Molekuláris bionika és infobionika szakok tananyagának komplex

k

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 n

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 •  Bioethics 

49

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 v

idnyÁnszky

, v

iktor

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, é

vA

 B

Ankó

, m

iklós

 g

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yörgy

 

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 K

óbor

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ajos

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  •  Biomedical Imaging 

51

P

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Ániel

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  •  Introduction to Biophysics 

53

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Complex Development  of Teaching Materials 

for Molecular Bionics BSc and Infobionics MSc 

Courses within Consortium  

Preface to the Proceedings of the 

Closing

 Conference of 

TÁMOP-4.1.208/2/A/KMR-2009-006 Grant

 

Ágnes Bércesné Novák 

 

Pázmány Péter Catholic University 

Faculty of Information Technology 

Budapest, Hungary 

[e-mail]  

 

 

Keywords - curricula development, molecular 

bionics, infobionics, TÁMOP 4.1.208/2/A/KMR-

2009-006 Grant 

I.

I

NTRODUCTION

 

Information technology and biotechnology 

are two examples of the most innovative 

modern technology. Considering the latter, we 

are witnessing an incredibly fast development 

and the emergence of a new area. This devel-

opment is even faster than the development of 

information technology was in its early stages. 

Bionics is the study of the functions of liv-

ing organisms for the purpose of building me-

chanical or electronic devices to copy or imi-

tate these functions. For the first time in the 

history of technology we have instruments 

that allow us both to observe molecules and 

molecule-sized parts, and to construct mole-

cule-sized machines. At the same time, com-

puter technology opened up surprisingly new 

opportunities. Micro-technology and micro-

electronics together with the recently emerged 

nanotechnology made it possible to grab and 

modify the electromagnetic interactions, 

which determine molecular dynamics. 

Using all this new technology, engineers 

can build machines, that can not only detect 

the changes or movements of living organ-

isms at the molecular level, but can also react 

to, interact with and display these physical 

phenomena. There are several types of these 

machines; some of them can even be pro-

grammed. 

Entire series of new molecular imaging 

systems are being born. New opportunities are 

opened to develop biotic and abiotic interfac-

es, smart "prostheses" and “smart” drugs.  

Drugs, which can “realize” the needs of the 

patient by sensing his/her biochemical proper-

ties. These properties can be measured by a 

laboratory: complete chemical and biological 

laboratories can be built on just one chip, pro-

duced by mass production. An example of 

such a lab is a DNA-determining gene-chip.  

The Pázmány Péter Catholic University, 

Faculty of Information Technology (PPCU 

FIT), together with the Semmelweis Universi-

ty (SU) were the first universities in Hungary 

to launch the Molecular Bionics BSc in the 

year 2008. Subjects, covering these above-

mentioned incredible topics are taught already 

at BSc level. 

From February 2012 on we also launch the 

new infobionics MSc, which is probably the 

first in the world with its curricula and profile. 

Professionals are going to be trained here, 

who would be skilled not only in the field of 

information technology, as it is indicated in 

the name of the Faculty, and not only in bio-

technology, but they also will be experts in 

understanding and applying the fundamental 

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8

quantitative rules of operations of living or-

ganisms. They will have the opportunity to be 

involved in the process of application of the 

new technology outlined above, and will also 

be able to shape the new fields in the subject 

area. 

The teachers of both of the molecular bion-

ics BSc and the infobionics MSc have out-

standing international reputation. Six of them 

are members of the Hungarian Academy of 

Sciences, which is the highest scientific 

recognition in Hungary, a further ten have a 

title of Doctor of Science, which is the possi-

ble highest scientific degree in Hungary.  

This conference volume consists of the 

summaries of all academic subjects that were 

developed by the support of the TÁMOP-

4.1.208/2/A/KMR-2009-006 grant.  We cover 

the most important subjects of the two degree 

programs. 

II.

P

ROJECT 

O

BJECTIVES

 

The PPCU FIT, SU and Dialog Campus 

Publisher (DCP) formed a consortium for car-

rying out the objectives of the TÁMOP-4.1.2-

08/2/A/KMR-2009-006 project.  

The main purpose of this cooperation is to 

standardize the professional content of the 

molecular bionics and infobionics courses, 

and develop the material in a fairly detailed 

way.  

Teaching materials will be written in Eng-

lish and published on the World Wide Web, 

so the materials will be available free of 

charge to all interested parties - in order to 

make the learning process of these new disci-

plines easier. 

In addition, to help the individuals learning 

the new concepts in the curricula both in Eng-

lish and in Hungarian, the participants will 

develop a dictionary of the main notions in 

English, a bilingual dictionary in English and 

Hungarian and complete these dictionaries a 

bilingual glossary of the keywords. 

The assessment for the future development 

of the curricula will be analyzed by the lead-

ers of the two universities. According to the 

conditions of the TÁMOP grant, this analysis 

will also lead to proposing rules for obtaining 

additional credits for the academic plans of 

the students, for learning some or all of the 

subjects in English. 

III.

R

ESULTS

 

The work, led by the leading professors of 

the two universities, resulted in the prepara-

tion of the teaching material of seventeen 

courses in English, -having at least 12 slide 

presentations for each- and in one computer 

animation (also in English). More than 12,000 

slides organized in lectures have already been 

placed in the intranet of the PPCU FIT. 

The English and the English-Hungarian 

dictionaries contain more than 2000 head-

words, and the same numbers of words are 

extracted from the dictionary into the bilin-

gual glossary.  

Among the subjects, which belong directly 

or indirectly to the area of bionics and infobi-

onics, one can find an additional topic, which 

we think is very important for everyone, espe-

cially for scientists doing research in the area 

of bionics or infobionics.  This is ethics, to be 

more precise: bioethics and environmental 

ethics. In this project an e-book was written in 

English, dealing with the ethical problems 

arising unavoidably if one deals with living 

organisms, especially humans. 

The subjects and other additional tasks are 

listed in Table 1 and 2 at the end of this pre-

sent paper. 

The curricula have been reviewed and ana-

lyzed by the leaders of the universities. A 

study was written by the Dean of the PPCU 

FIT, involving the future development of the 

courses, and a proposal for credits for learning 

the subjects in English.  

The authors-, as well as other subject ex-

perts, an expert teacher and an English proof-

reader  participated in the development part of 

the project, which involved altogether not less 

than 60 people. 

The authors, who are not only lecturers but 

also leading researchers, and in this latter role 

they also are pioneers of these new disci-

plines, made an effort to embed the new re-

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