Desene Animate Terapeutice Autism: Finanțare Europeană & Teste Grădinițe

Beyond his academic career, Professor Daniel David collaborated with former USR Cluj parliamentarian Mihai Goțiu on a book and DVD featuring therapeutic animated characters.

A €30,000 Prize and an 80s Superhero

The project received support from the First Prize awarded to the Faculty of Psychology and Science of Education, Babeș-Bolyai University, through the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, at the 2011 Education Awards Gala, according to retman.ro. The prize, worth €30,000, was granted by the Dinu Patriciu Foundation for “Faculty of the Year.”

Daniel David led the project’s scientific coordination, while Mihai Goțiu oversaw the “artistic production.” Retman, the central character in these animations, was a superhero conceived in the 1980s at the Albert Ellis Institute in the USA and licensed for use in 2007, with the creators’ permission, as stated on retman.ro, by a team of psychologists led by Daniel David.

According to the faculty website, Professor David “expanded the world of RETMAN, creating an enemy, the famous and powerful IRATIONALIUS, and characters, helpers of IRATIONALIUS, corresponding to irrational thoughts.”

In official presentations, Goțiu, a parliamentarian between 2016-2020, states he was the “scriptwriter and director of the films in the ‘Retman and Retmagia’ series,” and co-author of the book with the same name, alongside Professors Daniel David and Anca Dobrean. However, on imdb.com, Goțiu is credited only as an actor in “Retman and Retmagia.”

Expert Insight:

A Company Selling Psychological Tests and Its Public Contracts

Anca Dobrean (formerly Domuță), a collaborator on multiple projects with David, heads the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the Faculty of Psychology at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca.

In 2003, Daniel David, Anca Dobrean, and Nicolae Adrian Opre, also a university lecturer at UBB, founded RTS Romanian Psychological Testing SRL in Cluj-Napoca, CUI 15176618, according to termene.ro.

The company’s primary activity is the sale of psychological tests. In 2004, David and Opre withdrew from the shareholder structure, leaving Anca Dobrean as the sole associate and administrator.

In 2024, RTS Romanian Psychological Testing SRL had a turnover of 2.4 million lei. The company, founded by Daniel David, appears in the electronic public procurement portal as having numerous contracts to supply “psychological testing materials” to DGAPSCs, kindergartens, hospitals, military units, town halls, and the National Mental Health Center.

Between 2015 and 2016, sicap.ai lists over 133 contracts (mostly offline purchases) for RTS, totaling over €100,000.

2024 was a productive year for public procurement for the Cluj-based company: 36 contracts, worth approximately €25,000. The most recent contracts, concluded in 2026, are with the Town Hall of Șinteu, Bihor County, Mureș County Hospital, Vâlcea County Hospital, and the 01769 Bacău Military Unit.

In wealth declarations, Daniel David lists income from RTS as resulting from consulting activities, while Anca Dobrean listed them as salary income earned by her husband, Victor Dobrean, who is also the owner of a transport company. RTS has only one employee since 2013, according to termene.ro.

The Minister’s Wife, an Apartment-Based Company in Nationalized Property

Oana Alexandra David, the minister’s wife, owns a company, Psychological Technologies and Solutions SRL, CUI 263043380. The company was founded in 2010 by the resigning minister along with his brother, Alin David, who was a university lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology at UBB during his doctoral studies.

The company’s headquarters is located at 8 Mihail Kogălniceanu Street, Cluj-Napoca, apartment 13, in a nationalized and unclaimed historic building. The apartment was sold under Law No. 112/1995, according to a response from the Cluj-Napoca City Hall to the newspaper, with the sale validated by a notary.

According to documents consulted by Libertatea, the 20 square metre apartment was sold by the Romanian state in 2002 to Ioan and Anca Badiu, and then purchased from them in 2010 by the minister’s brother and his wife, Carmen Viorica David. Although the law prohibited alienation for 10 years from the date of purchase, the sale was approved by the notary based on administrative act no. 24684/4521/09-02-2010, issued by the Heritage Evidence Service, Cluj-Napoca City Hall.

Connections to Former Minister Irineu Darău’s Collaborator

Similar to the case of RTS, Daniel David withdrew from Psychological Technologies and Solutions a year after its founding, in 2011. Currently, Oana Alexandra David is the sole associate of the company, and Dora Ioana Crișan is the administrator. Crișan is also an administrator at Meaningful Solutions SRL, owned by Daniela Dumulescu, an associate lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology at UBB.

As a consultant, Dumulescu was part of the campaign team of Irineu Darău, a USR senator from Brașov and current Minister of Economy. Dumulescu was responsible for strategy, research, and educational policies within Darău’s team.

