I have always worked with a good team - Interview with János Abonyi, the new rector of the University of Pannonia

Pálinkás Roland News 05 August 2024

I hope that we will succeed in making young people feel that the University of Pannonia is an excellent professional workshop that provides an opportunity to develop talents and develop students' competences, said János Abonyi, rector of the University of Pannonia, appointed from 1 July. (Source: veol.hu)

– András Gelencsér's term as rector has expired. For the past two years, he has worked alongside him as vice-rector. With the intention of following him?

– At the University of Pannonia, we were all grateful to the rector for taking on the rector's duties for another two years after his second term. I felt it was my moral duty to comply with his request to assist him as vice-rector. During this period, I had a better insight into the rector's duties and responsibilities, and everyone could get an idea of how well I would be able to meet this enormous challenge if I was assigned to this task. The harmony was unbroken throughout, so the last six months were already in the spirit of handover and takeover.

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– He has leadership experience at the faculty, as he was deputy dean of the Faculty of Engineering for three terms. Between 2006 and 2014 he served as Deputy Dean for Education and Accreditation.

– The primary task of the term of the Vice-Dean's term starting in 2006 was how to modernize the operation of the faculty and improve its educational processes. At that time, we introduced our e-learning system and developed our processes, thanks to which we received a higher education quality award. It was an exciting, building period with a good team. I have always worked with a good team, thanks to the fact that the colleagues of the university are without exception extremely committed to our institution and the city.

– How different was your role as Deputy Dean for Science and Strategy between 2014 and 2018?

– At that time, the main focus was on developing the scientific activities of the faculty. I felt it was primarily my duty to help our colleagues complete their professional careers. Over the past twenty-five years, I have gotten to know the university in many ways, for example, there was a period when I was the chancellor's quality management officer, so I could experience the joy of being able to make the university better through one's work in every role.

– He was the only candidate for the position of rector.

– This fact is primarily due to the fact that the rector and the chancellor, as well as the president of the Foundation for the University of Pannonia, which maintains the university, thoroughly prepared the handover process. In the trusting and mutually supportive environment created by the Rector, I was able to experience the support of my colleagues, which now exponentially increases my sense of responsibility.

– It takes over a nicely renovated institution, the lower campus in Veszprém has been completely renewed. András Gelencsér said that this is the merit of Chancellor Zsolt Csillag.

–Incontrovertible. A very good team was assembled in the management of the university. The Chancellor coordinates activities aimed at supporting education and research with outstanding professionalism. Yes, it feels good to look around our lower campus. It is important to mention that under the leadership of the Chancellor, not only the buildings have been renewed, but also our internal processes, administrative and administrative processes are becoming digital, thus becoming more efficient and simpler.

– In addition to the renewed look, content and training come first.

– It is thanks to Rector András Gelencsér that the university's training portfolio has become clearer, an atmosphere of cooperation and trust has developed between academic actors, and faculties and university centres are now thinking together in terms of training development. The university has gained a profile and identity, we have become a university of sustainability, which has not only become our mission, but also provides a good opportunity to unite the fields of humanities, economics, engineering and technical informatics.

– Will you also emphasize this profile in the future?

– This topic has become so firmly established and everyone can identify with it well, it would be foolish not to build the future of the university on it. The role of the rector is not to tell the institution in which direction the institution should go, but to convey the needs of social and economic actors, and to integrate the initiatives and processes formulated by faculties, training centres and colleagues. My task is to help develop strategies and to bring together the activities needed to implement them. Such a priority topic is digitalization, i.e. the integration of modern IT tools into education, the launch of new forms of distance learning, e-learning-based trainings, and the elaboration of how we can effectively use the tools of artificial intelligence in education and in supporting students' learning activities. The area coordinated by the rector is also internationalization. Currently, seven percent of students are foreigners, which is completely average compared to institutions of a similar nature. In order to significantly increase the number of foreign students, we must offer excellent, unique courses at international level. The university is increasingly listed in international rankings. At every campus and training site, we must be able to provide this high quality in education, research and development. Our related task is to ensure that our scientific results, equipment worth HUF 60 billion and our know-how protected by patents can be utilized more efficiently and intensively than our partners, economic actors, in the interest of the success and sustainability of the region, the country and Europe.

– You mentioned companies. What kind of relationship do you seek with them and with cities and counties?

– Minister Tibor Navracsics was the first to say that universities should play a significant role in regional development. The University of Pannonia is no stranger to this task. Mayor Gyula Porga and I agreed to revive the old tradition: at a joint council meeting with the city, we will discuss the issues of the development of the city and higher education in Veszprém together with the Veszprém Archbishop's College and Father György Udvardy. The successful implementation of the European Capital of Culture programme provided a solid basis for cooperation. Our latest common goal is for the city, strengthened by the surrounding Bakony-Balaton region, to successfully apply for the title of European Capital of Sport 2026, which primarily focuses on mass sports and a healthy lifestyle.

I also had the opportunity to consult with the Mayor of Zalaegerszeg, Zoltán Balaicz and László Vigh, Member of Parliament. It was a good feeling to experience that political actors consider the university important. Soon I will also meet the President of the Veszprém County Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Attila Simon. The basic mission of our institution is to train professionals who promote the success of the region and provide services that can make both public institutions and enterprises of the region more effective.

– The Board of Trustees of the sustaining foundation has voted in your confidence for a five-year term. What plans and goals do you have, what would you like to achieve?

