with a unique innovation. It has built BSL-2 labs” — summarized the news report on May 6, 2021, about the “260 square meter biobank building in the Southern Clinic Park of SZTE Szent-Györgyi Albert Clinical Center”.

to use a unique, newly developed, ultra-short pulse laser technology to detect diseases such as cancer as early as possible. The blood samples examined in the project are stored in the SZTE Biobank.” 2022 “The technical acceptance of the new Biobank building of the University of Szeged, the installation of the storage equipment, biobank service technology, building monitoring, and process control systems have all been completed,” as we announced on July 6, 2022. “The modern, semi-automatic biobank storage system was donated by the Spartacus Cancer Foundation, which was established in 2019 to support cancer research in Hungary, said Dr. Zoltán Veréb, director of the SZTE SZAKK Dermatology and Allergology Clinic/IKIKK Regenerative Medicine and Cellular Pharmacology Research Laboratory, the professional leader responsible for the development of the Biobank. John Les Corps, a member of LiCONiC UK, was responsible for the commissioning of the storage systems.” At the Innovation Day of SZTE, which took place in the hall of the SZTE Rector's Building on November 3, 2022, Dr. Zoltán Veréb presented the history of the establishment of the first Hungarian ISO 20387 certified biobank, the SZTE IKIKK Biobank.

“The first CMF blood samples have arrived at the Biobank of the University of Szeged,” reported the news statement on December 1, 2021. “SZTE participates in the project of the Center for Molecular Fingerprinting (CMF), the aim of which is

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Health Sciences

IKIKK CLUSTER OF LIFE SCIENCES SZTE Biobank Competence Center Cluster of Life Sciences “In 2021, the Semmelweis University, the University of Debrecen, the University of Pécs, the South-Pest Centrum Hospital, the Gedeon Richter Plc. and the University of Szeged established BBMRI Hungary, thereby practically all Hungarian university biobanks became BBMRI members. SZTE's biobank employees hold significant positions in the management and operation of the national node, such as in BBMRI-ERIC.” “The SZTE Biobank coordinates, implements, and develops the distribution, collection, storage, and use of biobank samples collected in the various institutes of the SZTE, and in addition, it acts as a certain catalyst between the industrial and academic partners.”

Research/development areas: ■ oncology ■ immunology ■ cardiology ■ personalized medicine ■ cell therapy developments ■ support for clinical and basic research ■ proteomics ■ Next Generation Sequencing ■ bioinformatics

Services: The storage of biobank samples according to international standards, and in this context, the continuation of full-spectrum biobank activities, as well as the provision of services both within the SZTE in the field of translational medicine and for external (health, pharmaceutical, etc.) industrial customers; the operation, maintenance, and development of the necessary infrastructure, and the related consultancy and education. Ensuring the biobanking background of R+D+I tender projects carried out by SZTE and external partners, as well as the creation of an independent scientific product in the field of clinical research, biobanking activity, and technology.

Change of era in cerebral pacemaker therapy

Gizella LÉVAY SZTE NKI

The Neurosurgery Clinic of the University of Szeged was one of the first in the world to implant the SenSight™ directional Deep Brain Stimulation lead system, currently a unique innovation, in a patient suffering from Parkinson's disease. This directional electrode is currently the only one compatible with the BrainSense™ deep brain stimulation system for targeted stimulation.

In addition to traditional stimulation, the BrainsSense technology also measures brain activity, which in the future will allow the system to adjust the stimulation according to the patient's individual needs, even automatically. In this way, the involuntary, intense tremors, severe freezing, and other symptoms characteristic of patients with serious conditions can be reduced with a much higher degree of efficiency. For Parkinson's disease therapy During deep brain stimulation, a tiny, pacemaker-like device, a neurostimulator, is implanted under the skin of the chest to send signals through thin wires to the area of the brain responsible for the disease. The Medtronic company has been developing deep brain stimulation systems for a long time, which serve to significantly improve the condition of patients with advanced Parkinson's disease who no longer respond well or at all to medication. Therapy can help patients the most when even the smallest tasks are challenging for them. Medtronic's latest development is the BrainSense™ technology of the state-of-the-art Percept™PC neurostimulator and the new, currently unique SenSight™ directional lead. This is a special deep brain stimulation system and electrode, which far exceeds the effectiveness of previous options. The system not only enables targeted, controlled stimulation of the brain nucleus responsible for the symptoms of

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Parkinson's disease but is also suitable for measuring brain activity. Based on the information obtained in this way, the system will be able to individually or even automatically adjust the stimulation intensity according to the patient's symptoms in the future, so that the best possible improvement occurs. A unique surgical technique Another technical innovation of this surgery, which is also unique worldwide, is the so-called frameless surgical technique and imaging during surgery. This is made possible by the angiography device (Siemens

For the first time in Hungary, and among the first in the world, on June 21, 2021, such a combined deep brain stimulation system was implanted in a patient suffering from Parkinson's disease at the Neurosurgery Clinic of the Szent-Györgyi Albert Clinical Center (SZAKK) of SZTE, led by Prof. dr. Pál Barzó (from the right in the portrait photo below)

