Science Across Centuries and Borders
“Germany, the guest of honor at this event, plays a particularly important role in ELTE’s network of international scientific and cultural relations. At the university, we are working to further strengthen these ties and to continually enrich them with meaningful content,” said Rector Lénárd Darázs in his welcome speech. According to the Rector, the competitiveness of modern universities is defined by areas such as sustainability, artificial intelligence, digitalization, and the development of student competences – all of which are priorities for ELTE.
The university offers its more than 5,000 international students a wide range of advisory and support services, operates an extensive mentoring network, and provides community-building and sports programs to ensure that international students can feel truly at home as members of an open and diverse community.
Hungary and Germany’s academic relations date back to the 14th century. Today, around 3,000 Hungarian students choose Germany for their higher education each year – just as Loránd Eötvös once did when he earned his doctorate summa cum laude at the University of Heidelberg, recalled Christiana Markert, Deputy Head of Mission of the German Embassy in Budapest. She also highlighted the example of Nobel Prize laureate Ferenc Krausz, who studied at ELTE and now serves as Director of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics near Munich.
According to the diplomat, the presence of 3,400 German students at Hungarian universities, ELTE’s joint law program with the University of Göttingen, the outstanding work of the Institute of Germanic Studies, the collaborations with Humboldt University, the University of Hamburg, and the University of Heidelberg, as well as the CHARM-EU alliance, all contribute to the strength of bilateral scientific and cultural connections.
“ELTE students become part of a tradition spanning centuries, political systems, and the transformations of the human spirit – a community that, guided by its belief in the value of knowledge, endured wars, revolutions, and the rise and fall of empires,” said Gábor Zemplén, Vice-Rector for International Affairs. He noted that in autumn 2025, more than 13,000 students are beginning their studies at ELTE – more than the university’s total enrollment during its first 150 years. Today’s students must find their place in a world more complex, uncertain, and challenging than ever before. Technological, social, environmental, and personal challenges demand not only knowledge, but also wisdom, resilience, and moral awareness – and for this, every student can count on the university’s support, he concluded.
In a personal speech, Salem Wael Abohajar, a bachelor’s student of International Business at ELTE’s Faculty of Economics and member of ISAC, recalled that his father also graduated from ELTE twenty years ago. At that time, the Faculty of Informatics had only four international students, yet whenever challenges arose, they could always rely on the support of the university community, he said.
The ceremony also included the presentation of ELTE’s Erasmus Coordinator Awards to staff members who excelled in the past academic year: Gábor Szalkai, Associate Professor at the Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science; Ákos Udovecz, Head of the International Office at the Faculty of Law; Brigitta Dalnoki, Erasmus+ Coordinator at the Faculty of Law; and Lilla Gilián, Coordinator of the International Office at the Faculty of Humanities.
Representatives of student support organizations also welcomed ELTE’s new international students. The Erasmus Student Network, the ELTE Student Union, the International Student Advisory Committee (ISAC), and the Stipendium Hungaricum mentor network spoke about their missions, their main responsibilities, and their community programs. After the ceremony, international students could visit the information fair stands to learn more about the sports, community, and leisure programs presented in the speeches, as well as about ELTE’s dormitories and language-learning opportunities.
The artistic program featured harpist Klára Bábel and the folk dance group of the ELTE Eötvös Arts Ensemble. The event was moderated by Gábor Feltóti.
International Opening Ceremony 2025
International Opening Ceremony 2025
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