Social responsibility, citizen science
Social responsibility is the behaviour maintaining socially accepted behaviour norms, serving the well-being of society and its members, striving to support healthy and supportive communities. Social responsibility therefore serves the good of society and the environment. Since the results of university research and development could become an integral part of modern society, universities must also take part in it. Since it offers an approach that contributes to the development and sustainability of science, technology and research, activity in social responsibility is an important interest of universities.
The University of Pécs Medical School and thereby our units and the clinics of the Clinical Centre are implementing the following in the name of university social responsibility:
- expansion of human knowledge by quality research and education for the nation and humanity, and guaranteeing that research activities are serving the interest of interested parties, communities and society;
- development of human resources;
- providing community services through community engagement and upward convergence;
- incentivising students and educator-researcher administrative staff to provide social services to their local community.
The 3D centre, the Medical Skills Education and Simulation Centre and its employees will participate in research and developments that will have a direct effect on members of society, e.g. development of implants.
Rural Life-Saving Program social responsibility
The Rural Life-Saving Program was created as a connecting part of a decade-long “medic” training developed for law enforcement. The basis of the training is an internationally applied complex injury treatment system connecting citizen self-and mutual first aid with operational-healthcare and higher level healthcare. The program was developed for civilians living in rural settlements, where healthcare services could become limited due to environmental and logistical factors. The material is made up of modules built on each other, taking into account the skills of the provider and forming a whole enabling anyone to recognise life-threatening situations and the efficient use of currently available resources. This way, anyone can be a “medic” or life-saver at their own skill level. Participants of the training can learn the simplified version of the NATO-implemented “medic” package, but in the case of household or hobby accidents, the alternative use of available tools as well. Even teenagers can acquire the contents of the course, and we organise one week summer camps with the social responsibility of the Medical School.
https://aok.pte.hu/hu/egyseg/3014/hir/14406
Citizen Science
Activities that include the public in scientific research and can therefore bring political decision-makers and the entirety of society together in an efficient way is all considered citizen science. Collaborating with researchers and experts, civilian scientists can play an important role as members of a community in real scientific discoveries, experiments and data collection and analysis. It is worth to implement such projects for universities and their researchers, because they can gain more data, making measurements more accurate. They can also identify new challenges during the research process, and bring new approaches. The main advantage of involving citizens is that they become more conscious, sociable and affected, making the acceptance and introduction of research results easier. The University of Pécs Medical School has created a unique mentor program, in which citizens can apply with their own research or innovation idea, and they can receive scientific help in its realisation. Our units – in case of implementing research and innovation ideas relevant to our infrastructure and competences – become available to participants of the mentor program, and we support them with our knowledge and connection network.