IKIKK ClUSTER OF LIFE SCIENCES Clinical Research Competence Center

Pheno) capable of 3D X-ray imaging in the hybrid operating room of the Neurosurgery Clinic, as well as the neuronavigation and NexFrame systems. With this technique, there is no need to use the traditional, heavy, and uncomfortable stereotactic frame, so the operation is more comfortable for the patient and can be performed faster and more precisely than ever before. Dr. Dávid Kis (from left), neurosurgeon and university assistant professor, head of the neurosurgery team that performed the surgery, said that with the right experience, within 1-2 years at most, this new, combined system creates the possibility of socalled adaptive stimulation. Once this is achieved, the stimulator adjusts the stimulation parameters programmed to the patient's needs. Thus, the doctor does not have to change the set stimulations every time, but the system, sensing the brain activities, raises or lowers the stimulation parameters to the appropriate level. With this, an individualized, automatic, much more effective improvement can be achieved in patients' symptoms. No unpleasant side effects The assistant professor emphasized that thanks to the so-called directional lead deep brain electrode compatible with BrainSense™ technology, unpleasant side effects that may arise with adequate symptom control can be eliminated. Furthermore, an important novelty of the implanted deep brain stimulation system is that it is also compatible with 3 Tesla MRI machines, which are increasingly common in the world and provide

better and more beautiful images. Patients with such a stimulator can therefore also be examined on these MRI machines, which is not possible with other deep brain stimulation systems available in the world. Another special feature is that the coating of the new electrode is a polymer developed by NASA engineers, which provides insulation that greatly aids brain wave recording without background noise. Among the first Dr. Dávid Kis reminded us that the introduction of BrainSense™ technology in Hungary also took place at the University of Szeged: the first implantation took place on January 22, 2020, among the first in the world. During this, those special surgical techniques were used which provided the patient with a much better result than before.

Health Sciences

New-generation implant system development 22

It can significantly increase the lifespan of implanted dental implants, thereby improving the quality of life of those with implants. This is the result of a new procedure developed by the University of Szeged and Denti System LLC. The research work was supported by a modern equipment park, and the experience gained here can also improve the knowledge of dental students in the future. — The main goal of the R+D+I project implemented by the consortium was the development of a newgeneration dental implant system that reduces the possibility of bacterial inflammation around the implant. Avoiding peri-implant inflammation can significantly increase, or even multiply the service life of the implanted implants, thereby improving the quality of life of patients with teeth restored via dental implants. The new generation implants developed as a result of interdisciplinary research — in accordance with the goals set at the beginning of the project — fully meet the requirements of modern dental implantology — highlighted Dr. Zsolt Tóth, the professional leader of the project, SZTE's senior scientific associate. The special feature of the implant system is that it can be planned and carried out for periodontal patients under treatment, taking into account the anatomical features of the periodontium. Thanks to the geometric design of the implant, the system ensures that it can be used in accordance with the varied bone quality characteristics of periodontal

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disease and that an adequate amount of soft tissue can be formed after implantation. — The dental researchers of the SZTE, in cooperation with the specialists of Denti System LLC., have developed a surgical equipment park, which allows to spare the tissues of the oral cavity during the implantation of the implant, and to make the healing faster and more effective — explained Dr. Zsolt Tóth. — The research and development tasks of the project were carried out synergistically with the close cooperation of Denti System LLC. and four faculties of the University of Szeged - Faculty of Dentistry, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School, Faculty of Pharmacy and Faculty of Science and Informatics. The university participated in the entire vertical of the development, starting from the inspection of test samples, through in vitro and in vivo experiments, to clinical control with the involvement of researchers with excellent expertise and the appropriate infrastructure.

Health Sciences

Interplay of scientists

Ferenc LÉVAI Anna BOBKÓ

The joint project of SZTE and SZBK aims to identify new drug candidates and develop new drug carrier systems suitable for delivering compounds to the central nervous system.

The special project was implemented by a consortium of 11 research groups operating at three faculties of the University of Szeged and the Biological Research Institute (SZBK) of the ELKH in Szeged. The members of the consortium have been engaged in similar research in close cooperation for 15-20 years. The processes associated with the destruction of brain cells, primarily nerve cells, are not prevented by existing drugs and treatments, therefore diseases associated with dementia and the deterioration of movement functions - for example, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, prion diseases - have no medical treatment of the cause. A new realization is that in all such diseases, chronic, prolonged inflammation of the brain tissue develops, which classical anti-inflammatory drugs cannot prevent. Therefore, the consortium set itself the goal of identifying compounds capable of activating a relatively new receptor protein, the sigma-1 receptor, designing new ones, and then examining their physiological and pharmacological effects. As a result of

