University of Pannonia to Establish Water Technology Research Center

MTI-Hungary Today 2025.04.22.

University of Pannonia, the main building in Veszprém (western Hungary)

The University of Pannonia is establishing an innovative education and research center at its campus in Nagykanizsa (southwestern Hungary), suitable for state-of-the-art water technology research and related analytical measurements, the Veszprém-based higher education institution announced.

The University of Pannonia’s practice-oriented infrastructure and skills development reform, part of the Széchenyi Plan Plus program, is a HUF 1.3 billion (EUR 3 million) development within the institution’s total HUF 4 billion (EUR 9.8 million) tender program.

Fact

The government’s goal is to make Hungary one of the 5 most livable countries in the European Union by 2030. To achieve this, it has set up the Széchenyi Plan Plus Program, through which EU and national funds will be spent primarily on economic recovery, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthening Hungarian settlements and investing in research, development and innovation. For the period 2021-2027, together with domestic co-financing, the cohesion fund has a total budget of over EUR 26,135.7 million.

One of the key elements of the university’s development reform is the expansion of the Soós Ernő Research and Development Center, part of the University Center for Circular Economy, with new, practice-oriented, modern training and research. As a first step, the university has purchased a 4,000 square meter property in Vár Street, Nagykanizsa, where a complex energy and interior modernization is being carried out since February, with plans to be completed by spring 2026.

The announcement quoted director general Renáta Gerencsérné Berta as saying that the unique feature of the Nagykanizsa facility is that it will have a special laboratory for testing microplastics.

In addition to water-related research, renewable energy-related developments will also play an important role: various experimental systems, so-called pilot plants, will be installed and tested here.

The project will also pay special attention to young talents, with a separate building dedicated to talent management, where primary and secondary school students can develop their skills in a modern laboratory environment.

Zoltán Birkner, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pannonia Foundation, said: “The Board of Trustees supports the University’s strategic effort to identify and develop, together with the economic, social and public leaders of the region, the industrial and service areas of the future. The development of Nagykanizsa fits into this joint thinking, as

the investment will create modern education and research spaces that will provide world-class support for the circular economy, in particular for the Hungarian water industry.”

According to Vice-Chancellor Réka Bodó, the development, the largest of its kind since the establishment of the Nagykanizsa campus 25 years ago, will significantly increase the university’s educational and research capacities in the city and the region. In addition, she said, the message from the University of Pannonia is clear: they are thinking long term and want to be an active player in the economic development of the region.

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Via MTI, Featured image: Wikipedia/Pannon Egyetem