New framework agreement strengthens Cuban-Hungarian science and technology cooperation
On the Cuban side, the signatories of the agreement are the Universidad de Oriente in Santiago de Cuba (the main scientific university in the eastern region of the country) and its research institute, the Centro de Biofísica Médica (CBM – Medical Biophysics Centre), the Hungarian side is the UltraSmart R&D Laboratory, a company that has been working in close cooperation with Cuban universities and public science centres, and has previously concluded similar bilateral agreements.
Based on the joint commitments the Hungarian side will provide comprehensive technological, electronic assistance to CBM in the field of high-tech medical and rehabilitation systems, including prototyping and manufacturing phases, joint market introduction of jointly developed advanced products, specifically for Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Americas. The Cuban side will contribute to this cooperation through decades of scientific and clinical experience, building on its network of health institutions. CBM is a major, unique achievement at international level, when, after the US and EU countries, Cuban experts were the first to create the human MRI scanner (GiroImag).
The Hungarian UltraSmart laboratory has been collaborating for a decade and a half with Cuban institutions such as the Technological University of Havana, the Agricultural University of Havana and R&D companies of the state-owned BioCubaFarma research institute holding, resulting in numerous practical developments, prototypes and instruments, as well as new technologies, target software and methodologies, such as therapeutic soft lasers, brain-computer interfaces, and seed treatment multispectral. In addition to the concrete development work, Péter Hersics, the founder of the Hungarian laboratory director of the Hungarian institute, has been a visiting professor at these universities, leading accredited courses regularly and giving specific lectures for Cuban students as well as teaching postgraduate courses.
Several visits between Cuba and Hungary this year have strengthened the ties between the two countries’ scientific and educational cooperation: in March, the Minister of Higher Education, Dr Walter Baluja paid an official visit to Budapest, and in June a new trilateral agreement was signed between Cuba, the European Union and the Republic of Hungary. In February, the Havana University of Technology (CUJAE), the Cuban Quisicuaba Social Organization and the Cuban University of Science and Technology (CUJAE) signed a new tripartite agreement.
Text: Embassy of Cuba in Hungary