THE GOAL IS TO PROTECT THE NERVE CELL

The project was realized with the help of HUF 719.63 million in nonrefundable European Union support within the framework of the Széchenyi 2020 Economic Development and Innovation Operational Program. The research project with the identification number GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00060 started on April 1, 2017, and ended on December 31, 2021. The main goal of the project was the identification of a neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory new family of drug candidate compounds and extensive testing prior to clinical application. Special Edition of Szegedi Egyetem Magazine 2023

the interdependent and coordinated work of physicists, chemists, pharmacists, biologists, and doctors, it was possible to identify several new compounds from their own library of 4,000 compounds, as well as from the planned new molecules, and to produce them in pure form, which in numerous pre-clinical in vitro and in vivo experiments has a cell-protective and anti-inflammatory effect, and it enters the brain through the blood-brain barrier. Some of the active ingredients have an inhibitory effect on cell division, while the lead compound also has an inhibitory effect on epileptic convulsions. Among the drug carrier systems developed, one was found that facilitated the more effective entry of the lead compound into the central nervous system. The preparation used through the nose enables the active ingredient under development to be directly introduced into the brain by bypassing the blood-brain barrier. In the future, the members of the consortium wish to continue the further development of their drug candidates potentially suitable for the prevention and treatment of the mentioned nervous system diseases.

LEADING COMPOUND CODE

Further development of the best-selected compound (code: 0758S) may result in drugs suitable for the prevention and treatment of diseases associated with dementia and loss of movement (e.g. Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's).

It enters the brain through the blood-brain barrier.

MEDICINE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IS A TOP PRIORITY AREA

1. ingredients, synthetic pharmaceutical chemical

Discovery research in chemistry, biology, plant active syntheses, and development of active substances

Project identification number: TKP2021-EGA-32 Professional leader: Prof. Dr. Tamás Martinek (in our picture)

2. pharmaceutical research

Biochemical, pharmacological, and

The University of Szeged has received a HUF 1,599,972,148 grant for the implementation of the “Pharmaceutical Research and Development” project by the decision of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology as sponsor on November 24, 2021, in the Topic Excellence Program 2021 tender scheme announced by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office. The project received 100% non-refundable support from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund. The implementation started on January 1, 2022, and 4 years are available to implement the subsidized professional program. The development of the instrument platform and analytical expertise related to testing methods and product development can be considered as the horizontal development of drug research and development.

3. supervision, and drug application

Pharmaceutical technology developments, drug

4. developments.

Pharmaceutical analytical

Health Sciences

From Morse code to the mobile phone: telemedicine Telemedicine is a diagnostic or therapeutic remote monitoring procedure supported by an info-communication device, in which the necessary presence of medical personnel is replaced remotely via an online electronic connection. We asked László Jancsó, cluster manager of the Directorate General for Strategy and Development of SZTE, about the development of telemedicine and the usefulness of the tools. — How long has telemedicine been in development? — Many people associate telemedicine with today's accomplishments, however, the first telemedicine solution occurred at the beginning of the last century when a sailor on a ship was diagnosed remotely by a doctor using Morse code. Today, technology makes it possible to measure and collect information. The real revolution is the processing of this information. As it has been identified in other industries, information is the gold standard of our time, consequently, the true potential of telemedicine lies in the processing and in the evaluation of data. This can be achieved through the application of artificial intelligence and its ever-deeper involvement. In some medical disciplines, such as radiology, AI-based services are now well accepted, and it is the proliferation of these and similar services that will make telemedicine truly successful. — What are the benefits of telemedicine tools? — It has several direct benefits. Doctors can receive information of a quantity and quality that would not be possible without these devices. For example, the pulmonologist can immediately see the results of spirometry, i.e., the measurements of respiratory function of the treated patients, and in case of complaints, he can make evidence-based decisions. Speech recognition can contribute to the speeding up and automatization of processes.

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4 UTILIZATION AREAS

A tender focusing on telemedicine has currently been concluded at the SZTE, which was realized with GINOP funds, and four utilization areas were established: The level of internal services of the SZTE. Based on SZTE's specialist base, they can provide professional telemedicine services for a fee to general practitioners. Public services, for example: Gyógyulj (Heal), Child Pulmonology, and also the public assessment application called MASZK, which was able to provide crucial information to the modeling mathematicians, Gergely Röst and his group, in the first phase of the COVID. Virtual microscopy, where standard quality assurance was carried out in cooperation with the international organization EQUALM.

For example, the examining physician dictates the anamnesis to the computer using live voice, which produces a document in an appropriate format, but the spoken text itself can also be of diagnostic importance, such as screening for early dementia based on the spoken text. — How to collect information with smart devices? — Smart devices are now part of our lives. Surveys show that nowadays each person has more than six networked devices. Through the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm, these devices enable the measurement of our environment and the interventions based on these measurements. It is well known that most of the health problems affecting the largest social groups can be solved by lifestyle change. Lifestyle measurement has become a reality these days, allowing us to take an instant snapshot

or trend of some dimension of our lifestyle in countless ways, direct (via a smartwatch) or indirect (via Facebook posts). Today, in the age of “cloud” and “fog” computing, the collection of this information can be easily done with proper consideration of the GDPR. — What does SZTE have to do with IT and telemedicine? — SZTE is present in the entire vertical of healthcare. We have many types of research and development that result in a system that can be used in daily practice in the form of a system and solution evaluated with the help of clinical validation. SZTE is in a fortunate position, as the competencies related to healthcare, medical research, and software development meet within one institution. This is a unique opportunity that makes SZTE stand out among those institutions that only focus on a single discipline.

