What can we expect during the fall semester? - Interview with József Bódis, rector

The University of Pécs will celebrate the 650^th anniversary of its foundation on 1^st September 2017 and a series events have already been launched. What will be the main events of the Jubilee’s Fall Programme during this term?

I believe that all our jubilee programmes planned earlier have get a final approval: we have outlined and drafted every event but many of the most important ones require the participation of key figures in Hungarian higher education and of government representatives. As far as I know, the structure of the government is going to change but we have already contacted and cooperated with representative person who mediates between the University of Pécs and the government regarding the anniversary.

The government of Hungary decided, at the beginning of this year, to support the development of the University of Pécs in the framework of the Moderns Cities Programme. The aim of this 24-billion HUF subsidy is to double the number of the foreign students studying in Pécs by 2020. What can we expect in this regard during the term?

Essentially, this support programme is not only about attracting more foreign students but also about increasing the quality of our education. We have established the necessary organisations to work with the 24-billion project and the major directions of development. The planning processes have started and in some cases the approval processes have also begun. We hope that the amount, HUF 4.5 billion, provided for this year will be transferred. In addition, I also hope that at least the construction of the so-called International Student Centre at Damjanich Street and the reconstruction of the Clinical Centre at Rákóczi Street will start. What is more, I hope they will be completed.

Has there been an increase in the number of foreign students?

Altogether 2965 foreign students studied at the UP at the end of May including both those who got a scholarship and those who pay tuition fees. We already enjoy the first benefits of the programme, the applicants of the Stipendium Hungaricum project. If all go well the number of foreign students can exceed 3 000 during the fall. My real ambition is to increase the number of foreign students to reach 4 000 by September 2017. We are working on it, we have much to do to achieve it, but this would really  confirm the intentions of the government programme in the framework of which we are supported financially.

The Centre for World University Rankings published its latest ranking of universities at the end of this summer.  Among the world's top universities the University of Pécs occupies the 877^th place again. Compared to last year’s result the UP improved 16 places.

This result is based on several factors: our scientific results, the quality of those, citations, impact factors, etc. However, I think that the data about our alumni has to be inaccurate. As the example of Times Higher Education shows: providing the real, official data produces a more prominent place in the rankings for us. The three institutions of Hungarian higher education have a 0.6 difference among each other in the consolidated list. I am convinced that if we could provide correct data, it could increase the total score by a few tenths and it would mean a lot. The UP would improve its position, up to about 150-200 places. It would be important to include the results from the fields of art and technology, as these are also important, and this extended basis would help us in relation to the rankings.

As for our performance, it should be improved but I think the only reason why we are behind our Hungarian competitors is that we have fewer teachers than the universities of Szeged or Debrecen, and the performance of a smaller staff naturally produces less results. Developing human resources linked to foreign language training can change this.