STRATEGIC COOPERATION WITH MOL IN EXPANDING THEMATIC AREAS

MOL and the University of Miskolc have signed a strategic cooperation agreement for a three-year period to further strengthen their decades-long relationship in the field of education and applied research. The company and the university will collaborate in new areas such as waste management technologies, in addition to traditional technical earth sciences, chemical engineering and petrochemical engineering.

The three-year strategic agreement is designed to ensure that the university provides the MOL Group with skilled personnel and scientific support for the company's activities in a number of areas. They will collaborate on topics such as chemical and petrochemical engineering and waste management technologies, including materials and chemical engeneering, enviromental and earth sciences and engeneering, polymer technology and metallurgy.

Several projects have already been launched in the framework of the cooperation: the University of Miskolc is participating as a technology expert in the joint project of MOL and the University of Pannonia, the Centre of Competence for Circular Economy. In addition, it contributes to the development of hydrogen technology and to work in the field of battery recycling and research and development.

MOL has a decades-long relationship with the University, as the Miskolc-based educational institution is one of the most important bases for MOL's specialist training. They have also collaborated on a number of successful technology developments. One of these is the so-called polymer-tenside process, which increases the production of oil fields and was jointly developed and launched on the international market by the university and the company.

"In our renewed strategy, the renewal of the chemical and petrochemical industries and the launch of a circular economy are key priorities. The University of Miskolc has outstanding competences in a number of areas that are important to us, so I am confident that we can make great strides in the coming years in putting our goals into practice. We believe it is important that graduates of the University, in addition to high quality scientific knowledge, gain practical experience during their studies that will enable them to join the ranks of corporate experts and managers," said Oszkar Vilagi, Deputy CEO of MOL Group.

The university supports training in a number of disciplines, including mechanical, reservoir and environmental engineering, which are key areas for MOL, as well as waste technology experts and industrial investment engineers.

"In the 21st century, there are different expectations for a transforming higher education, where research and development must be strengthened alongside education. The University of Miskolc offers a true innovation ecosystem for industry, serving the interests of the North-Eastern Hungarian Economic Region. The University of Miskolc has numerous contacts with economic actors in the region, and the MOL Group has been a natural partner of our institution for decades. Building on almost a decade of intensive cooperation in the past, we can shift up a gear in the three years ahead", said Prof. Dr. Zita Horvath, Rector of the University of Miskolc. 

The Department of Petrochemistry at the Faculty of Materials an Chemical Engeneering started its operations in 2008, the MOL Petrochemistry Mechanical Engineering Department at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Informatics has been operating since 2018, and the MOL Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas at the Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Engineering since 2014.

The importance of this cooperation is demonstrated by the fact that 90 percent of MOL's mechanical engineer trainees come from here, not only because of the geographical proximity, but also because of the long history of close cooperation and the unique way in which chemical engineers are trained in the region. In addition to the dual curriculum for the Master of Mechanical Engineering, the entire curriculum for the Bachelor and Master of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering was developed jointly by the university and MOL, with the help of a team of engineering experts from MOL Petrochemicals (MPK). MPK colleagues also run a wide range of outreach courses and university classes, ensuring that students' everyday studies also focus on practical knowledge.

The university provides MOL's best-trained reservoir engineers, but students from other faculties also form a significant supply base, with a good number of chemical engineers, materials engineers, economists and logistics experts joining the MOL Group after their studies.

Oszkár Világi, Deputy CEO of the MOL Group, was elected as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miskolc Foundation, which is the main pillar of the relationship between the two parties.

Signatories of the strategic agreement: Ádám Homonnay, MOL Group Exploration & Production Operation VP; Prof. Dr. Zita Horvath, Rector of the University of Miskolc; Oszkár Világi, MOL Group Deputy CEO; Zsolt Huff, MOL Group Downstream Production VP