Health Sciences

Together, strengthening each other Ferenc LÉVAI

Anna BOBKÓ

The researchers of the University of Szeged can work at the ELI-ALPS research center with a laser that is unique in the world. The experiments that can be carried out here will open up new paths in physics, and their results will have a significant impact on many areas of materials science, medicine, and environmental protection. The University of Szeged creates centers of excellence in several fields. The ELI-ALPS (Extreme Light Infrastructure – Attosecond Light Pulse Source) built in Szeged offers unsurpassed opportunities for the university's researchers in their work requiring lasers, not only because of its proximity but also because of its world-class research equipment. Physicist and academic Prof. Dr. Gábor Szabó, an internationally recognized expert in laser research, played a key role in the creation of ELI-ALPS. As the former rector of the University of Szeged, the current president of the Foundation for the University of Szeged, and the head of the ELI-ALPS research institute, he also strengthens the cooperation personally. Researchers connected to the University of Szeged can also be found in the professional leadership as well as in the research team of the institute. The interaction of light and matter With the special experimental equipment of ELI-ALPS, the interaction of light and matter can be investigated at higher intensities than ever before — even in the ultrarelativistic range. This rightly attracts

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SZTE IKIKK, CLUSTER OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS Competence Center of Photonics and Laser Physics

researchers working in laser fields and students interested in the topic from all over the world. The institute already has lasers with unique combinations of parameters, attosecond sources radiating in the X-ray and XUV ranges and sources radiating in the terahertz range available to users, and the installation of additional lasers and particle sources is still ongoing. The institute's experimental equipment is operated and further developed by highly qualified specialists. Professional support from the ELI-ALPS research groups is also a big attracting factor for users from all over the world. The University of Szeged and ELI-ALPS are linked by several threads. When choosing the location of the research institute, the fact that the University of Szeged has been the stronghold of domestic laser research for decades proved to be a decisive argument. The institute constantly relies on the supply of researchers trained by the university, therefore it not only supports the research work at the university with the available infrastructure, but also education with topic announcements, mentoring, lectures, and events. Working on solving one of the problems of nuclear energy In 2019, the University of Szeged, the École Polytechnique in Paris, and the California-based company Tri Alpha Energy (TAE) concluded a professional cooperation agreement. The goal of the international project is to develop laser technology that accelerates the breakdown of nuclear power plant waste. The proper management and storage of nuclear waste is extremely

important for all of humanity. The fuel used in power plants continues to radiate for a very long time, so its proper storage is a serious problem. In Hungary, for example, one of the main challenges of energy policy, namely that by 2030 the vast majority of electrical energy in the country shall be produced without carbon dioxide emissions, cannot be met without nuclear energy. The Paks block guarantees Hungary's electricity supply, but in addition to the safe and stable operation of the power plant, attention must also be paid to waste management. A transmuter based on laser-produced neutrons can help with this. The development of a laser neutron source that transforms nuclear waste with a long half-life present in used heating elements into stable or rapidly decomposing nuclei is supported by the Government of Hungary - as a national research program - with a total of HUF 3.5 billion. — The vast majority of radiating substances in used heating elements radiate strongly, which is why they break down relatively quickly. After approximately five hundred years of storage, more than half of the measurable radiation comes from the long-lived elements, so-called actinides, which were initially only present in a tiny percentage (in 1 ton of spent fuel, which otherwise operates a reactor for 3-5 years, only 2.5 kg!). They radiate much longer, even for millions of years. The need to store these heating elements for a much longer time is only necessary because of the actinides, explained Prof. Dr. Gábor Szabó, who was the professional leader of the project at the beginning of the research, but has been coordinating the work from the head of the laser research center since his appointment.

Natural Sciences

HEO

35 786 km

High Earth Orbit

Projects related to space research Among the previous projects of the University of Szeged related to space research, for example, experiments in microgravity, space medicine, space science specialist training, drug research, and the development of a device sent into space by satellite stand out.

A pocket satellite with the SZTE experiment

MEO Medium Earth Orbit

Independent experiments carried out at the University of Szeged were also sent into outer space on board the small satellite that was carried by the rocket of the American businessman Elon Musk. The engineers filled up every inch of space on the nearly 600-gram MRC-100. In addition to the sub-units that ensure operation, as well as the electrosmog testing equipment, it also houses a position stabilization system. In addition to the independent experiments carried out at the University of Szeged, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, the Széchenyi István LEO University in Győr, and the University of Debrecen, Low Earth the measuring instruments of H-Ion and Orbit 27G LLC were also sent into space on board the pocket satellite.

