Balázs Hankó: MATE is already among the world’s top 100 agricultural universities

At the graduation ceremony of MATE, Balázs Hankó said that the government is committed to making Gödöllő the most beautiful and complex agricultural university scientific and cultural center in Europe. All this is because the agriculture of the Hungarian nation is of paramount importance to the government, he added. “This is one of the keys to our future,” the Minister emphasized.

Balázs Hankó said that the university continuously cooperates with the agriculture industry

This is also shown by the fact that patent revenues have exceeded one billion forints in recent years. He added that it was also a conscious decision that the government strengthened rural universities, and now every second admitted student begins his studies at a rural university. Of course, resources had to be allocated for this, so the funding of MATE almost doubled, exceeding 30 billion forints last year – the minister explained. Balázs Hankó spoke about how today’s world, the university world, is also an international competition, in which the value of diplomas needs to be strengthened both at home and internationally. This requires international cooperation, but today there is also a headwind, because Hungarian university students are illegally denied access to Erasmus and other resources – he said. However, MATE is also a consortium leader in two excellent international cooperations with the Horizon program, which includes leading universities from the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain – he pointed out, adding that 240 students and 60 lecturers participated in international cooperations with the Pannonia Scholarship Program in the recent period alone. Balázs Hankó also said that the university’s no-holds-barred goal is to become one of the world’s top ten agricultural universities in the coming years, with students, teachers and researchers as its custodians, and a renewable infrastructure that can be built with almost 50 billion forints in the coming years. The minister said that the auditorium is already finished, the seminar building and the main building are under construction, and the four sports halls will soon be ready. “Let’s not forget that MATE has nearly 3,300 certified athletes,” he added. According to his statement, a five-hectare open-air museum showcasing animal and plant protection and the activities taking place here will be created, and “in a few years, the Agricultural Museum will also be available in Gödöllő.”

MTI