The direct predecessor of the Department of Food Science, the Institute of Food Science, was founded in 1994 and consisted of three departments: the Department of Food Technology and Microbiology, the Department of Dairy Science, and the Department of Food Quality Assurance. The training for certified dairy engineers began in 1974, followed by certified meat industry engineer training in 1979, and certified agricultural engineer training for food quality assurance in 1994. The Bachelor Program in Food Engineering was introduced in 2005, followed by the launch of a Master Program in Food Safety and Quality two years later.

The Department offers several Hungarian-taught degree programs, including a Bachelor’s Program in Food Engineering, a Master’s Program in Food Safety and Quality Engineering, and a postgraduate training program in Dairy Processing. The English-taught Bachelor’s Program in Food Engineering is designed for international students seeking to gain scientific and technical knowledge, research experience, and skills in managing and controlling food processing procedures. For more information about these programs, please visit https://ovarikar.sze.hu/kepzeseink and https://mek.sze.hu/en_GB/. In addition, the Department offers a doctoral course, the Pulay Gábor Food Science Program, for graduate students seeking to earn a PhD in Food Science.

The Department is equipped with food analytical, microbiology, sensory, technology (fruit processing, dairy and distilled spirit production), and soil testing laboratories, which serve both research projects and educational purposes. The primary research areas of the Department include the development of new, healthy food products, the analysis of novel food ingredients to improve human health, and the advancement of technologies to control food-borne pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms. Our aim is to establish a knowledge center for the agri-food industry by providing trained experts and advanced infrastructure.