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LARGE

<1000 kg

2 000 km

MEDIUM

500–1000 kg

MINI

100–350 kg

MICRO

10–100 kg

NANO

1–10 kg

160 km

Space science specialist training

Within the framework of the UniSpace program, The Eötvös Lóránd University (ELTE) launched a space science specialist programme in the 2022/2023 academic year, for which students from the University of Szeged also applied. Professors of the Faculty of Science and Informatics of SZTE also participate in the teaching of natural science subjects. Students can also learn the basics of space science and space technology, space physiology and nutrition, as well as the basics of international law and space economy in the specialization course. Students can learn space and astrochemistry, earth observation, and astronomy from the lecturers from Szeged — Prof. Dr. Dezső Horváth, Dr. László Mucsi, Dr. Tamás Szalai and Csaba Hegedűs.

Drug research in weightlessness Every square centimeter of space on board a spaceship counts. It also matters whether the astronauts have to carry an entire pharmacy with them or just a few materials. This is also why experiments with pharmaceutical raw materials in space are important, and they show how much chemistry differs in weightlessness. Under the leadership of SZTE researchers Dr. Csaba Janáky and Prof. Dr. Dezső Horváth, a space chemical reactor was built, which is a closed-flow chemical system with a complex analytical detector that also works in weightlessness.

ISS

International Space Station

Natural Sciences

Robots at the service of research Four “automatically controlled vehicles” worth HUF 15.9 million arrived at the Robotics Laboratory of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Szeged. How does robotics affect our lives? We asked Dr. József Sárosi, deputy dean of the SZTE Faculty of Engineering (SZTE MK).

Tamara PÓSA

Special Edition of Szegedi Egyetem Magazine 2023

— The Faculty of Engineering of the University of Szeged cooperates with the Csongrád-Csanád County Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Subotica Business Incubator, and the Technical College of Subotica. Within the framework of the Hungary-Serbia IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Program, with a grant of 339,131.93 euros, a joint professional project entitled “Mechatronics and industrial automation regional innovation laboratory Industry 4.0 (RILIAM I-4.0)” was implemented between February 1, 2021, and July 31, 2022. As part of this, four AGVs - Automated Guided Vehicles - arrived at the SZTE MK Robotics lab. What happened to these robots since December 2021? — The commissioning was followed by several tests. Among other things, we used remote access, control, and camera and marker tracking functions, which are also important for achieving our goals. Currently, our main goal is to develop educational materials so that we can include robots as soon as possible in the courses of the master's degree in mechatronic engineering. In addition, a measurement system is being prepared, with the help of which we will collect data necessary for research. The robots will perform movements on different terrains equipped with specific sensors. The aim of the research is to implement and validate novel terrain classification algorithms with the help of recorded measurement data, using different tools of signal processing and artificial intelligence. — Why is it important for future engineers to learn about robotics? — Over time, manual activities are increasingly replaced by the use of automated equipment. Programmed production lines and robots have much less chance of making mistakes compared to manual workers, and are also more cost-effective, which is why more and more companies are using them. Robots perform the tasks assigned to them faster, more accurately, and more safely, and human factors such as fatigue and unpredictability can be significantly reduced or even completely eliminated by them. The planning and commissioning of industrial robot cells and robot systems, as well as the development of mobile robots, require extensive knowledge. In order for an automated production line or a work process to function smoothly, engineers are needed to coordinate and organize the work of the robots. — How does the development of robotics affect our everyday lives?

— With the development of robotics, these devices are used in more and more places. In the case of robotic arms, collaborative robots are the direction of development, so in industry, they will be able to work safely with people and help them in their work. In addition to industrial robots, robots are becoming more and more integrated into our everyday life every year, thus becoming an integral part of it. Household robotic machines, such as robotic vacuum cleaners and robotic lawnmowers, make people's lives easier in such a way that they can independently perform monotonous household tasks. — Apart from these robots, what other purposeful tools are there in the SZTE MK Robotics lab? — In the Robotics lab, there are several mobile robots and industrial robotic arms, as well as the technologies related to them. In the area of industrial robotic arms, there is an ABB IRB140 robotic arm, a FANUC teaching cell, a UR5 collaborative robot mounted on a linear drive, two DOBOT robotic arms, and a FANUC SCARA robot-based Pick&Place teaching cell procured in the previous part of the tender. Technologies include control units, various sensors, conveyor belts, motors, workpieces, and grippers. As for mobile robots, we have several LEGO Mindstorms and Pitsco sets, as well as robots developed by us, which we mainly use for research. — What kind of robots facilitate scientific research or other work in the life of SZTE? — At the Institute of Mechatronics and Automation, we have several scientific research topics related to robotics, for which we use industrial robot arms and mobile robots in the Robotics lab or self-developed mobile robots. Of course, robots can also help research work in other scientific fields. For example, in the medical field, they can speed up, simplify and make certain tests more precise. An important goal of our institute is also to help colleagues working in other fields learn about and apply the possibilities of these technologies.