– Due to demographic trends in graduate education, the number of Hungarian students will increase less and less. It will be increasingly important to maintain and strengthen the competitiveness of the institution. I hope that we will succeed in making young people feel that the University of Pannonia is an excellent professional workshop that provides an opportunity to develop talents and develop students' competence. To this end, we will soon launch our system in connection with which we continuously measure students' competences, and based on the measurement results and their academic progress, we will recommend targeted trainings for them, so that students will receive not only a diploma but also a competency passport upon graduation, which can make their entry into the labour market more successful.

– You invented this here, and there is nothing like this in any other institution?

– This is a new dream, a vision, a unique thing in Hungarian higher education. This year the psychology department will be launched, and together with its excellent professional collective and the Career and Student Service Center, we dreamed up this vision. We hope that the labour market will reward our work.

– How much are students graduating from Veszprém in demand on the domestic labour market?

– Based on objective data, it can be stated that the added value of our university is among the highest in the country. In terms of the quality of incoming students – advanced secondary school leaving examinations, language exams – we are not at the top, however, in terms of starting salary, employment rates and time of employment, graduates of the University of Pannonia are among the most successful. In order to gain direct experience of entering the labour market, we have started to develop our alumni system. To see that it will be easy, the graduates of the University of Pannonia and its legal predecessors form a cohesive community.

– The seventy-fifth anniversary of the university's existence can also bring this community, the alumni who graduated a few years ago and decades ago.

– On the anniversary we formulate, pass on our values, forge the community. We also had a hiatus in this field in relation to our retired colleagues, so at the beginning of the year we launched the Granit Club, which gives us the opportunity to recognize the work of our former colleagues and preserve the values and traditions of the university. The birthday celebration is expected to take place on September 26, but this anniversary year we have a lot of events where we remember and celebrate.

– As rector, you will obviously have less time for your scientific work, research and research group.

– It is good to work at the university because the tasks are extremely diverse, so there are different periods in my career due to the way priorities shift between the different responsibilities. Recently, research has primarily played a role in my life. The Momentum programme of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences provides an excellent opportunity for young researchers to organise an internationally recognised research group. I had the honour of receiving funding to establish such a research group in 2017. It is a great recognition that the work of this research group was continued in 2022 as part of the Hungarian Research Network. As rector, my primary task is the management of the university, and I have to admit that I will have very little time for research activities. Luckily, I can work with great young researchers, people with whom we understand each other even in half-words.

– Who assists you in your rector's work? Who will be your deputies?

– In my application, I named the vice-rectors, and we drafted the application together with this team. Katalin Molnárné Barna will continue to carry on the duties of Vice-Rector for Education. The general vice-rector duties are performed by Róbert Kurdi, with whom I worked as deputy dean. I asked József Tóth, head of the Institute of Germanic Studies to perform the task of vice-rector for development. I would also like to mention András Gelencsér, who will play a major role in the future in furthering the professional profile of the university.

-We've talked about sport before. As a private person, he regularly runs and does triathlon. Is this a hobby or a way to relieve tension?

– In order to be able to perform my job responsibly in the long run, I have to live a full life. My family and my partner provide the necessary background for this. It is my great pleasure that Mónika is also my partner in sports, we do triathlon together. The motto of the Hungarian Triathlon Federation is: Cross the impossible! Sport teaches you very well how to improve by working regularly. Sport and triathlon have long been a way of life for me. In addition, Mónika and I actively appear in ergometer competitions. I don't row, but I enjoy watching the rowing team. It used to be bad if the hobby of the head of the university determined the strategy of the institution, but I am very proud that sport is historically important for our institution. The university was founded in 1949, and in 1951 the first university sports club was already established. Recently, thanks to the dynamic management of the University Sport Club of Veszprém, this has been completed, we now have seventeen sections. It is a special pleasure for me that the triathlon section was also launched, it was important that I could experience what it is like to play sports in a good community. As leaders of the university, we must do what we can for university sports. This is now our declared task, as together with Vice-Rector Róbert Kurdi we have been asked to participate in the work of the club's board.

Bio

János Abonyi was born in 1974 in Szombathely. He is a professor at the University of Pannonia in computer science and chemical engineering. His research interests include data science, artificial intelligence, complex systems, process engineering and business process redesign. He is the co-author of more than 250 journal articles, five research monographs and one textbook in Hungarian languages. Head of the Hun-Ren Research Group (2022-2027) and Momentum (2017-2022) research groups.
He graduated as a chemical engineer from the University of Veszprém in 1997 and obtained a doctoral degree in chemical sciences in 2000. In 2008 he habilitated in process engineering, and since 2011 he has been a doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 2010 he qualified as a quality engineer. From 2011 he was a professor at the University of Pannonia, between 2006 and 2014 he was deputy dean for education and accreditation at the university's Faculty of Engineering, from 2018 to 2022 he was deputy dean for science and strategy, and between 2022 and 2024 he was vice-rector. Since 2017 he has been the leader of the MTA-PE Momentum Monitoring of Complex Systems research group. In his research, he seeks solutions to engineering, economic and social problems by applying the tools of data and systems science.
Awards and recognitions: Master Teacher Gold Medal (2023), Knight's Cross of Hungarian Order of Merit (2022), Prima Prize (2020), János Bolyai Research Fellowship (twice), MTA Bolyai Plaque (Technical Sciences, 2004), MTA Veab Researcher of the Year (2006).
Photo: Nagy Lajos