The Szentágothai János Research Centre of the University of Pécs established the Genomics and Bioinformatics Core Facility with a unique infrastructure, professional staff and innovative diagnostic services four years ago. The aim was to support basic and applied biomedical research and the diagnostic needs of patients in national clinical centres.

The GINOP-2.3.1-20-2020-00001 “Strengthening the Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Capacity of the University of Pécs” project which provides HUF 799 887 530 and provides 100 percent support funded the acquisition of a high-throughput Illumina NovaSeq6000 sequencing system, which played a major role in enabling the genomic analysis of Hungarian DNA samples quickly and cost-effectively in Hungary instead of the previous practice of sending them abroad.

In 2021, the core facility was recognised by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office as the “Hungarian Centre for Genomics and Bioinformatics” with the title of “Excellent Research Infrastructure”. As a clear demonstration of the centre’s capacity, after 143 projects last year, in 2022 it has already successfully completed 442 projects resulting in the sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of more than 20,000 samples. The centre’s activities are an integral part of the university’s development concept which aims to create synergies and complementary competences rather than parallel operations.
The project was realized with the support of the European Union.