Robotics & Informatics

The market value of the work of art & the invention 34

Tamara PÓSA

Copyright and patent — two very important concepts in the everyday life of the University of Szeged. We asked Dr. Péter Mezei (pictured), deputy head of institute and university professor at the SZTE Faculty of Law and Political Sciences Institute of Comparative Law, about the characteristics and ethics of these expressions. — What are the most important features of copyright? — Copyright is an exciting, ever-changing area of law that protects original scientific, artistic, and literary works. Three hundred years ago, copyright was about books, but today almost anything can be protected: a tattoo, a wine label, and even a choreography. The point is the potential market value of a certain piece of work. For example, Harry Potter, which started “small”, has become one of the most valuable franchises in the world. Copyright pays particular attention to the author: the creator's personal interests and relationship to his work must be protected. To give an example: the author can decide under which name he publishes his work. But the Internet has brought irreversible changes in this as well. Today, the most important question is what and how it can be accessed. Can it be downloaded, streamed, or shared? And if so, under what conditions? — Intellectual property protection is made up of industrial property protection together with copyright.

Special Edition of Szegedi Egyetem Magazine 2023

What can and should be known about the concept of patents and their management? — Next to the trademark, the patent is the most important form of industrial property protection. Inventions that are new, are based on inventive activity and can be used industrially, can receive protection. In exchange for disclosing the invention through a patent office application, the inventor typically receives protection in areas such as the pharmaceutical or automotive industry, and the IT sector. Patents enhance social welfare. Since only registered inventions are protected, the correct management of patents is a priority for all industrial players. The University of Szeged also pays close attention to innovation, from the birth of the invention to its application. — What ethics should and must be followed for copyrights and patents? — Intellectual property protection provides exclusive rights to the author and patentee. Therefore, it is better to ask them for permission to use it first than to litigate later.

Law

Fighting fake news

Ilona ÚJSZÁSZI Anna BOBKÓ

The human and automatic fake news recognition system, the development of which can be started by the participants of a program managed by the consortium leader SZTE, can save lives. We asked academician Enikő Németh T. (pictured), professor and head of the Department of General Linguistics at SZTE Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, about the project, which ranges from applying scientific theory to innovation. One of the three major national research programs of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) is the “Science for the Hungarian Language National Program”, the 4th sub-program of which is “Linguistic identification of fake news and pseudo-scientific views”. The MTA is allocating a total of HUF 200 million to support the work of the consortium implementing this. The leader of the consortium is the University of Szeged, and the cooperating partner is the University of Debrecen. — Computer scientists and linguists make up the team. However, senior researchers, post-doctoral fellows, Ph.D. students, and undergraduate students interested in research will also be involved in the implementation of the program - said Enikő Németh T., the head of the academic subprogram. — My goal is for members of different generations to pass on their knowledge of linguistic research to each other as they work together. The team benefits not only from the young people's insight and sensitivity to current issues but also from the fact that the university students are at home in the world of the latest technological achievements and news. The researchers are focusing on the spread of fake news on the Internet, specifically in the field of healthcare. — Pseudoscience promoters use powerful manipulation to persuade readers to buy certain products or become followers of certain conspiracy theories. These texts are characterized by linguistic features that are not present in articles or news items that describe real scientific results. For example, fake news can be characterized by the excessive use of imperatives and state verbs, and by the emphasis on fear-inducing expressions. Therefore, we do not only examine the vocabulary but also the grammatical and pragmatic tools - explained Enikő Németh T. As a result of the program, a human guide will be created, with the involvement of artificial intelligence: automatic tools will also be developed to detect the elements that characterize fake news in the texts to be checked. The conspiracy theory or manipulative product description uncovered by linguistic methods will be followed by a professional inspection from the healthcare side. This results in a practical application. The National Pharmaceutical and Food Hygiene Institute is also interested in the work of the Szeged researchers.

Humanities

Hungarian Drone Coalition 36

Tamara PÓSA

The Hungarian Drone Coalition, which the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Szeged joined in 2021, already has almost 130 members. With the help of the cooperation, SZTE is training agricultural engineers who not only understand but can also manage digital transformation in agriculture. ONE YEAR, 130 MEMBERS The Hungarian Drone Coalition was founded in 2021 upon the initiative of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, the Széchenyi István University, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and the HungaroControl Plc. Nearly 130 members have already joined the organization, including SZTE. The task of the coalition is to provide a permanent professional and cooperation forum between developers, market and state actors representing the user side, and academic and professional organizations. In addition, it must also support DroneMotive initiatives related to the use, development, education, and testing of unmanned aerial vehicles. IT INCREASES COMPETITIVENESS — The strategy of the Drone Coalition is based on a concept similar to that already created by experts in the field of 5G and artificial intelligence. The regular use of drones significantly contributes to the increase in the competitiveness of Hungarian agriculture, while it can also bring great progress in agricultural education — highlighted Dr. István Sisák, a senior scientific associate of the University’s Faculty of Agriculture, deputy director general of the Agricultural Vocational Training Center. The Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Szeged has a definite goal of training agricultural engineers who can accurately understand and manage digital transformation in agriculture. The Faculty of Agriculture offers the country's most successful precision agricultural engineering training in cooperation with the University’s Faculty of Science and Informatics. It was

