Stipendium Hungaricum: Coming from 64 Countries
The Centre for International Relations held an orientation day on 10 September for the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship students at the Centre for Learning, where many international students gathered. The lecture was very informative and enjoyable; the freshmen had the opportunity to ask questions afterwards.
The aim of the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship offered by the Tempus Public Foundation is to aid the development and enhance the quality of Hungarian higher education, to strengthen the international relations of the Hungarian scientific elite, to increase the cultural diversity of higher education institutions as well as to promote the competitive Hungarian higher education worldwide. Cultural sensitivity courses and Hungarian as a foreign language courses help their integration, these are very popular among students, since they are useful and enjoyable at the same time.
In the orientation lecture a lot of topics have been covered, such as paying attention to office hours, using their full name in official matters. The scholarship students received advice on how to enrol, to activate the semester, how to get student ID, health insurance, accommodation, residence permit, opening a bank account and many more issues. The freshmen also have been informed on what to do, who they can ask for help, in case they would encounter some kind of problem concerning their studies, their mental or physical well-being: the university offers numerous services for their benefit.
“The number of applicants to the increasingly popular Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship has nearly doubled every year. Now there are about 1000 students altogether, 360 of whom start their first year at the University of Pécs in the academic year of 2018/19, studying at all of the 10 faculties” – said Áron Bánáti, institutional Stipendium Hungaricum coordinator of the University of Pécs. “In the framework of the programme, applicants have the opportunity to study at different levels: bachelor, master, doctoral studies are available, with increasing participation. Some of the most popular sending countries are Azerbaijan, Jordan, China and Vietnam” – shared the coordinator.
After answering several relevant questions the organizers wished the students “a useful and enjoyable stay”. Most of the students will probably study here for more years, contributing this way to the diversity of international students at the University of Pécs until they graduate. “Not all students are here for the complete degree programmes, some of them collect credit points in shorter study programmes for one or two semesters” – added Sára Novák, Stipendium Hungaricum coordinator at UP.
After the orientation lecture, Dániel Gáspár from the OTP Bank, which is a distinguished supporter of the University of Pécs, informed the students shortly about the steps and requirements of opening a Hungarian bank account. Those, who were interested, could open a bank account right after the presentation.
Mariann TÓTH