Dr. habil Viktória Sugár is an associate professor, architect, researcher, and Vice Rector for Sustainability and priority developments at Óbuda University. Her professional and academic work is dedicated to advancing sustainable and climate-adaptive urban environments, with a particular focus on the renewal of historical residential building stock. She investigates how existing buildings—especially dense urban housing typologies—can be transformed to meet contemporary energy and climate challenges while preserving their architectural identity and cultural value.

She completed her architectural studies in Hungary and earned her PhD at Osaka University in 2020. Her doctoral research addressed the energy-efficient rehabilitation of Budapest’s historic inner-city buildings through a complex, integrated approach. Her long-standing collaboration with Japanese partners since 2008 has significantly shaped her international research perspective and methodological approach. In 2025, she obtained her habilitation with a typology-based analytical framework for metropolitan residential buildings, contributing to the scientific foundation of sustainable rehabilitation strategies.

Her research operates at the intersection of architecture, urban energy systems, climate adaptation, and urban morphology. She is the consortium leader and principal investigator of the international GREENQUAL project (Concert-Japan / NKFI), which brings together Japanese, Polish, and Hungarian partners to develop quality-oriented assessment frameworks for climate-adaptive, healthy, and sustainable urban environments with direct practical applicability. Her work has contributed to municipal climate strategies, solar energy potential analyses, and the assessment of climate vulnerability in residential building stock.

Prior to her current position, she worked at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ Centre for Energy Research (HUN-REN), where she was involved in urban energy studies and large-scale international infrastructure-related engineering projects, including contributions to the European Spallation Source (ESS). These experiences strengthened her ability to connect academic research with engineering practice and policy-oriented applications.

At Óbuda University, she plays a central role in shaping and implementing institutional sustainability strategy at the highest leadership level. As Vice Rector, she oversees sustainability governance and strategic development, ensuring that ESG principles are embedded across education, research, operations, and external partnerships. Between 2021 and 2024, she served as Head of the Institute of Architecture at the Ybl Faculty, further reinforcing her leadership experience in academic management.

Dr. Sugár has been actively engaged in higher education since 2011, combining teaching, mentoring, and talent development. She is a founding member of the Doctoral School of Architecture, Design and Technology and serves on its doctoral council, contributing to academic quality assurance and the development of future researchers. Her students regularly achieve outstanding results in national scientific competitions and scholarship programmes.

She is also one of the founders and chief organizers of the Ybl Conference on the Built Environment, an internationally recognized annual forum that connects architecture, engineering, and sustainability, with a strong emphasis on supporting early-career researchers. Alongside her academic work, she is a committed advocate of science communication, regularly participating in professional and public forums to promote accessible, socially relevant discussions on sustainability, urban environments, and the role of science in society.