Special Edition of Szegedi Egyetem Magazine 2023

the first in the country to focus on drone applications. — Young people show a particular interest in novelties and technical developments, and the most important thing is that they can use all this after obtaining their diploma — stressed Dr. István Sisák. — Dynamic agricultural enterprises need specialists who are wellversed in the world of mechanical engineering, IT, and agriculture. Both engineering and technician-level professionals will be necessary in this field, which is why the collaboration between SZTE and the Agricultural Vocational Training Center in digital agriculture education is forward-looking. THERE IS A LOT OF INTEREST IN PRECISION AGRICULTURE More and more people are interested in precision agriculture, the essence of which is that it implements process control, but in a much more uncertain environment than industrial production. With this, it answers farmer’s questions of when, what, where, and how. During agricultural production, the processes cannot always be influenced, but with the help of drones, this is still possible in some cases. All of this is a huge technological leap. Drones continue to expand the range of tools that have gradually replaced the work of draft animals and humans on the fields in the last hundred years.

ANALYSIS AFTER DATA COLLECTION

With the help of drones, they can identify — and thereby quickly treat — disturbances in the nutrient supply, early weed problems, and sudden threats caused by pests and diseases, among other things. They can be used to map soil moisture, assess and localize wildlife damage, and use models to continuously estimate yields. With drone monitoring, it is possible to follow exactly when and what is happening in the fields, and it is possible to determine how much nutrients and pesticides are needed at a given stage of production. If the data collection and data analysis system of precision agriculture is fully developed on a farm and will continuously provide data on all stages of production, then the farmer will later be able to determine whether a certain decision increased or rather decreased the profit.

IKIKK CLUSTER OF LIFE SCIENCES Competence Center of Agriculture and Food Industry

Agriculture

Software development or artificial intelligence?

Ádám KOVÁCS-JERNEY

Today, computer systems are present in almost every field. In recent years, however, we have witnessed the rapid spread of an application field, namely artificial intelligence (AI). We asked Dr. Tibor Gyimóthy (pictured), a professor at the SZTE Faculty of Science and Informatics, Department of Software Development, who was the head of the MTA (Hungarian Academy of Sciences)-SZTE Artificial Intelligence Research Group until July 2022, about this topic.

— What does the Department of Software Development of the Faculty of Science and Informatics of SZTE do? — Software development now completely permeates our lives. In the past, when we talked about software, we thought of computers, but today only a very small part of it runs on computers. 90-95 percent of software works on so-called embedded systems. Examples include telephones, watches, televisions, and washing machines. These systems have a significant industrial and social impact, just think of our electrical devices. Part of the development work in our department is aimed to achieve stable software operation on these low-capacity devices. In the beginning, the main partner was Nokia, but now we mainly work with Samsung on these kinds of applications. Industrial sales of several hundred million forints are generated annually from these industrial projects. — How can we imagine the work of software developers? — Software development, as a task, has many sub-

Special Edition of Szegedi Egyetem Magazine 2023

problems that require a lot of thought and time. A significant part of these can be reduced if you put tools in the hands of programmers and developers, which allow them to focus much better on creative work. Software development programmers work in a so-called integrated development environment, in which they write and run the program code, test it, view the results of the tests, and look for errors. For the developer, this environment is as basic a work tool as, for example, a word processing program is for a journalist. — Does the clinical background of the University of Szeged provide a competitive advantage in telemedicine applications? — Telemedicine is used to optimize the patient-doctor relationship. The need for this was reinforced by the pandemic. A typical field of application regarding telemedicine is medical image processing. Currently, our department is also working on a project like this with the Buda Health Center. In this project, by analyzing

SZTE IKIKK, CLUSTER OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS Competence Center of Software Technology, Smart Systems, and Data Science

the results of radiological examinations, we will be able to create an “automatic detector” based on the images taken of the spine. An important part of the challenge is to understand the text prepared by the radiologist to describe the spine images and to be able to create a schematic diagram based on it. Our department has been dealing with telemedicine developments for more than five years, such applications were developed in cooperation with several clinical institutes of the University of Szeged. In the case of software running in a medical environment, reliable operation is especially important. That is why we must strive to ensure the quality of the software already during development. My narrower field of research is also related to this. We develop methods that can be used to identify parts of program code that may represent security gaps or cause incorrect execution. — Can artificial intelligence ever beat software development?

— AI-based solutions are already available that can automatically generate program code in certain areas. These areas are quite narrow, in their case, the development task can be well formalized. Typically, specific software development problems cannot be formally specified, usually, specialized knowledge is also necessary to be able to specify the task. In my opinion, AI is currently not at the level to be a competitor to human software development.

