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PHDKálmán Kerpely Doctoral School [Agricultural Science] (Crop Production Sciences)

More information

edu.unideb.hu/page.php?id=76  

Overview

Program description:
The Doctoral School carries out research related to the impact of land use systems and agriculture on the status and changes of natural resources (water, soil, air). In addition to education, the programme of the Doctoral School includes R&D: development of site-specific technologies, assessment and evaluation of soil use for crop growth, propagation of pathogens, pests and weeds, soil life, nutrient and humus balance, and the utilization of moisture stored within the soil. An important task is to examine soil protection as an indispensable component of sustainable agricultural development, to analyse and evaluate soil erosion, deflation, acidification, salinization, physical, chemical and biological degradation and the nutrient cycle of the soil. The Látókép Experimental Station, founded in 1983, provides an excellent opportunity to study the quality of winter wheat, maize, green pea, soybean, sunflower, rapeseed and other plants (sweet corn, triticale, potato). This is accompanied by the samples of other experimental sites (e.g. OMTK). As a result, the effects of agrotechnical elements such as crop rotation, fertilization, leaf fertilization, plant density, sowing time can be tested. Technical possibilities are all available for the above; protein determinants (Kjeldahl and Dumas) through amino acid analyser to flour quality examinations (farinograph, extensograph, alveograph, amylograph, falling number measurements, mills, microvalorograph, oven). Special possibilities are gas chromatographs (pesticide residues, fatty acids), liquid chromatographs (mycotoxins, vitamins) and elemental analysis (trace, toxic and potentially toxic elements) tools (AAS, GF AAS, ICP, ICP-MS) flow injection (Fia Star), calorimeter, as well as our devices working with the principle of NIR and our separate GMO analytical laboratory (PCR). Food quality research is assisted by various preparatory devices (laboratory mills, grinders), freezing dryers, and dryers.
One of the important objectives of agricultural research in Debrecen is to evaluate the quantity of crops produced and to evaluate how product quality (i.e. indicators relevant to food industry processing) is influenced by the changing factors of agricultural cultivation. With the development of infrastructural potentials, research directions have continuously expanded, enabling nutrition-relevant parameters (e.g. protein and fat content) to be examined, and the analysis of inorganic (micro- and trace elements) and organic components (such as volatile substances, amino acid and fatty acid composition) . Fields of research have been continuously expanded with the examination of physical parameters (flour rheology, stock analysis), and through the re-evaluation of food safety expectations with the analysis of organic and inorganic pollutants and micro-pollutants (toxins, toxic elements, pesticide residues). Research has also expanded with processing technology investigations (bakery, drying, brewing), as well as quality assurance themed doctoral theses have emerged and successfully defended.
The most important research fields of the doctoral programme: evaluation of the factors determining the quality of cereals, by means of chemical and rheological methods, examination of their impact on the quality of processing industry products; methodological development of elemental analysis for the measurement of trace elements, micro-pollutants and their special variables; examination of the quality of various honey types and evaluation of the possibilities for the determination of their origin; evaluation of the effect of brewing parameters on the quality and nutritional quality of beer; evaluation of the effect of viticulture on the quality of wine; isolation and identification of fungi involved in grape trunk disease by means of conventional and molecular biological methods; examination of the molecular mechanisms and role of the manganese metabolism of Aspergillus niger in the morphology of fungi and in citric acid production; the effect of bioactive components of vegetables on tumorous cells.

Entry requirements:
Relevant Master degree (min. grade: good), intermediate level language exam (written and oral)

Students need to contact the supervisor of that topic in order to get acceptance from the supervisor. In the application the name of the supervisor who accepted the student has to be mentioned. Applications without a selected topic and supervisor cannot be accepted. List of supervisors at the Doctoral School: doktori.hu/index.php?menuid=191&lang=EN&di_ID=36

Entrance exam:
Yes

Type of entrance exam:
oral

Entrance exam location:
Electronic

Entrance exam description:
The professional evaluation of the educational materials (degree, transcripts, results) and the research topic is the task of the relevant Doctoral School. This evaluation is followed by a Skype interview with one of the professors of the Faculty, which aims to check the applicant’s level of motivation, language skills and professional knowledge. (In case of a missing certificate about the English language proficiency we conduct a Skype interview in order to check the applicant’s English language skills.)

Contact:
Ms Lilla Fónai
Admissions Officer
fonai.lilla@edu.unideb.hu

Preparatory year available:
No

Specialisation year available:
No

Programme structure

Compulsory and elective subjects mi. 16 credits; research in everey semester, 224 credits for research in total. The whole PhD course is 240 credits.
Subjects and research are evaluated on a fie point scale. The thesis is evaluated ont he basis of research merit, preformance ont he defence and the thesis, on a four point scale (failed, rite, cum laude, summa sum laude).

Not available for applying at the moment
Not available for applying at the moment