Environmental Sciences

Overview

Disciplinary Research Subfields

The Environmental Sciences program of the Szent István University offers the following research fields:

Soil Science, Agrochemistry, Environmental Chemistry

This discipline covers three major areas: soil science as a traditional field of environmental sciences; agrochemistry that focuses on plant nutrient supply; and environmental chemistry that plays a major role in research related natural resources including the physicochemical modelling of anthropogenic environmental pressures of biogeochemical cycles and the development of environmental analytical and ecotoxicological methodologies.

Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology and Soil Biotechnology

Agricultural microbiology, environmental microbiology and soil biotechnology cover a wide range  of subjects that are important in agronomics as well as  practical agriculture, horticulture and forestry. Research topics include agriculture, soil science, water, air, food, ecology, environmental protection, phytopathology, microbiology, soil biotechnology, bio-hydrometallurgy.

Agrobiodiversity and Genetic Resource Conservation

This discipline includes agrobiocoenoses (agricultural activity on fields), varieties of cultivated plants and other plant species (weeds, fungi, algae, etc.) living on agricultural areas, as well as genetic resources (varieties, landscape species, ecotypes and wild relative species of cultivated plants). It covers changes, follow-up, resource exploration and documentation of genetic variability of cultivated plants that were transported to the Carpathian Basin in prehistoric and historic times.

Ecological Farming

This scientific subfield covers the research and development of complex agricultural systems that preserve natural resources where production is based on local resources and each section of the production process is guided by a biological and ecological approach. Its objective is to develop an up-to-date ecological agricultural system based on traditional farming and experiences in crop production and animal husbandry alike.

Environmental Management

This educational and research disciplinary subfield serves the objectives of long-term, sustainable utilization, planned development and effective protection of the natural and man-made environment. Resulting from these three objectives, environmental management is understood as a synthesizing, trans-disciplinary field of research which integrates natural and social sciences. This subfield aims at establishing integrative planning methods, analyses, assessment and operative programs in the fields of ecology, economics, sociology, political science, spatial planning and physics. Research topics preferably address the co-evolutionary dynamics of nature, society and economy.

Landscape Ecology, Nature Conservation, Landscape Protection

Postgraduate students have opportunities to do research on topics that are related to the analysis, protection and utilization of biotic and abiotic environmental elements and also the better understanding of natural and human impacted processes. There is an emphasis on research related to conservation biology and restoration ecology that cover complex, landscape scaled planning (including aspects of soil protection and hydrology), plant and animal species and their associations as well as the protection of biodiversity.

Environmental Protection, Environmental Health and Environmental Safety