A new private university for IT and bioinformatics studies is planned to start operations in Budapest in 2010 under an agreement signed by Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky and Gabor Bojar, founder of architecture software company Graphisoft, on Monday.

The foundation stone of the new university was set into place after the signing ceremony in a derelict area that was once home to the Obuda gas works near the Roman ruins of Aquincum, northwest Budapest.

The university will be built in a public private partnership at total costs of HUF 30-35bn, Demszky said. The city council plans to sell a 20,000 square-metre plot to Graphisoft Park, which already owns the site next door, for 2.48 billion forints. The new owner will build the school buildings, dormitories and ancillary structures and has also agreed to restore the historic buildings located on the site.

Bojar earlier said that the new university aimed to meet the standards of the Ivy League colleges in the United States.