Reacting on a recent evaluation by the Hungarian Accreditation Committee and in order to strengthen the research basis of the Faculty, the Faculty Council decided to establish a new professorship. The Department of Oral Biology and Experimental Dental Research held its first departmental meeting on November 9, 2012.

The new department has several essential functions. By its creation the Faculty wished to increase competitiveness of the dentists educated in Szeged and adapt to the rapid development of dental sciences. In addition, the new department will give a possibility for faculty members to perform research and get the necessary scientific degree.

Students of dental medicine face more and more complex scientific challanges in a world of intense international competition and it is an important goal of the Faculty to prepare them to such challanges. For this reason it is mandatory to incorporate not only clinical but also up to date basic research activities into the education of graduate and postgraduate students. Such a training may facilitate the acquisition of an interdisciplinary attitude, too. In addition, a most important task of the new department will be to take care of talented students interested in research activities and support their carrier.

The basic funtions of the Faculty are health care, education and research, in accordance with the mission of the University of Szeged. Traditionally the first two functions dominated. The number of students increased, however, especially after the independent Faculty of Dentistry was created, and the demand for qualified teachers increased in parallel. This new situation necessitated the strengthening and more efficient support of research. All of these changes and the rapid development of dental sciences forced the creation of a new department that could support the research activities of the other departments of the Faculty: that’s how the Department of Oral Biology and Experimental Dental Research was born. The staff of our Department is involved in basic and applied research in close collaboration with clinicians from the other departments. We put a great emphasis on education and the clinician members of our department take care of dental patients as well.

Staff