A new institute has been established in the John Newman Faculty of Informatics at the Óbuda University called Biomatics, which supports biotechnology, medical informatics, robotics and the integrated education and research of applied computer science.
In the past few years spectacular progress has taken place both in robotics, as well as in the field of medical informatics. So far these areas of education have been spread throughout several institutions. Recognizing these trends, in the first half of 2015, the university and the faculty decided to create a new (teaching and research) institutional structure in order to increase efficiency and quality.
The students, the lecturers and the industrial base partners have worked together to establish this new Biomatics Institute. With this endeavor the university dedicates a higher ranking to the forementioned science fields and treats such training of students as an emphasized strategic area of learning.
Unlike bioinformatics (which mainly deals with text-based bio-data information processing) biomatics deals with tissue, cell and molecular biology, and also engineering disciplines such as medical mechatronics and complex infrastructures (machinery / equipment). The concept of "biomatics" was born around 1994, mainly to distinguish it from the overly theoretical and computer-oriented area of bioinformatics. Biomatics deals with theoretical biology, modelling, and also includes research areas like mechanical, engineering and artificial (synthetic) aspects of biological problems, including their practical implementation (the artificial heart, creation of the artificial pancreas, etc.).
The purpose and mission of the Biomatics Institute
The Biomatika Institute's education system is strongly focused on research and development, biotechnology, medical / health informatics, robotics, computer science, and applied / integrated teaching and research aims.
The activities of the specializations will be organized in two working groups (Education and Develpment) that receive ongoing professional support from three research and development groups (Biotech Laboratory, Physiological Controls Group, and the Antal Bejczy Center for Intelligent Robotics).
In the area of education Biomatics Institute’s declared strategic objective is to focus on the MSc and PhD courses, integrate them on a faculty level and connect them with the R&D work carried out by the institute. To support this endeavor within the framework of the Software Engineering MSc egree program in February 2015 a specialization program in robotics was launched, and beginning in February of 2016 the medical-informatics engineering specialization program was launched.