Nearly 250 students presented their research papers in a total of 32 sessions at the Széchenyi István University Scientific and Art Student Researchers’ Conference on 29 November 2023. Music students from the Faculty of Arts presented their work the previous week showcasing the Woodwind, Brass, Chamber, String, and Solo Instrument categories’ results. The young researchers who will represent the institution at the biennial National Scientific Students’ Conference (NSSC), which will next take place in 2025, were selected from among them. More than 40 invited high school students presented their research in four sessions also during the conference.
Széchenyi István University attaches great importance to developing the talents of its students, and to this end it runs a number of talent development programmes and scholarship schemes. As part of this system, our scientific and artistic student circle is a key area of higher education and intellectual training we offer in Hungary. From within this circle of excellence, the best students from the institution’s conferences can go on to compete at national level.
(Photo: Máté Dudás)
In total, the University’s Scientific and Art Students’ Conference on 29 November and the previous week’s Art Sessions combined had almost 250 students participating in 32 presentation sessions; all of which are awaiting jury-judge feedback and the opportunity to qualify for the national competition. With a total of 169 entries, 184 students qualified for the National Science Student Conference in Spring 2025.
International students also participated in the conference. Twenty-one of them presented their research, including nine which qualified for the OTDK competition. In addition to university students, secondary school students can also get involved in the OTDK scientific student group activities, which aim to stimulate their interest in science and research. More than 40 out of nearly 100 secondary school students presented their research in four sections as well.
“Doing science is different from being just an excellent field specialist; doing science means seeing something that no one else has, being inquisitive and constantly asking questions and looking for answers. Academia is the beginning of scientific research, and student research is a way one can stand out from the masses of higher level university education and open up new opportunities for one’s successful career and future.”
– emphasised Prof. Dr. Márta Konczosné Dr. Szombathelyi, President of the University Council for Scientific and Artistic Student Research (ETDT) at the conference’s opening ceremony.
(Photo: Máté Dudás)
“The Széchenyi University is looking for talent among its collegiate body too. Our institution is competing with the labour market to retain talent in the long term and welcome them into our teaching staff, mapping out a career model for them as researchers. We are very proud that our university is already ranked in six world rankings, four of which are highly science intensive related. Our aim is to become even more visible in the world through our research and publications.”
– said Dr Eszter Lukács, Vice President for International and Strategic Relations of the University.
“Research results and publications act as the litmus paper in terms of our university’s quality of thought and thinking… where research is doubt – about ourselves, about what we have achieved so far – which leads to questions and then to the discovery of answers. It is for this reason it is important that secondary schools are present at the S&AS conference, because doubt and the reason to “search out” is strongest in young people. And, the Science Students’ Circle within the conference is nothing more than an opportunity and a forum where like-minded people can connect, where a personal professor-student relationship can be established.”
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articulated by Dr. Barna Mezey, Professor at the University and Vice-President of the National Council of Scientific Students.
The results of the conference are available in the original article on uni.sze.hu.