With zero employees, Meaningful Solutions tripled its turnover in 2024, reaching approximately 255,000 lei, net, according to termene.ro. In the last ten years, the company has obtained 37 public contracts, totaling over €150,000.

Among other things, Dumulescu’s company provided professional training services for UBB researchers (3 contracts totaling over €30,000 in 2025), training services for teachers for middle schools, and services for “psycho-emotional education of young people” for the Cluj-Napoca City Hall.

Most contracts were awarded in 2025. For example, Meaningful Solutions received, in November last year, from UBB the contract for “continuous professional training of researchers,” worth €9,360, money from a PNRR project.

Money Trickling Down from the Cluj-Napoca City Hall

Daniel David is the founding president of the Romanian Association of Cognitive and Behavioral Psychotherapies (APCCR). Oana David and Anca Dobrean are part of the association’s steering committee.

APCCR received funds from the Cluj-Napoca City Hall for organising conferences or carrying out research projects. Allocations of 15,000 lei each were approved by local council decisions (HCL no. 406/2023, HCL no. 358/2022, HCL no. 512/2021, HCL no. 375/2020). According to documents on the City Hall’s website, the association had requested much more, 125,000 lei for each of the objectives.

A €2.6 Million Program to Support People with TSA

The association founded by Daniel David was also involved, as a partner, in projects funded by European funds. Together with the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation, APCCR carried out the “They Also Need a Chance!” project, code 60289, period 2010-2013, a support program for the social and professional integration of people with autism spectrum disorders (TSA).

The total value of the project was 11.27 million lei (at the BNR exchange rate in 2010 – approximately €2.6 million). Part of this sum was allocated to equipping 40 counseling centers for people with autism spectrum disorders. The centers were operationalized in collaboration with DGASPCs at the county and sector level. The Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation provided furniture, office equipment, and educational and informational materials, while the social assistance directorates provided employees.

For example, in the partnership agreement with the Sector 1 City Hall, during Mayor Andrei Chiliman’s term, the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation committed to providing furniture (table, chairs, shelving, cabinet), educational supplies worth 12,000 lei, and psychological tests and tools specific to TSA therapy worth 2,500 lei.

From contracts listed on procurementintegrity.org, a portal for public procurement transparency funded by the World Bank, the Romanian Angel Appeal purchased, for the counseling centers in the project: laminators, stationery and office supplies, project website, financial audit, conference organization services, furniture, antivirus and anti-spam licenses, IT equipment, and public awareness campaign services. In total, around €280,000.

The Association Led by Daniel David Paid for Training 500 Specialists

APCCR was a partner with the Romanian Angel Appeal and the Federation for Rights and Resources for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders (FEDRA) in the POCU 2014-2020 project “Prepared Teachers, Motivated Teachers” – code 105405, with a total value of 3.9 million lei (around €800,000).

The project, which lasted 30 months, aimed to train 400 teachers in six counties to work with students with special needs. Anca Dobrean was the implementation coordinator for APCCR, according to information in her CV.

On the Romanian Angel Appeal website, it states that the project involved “a complex training program, consisting of an introductory course (in e-learning format), followed by a series of residential courses (face-to-face with the lecturer) and monitored online practise.” At the end of the project, a brochure was published.

Daniel David’s 2011 Wealth Declaration: Tens of Thousands of Euros from “Grants-Services”

Daniel David was not legally obligated to file wealth declarations in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Income from these European-funded projects remains private.

In the 2012 declaration, David listed the POSDRU program as a source of income under the category of salary income – “207,165 lei salary income at the basic position; includes: (a) teaching activities and (b) international (e.g., FP7), national (e.g., partnerships) and service grants (e.g., POSDRU).”

The Cluj professor also indicated POSDRU under income from UEFISCDI (the funding unit for higher education and research): 62,104 lei (around €14,500), “POSDRU grant consulting.” From APCCR, the association he founded, David declared he received 45,300 lei (around €10,000, at the exchange rate of that year) in 2011 for “grants-services.”

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the purpose of the Retman project?

The Retman project, supported by a €30,000 prize, aimed to create therapeutic animated characters, with Retman being a superhero originally designed in the 1980s in the USA, to aid in psychological interventions.

What is RTS Romanian Psychological Testing SRL?

RTS Romanian Psychological Testing SRL, founded in 2003, is a company primarily involved in the sale of psychological tests and has secured numerous public contracts with various institutions.

What role did the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation play in these projects?

The Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation collaborated with APCCR on projects funded by European funds, such as “They Also Need a Chance!”, providing resources and support for the social and professional integration of people with autism spectrum disorders.

What are your thoughts on the intersection of academic research, public funding, and private enterprise in the realm of mental health initiatives?