Informatics

Sheet music page turner application Musicians are assisted by a sheet music page-turner app developed at the Department of Computer Optimization of the University of Szeged. — The major part of our work is education and basic research, and we are quite good at the latter. Yet we also deal with innovation. The automatic sheet music page turner application developed at the department works stably, we have seen how the app reacts when the violinist falls behind or when the audience applauds - explained Dr. Tibor Csendes, university professor. The Department of Computer Optimization of the Faculty of Science and Informatics of the SZTE presented its sheet music application at the Researchers' Night last year. The Proof of Concept grant supports the commercialization of technologies and ideas developed at the University of Szeged, including the sheet music page turner application. SZTE – in cooperation with the National Research, Development and Innovation Office - developed this program as part of the University Innovation Ecosystem project. The grant, which provides professional and financial support, was first announced in 2020. The high level of interest is demonstrated by the fact that SZTE researchers and students have submitted a total of 31 applications.

C LUSTER OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES Competence Center of ICT and Social Challenges

Mission: To provide a collaborative framework for research in the humanities and social sciences that seeks answers to the social challenges of the digital age.

Music

The healthiest university

Ferenc LÉVAI

Health, sport and community experience: these are the principles on which the University of Szeged has built its Body Culture Concept, which is designed to support and promote a healthy lifestyle and physical activity among students, teachers, citizens, and employees of the university. The sporting traditions of the University of Szeged among students go back a long way and reach the highest level, which is well demonstrated by the online hall of SZTE Olympians. The University of Szeged aims to set an example of social responsibility. The University of Szeged, one of the largest higher education institutions in the southern region of the country, plays a prominent role in the social, economic, and cultural life of the area by educating students to adapt to modern, global, and ever-changing social challenges, to understand and solve complex social and professional problems, as well as to become environmentally aware and healthy citizens. By developing and implementing the body culture concept at an institutional level, the University of Szeged aims to make sport and health compatible with learning, work, and family life. SZTE has set itself the goal of being the healthiest university in Hungary. The dual life path model is one of the nine projects of the Body Culture Concept. The aims of the concept include providing students with a quality education and a lifelong experience, as well as building a healthy, cohesive community. The recreational body culture services provided by SZTE, the utilization of sports opportunities offered by sports associations in cooperation with SZTE, and the participation in sports events, are all basic elements of the initiative. Therefore, the development and expansion of the university sports infrastructure is an important objective. From the 2022/23 academic year, students of the Communication Department of SZTE Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences will also play an important role in the internal and external communication of the concept.

CLUSTER OF THIRD MISSION DEVELOPMENTS Body Culture Program Between 2022-2027, complex body culture development/investment activities will be implemented at the University of Szeged in accordance with the related scientific fields and the expectations of the timea

Student Life

COMPETENCE CENTER FOR CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Purpose: to support the university's third mission, social responsibility, to continue social innovation developments and impact assessments in the areas of social integration, inclusion, participation, equal opportunities, social catch-up, and community resources, as well as family and youth affairs.

Develop your digital skills & get prepared for the job market at the University of Szeged The University of Szeged aims to constantly renew its training programmes with adaptive content in line with national and global labor market needs, while enhancing student success through smart specialisation and skills development. The University also aims to develop the digital skills and internet awareness of its students.

With the support of the Complex Digital Transformation - Intelligent Gear Change project (tender identifier: RRF2.1.2-21-2022-00012), we offer to our international students a range of skills training courses, including a short online course that provides an introduction into fundamental IT security skills, as well as the online administration platforms that we use here at the University of Szeged. The course is tailored to the needs of students of the University, focusing on the online platforms you will most often use throughout your studies, as well as the larger IT environment of the University. The course offers advice on protecting your own devices and correct user behavior in the shared spaces of the university campus, while also provoding some general information on the most fundamental issues of IT security. Our aim is to give you the tools you need to safely

Special Edition of Szegedi Egyetem Magazine 2023

navigate the IT environment of the University and to be able to recognize security threats on your own devices. From February 2024, an English language Library and Information Studies course will also be available for our international students. Digital skills are a must in the 21st century – in our everyday lives and the labor market as well. Use these opportunities to learn essential skills and make yourself more attractive to your future employer. You can register for the CooSpace training in Modulo. For more details, please check https://u-szeged.hu/iszi/ courses The courses are supported by the RRF-2.1.2-21-202200012 Complex Digital Transformation – Intelligent Gear Change project. The project is part of Hungary's Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Student Life

IMPRINT: Author: SZTE Directorate of International and Public Relations; • Layout Editor: Miklós Meisner • Responsible publisher: László Rovó Rector • Editors: Szeged, Dugonics tér 13, 6720., E-mail: international@szte.hu. Website: www.u-szeged.hu/english • Printing house: Innovariant Printing Ltd. (Algyő). • ISSN ID: 0230-791X

UNIVERSITY OF SZEGED

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