Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) is an internationally recognised institution with a long historical tradition, located in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. One of the leading universities of Hungary, among the top 300 universities in Europe, was established in 1635 and since then it has been continuously operating as a higher education institution. The university was named after Eötvös Loránd (1848–1919) who was a world-renowned physicist, Rector of the university, Minister of Religion and Education, and the President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
About the University
At the university, currently about 33,000 students study at nine faculties and one individual institute, with about 3,000 international students from over 100 countries. ELTE has a wide educational portfolio, offering more than 100 degree programmes in foreign languages (most of them in English), specifically for international students at eight faculties. International students—depending on their study program—study in various university buildings located in the city center and students of onedegree program study in Szombathely, a city near Austria. ELTE has two main campuses in Budapest: Lágymányos Campus along the river Danube and Trefort Campus in the city center. While the modern buildings of Lágymányos Campus with a stunning view over the Danube are home to the Faculties of Informatics, Science, and Social Sciences, Trefort Campus with its historic buildings provides several opportunities for students who intend to deepen their knowledge in the fields of Humanities.
Lágymányos Campus of ELTE on the river bank of the Danube
Learn from the best
ELTE is Hungary’s largest scientific establishment with 16 doctoral schools and 128 doctoral programmes. The largest number of doctoral candidates in Hungary (20% of all doctoral students in the country) do their PhD at ELTE.
On a yearly average, ELTE researchers and professors publish about 3000 articles in scientific journals and are members of more than 1000 editorial boards. Also, the university has five Nobel laureates, such as Albert Szent-Györgyi who discovered vitamin C. It is also alma mater of numerous world-renowned professors, such as John von Neumann computer scientist and László Lovász, the world-famous mathematician. As a student and researcher, you can have all the professional support from your professors no matter which field you are interested in and you can join many international research projects or attend international conferences, or even co-publish in international journals with ELTE researchers. As 20% of all members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences are affiliated with ELTE, you indeed have the chance to learn from the best.
Main building of Trefort Campus in the city center
ELTE from an international scope
ELTE puts considerable emphasis on international connections, and it has a global network of partnerships involving over 800 higher educations. The university maintains bilateral contracts with more than 300 international partner institutions on five different continents. Importantly, the university has a wide international network across Europe, and it also has an increasing number of partnerships with universities from Asia, Latin America, and North America. Within the framework of the Erasmus Program, they have more than 1300 Erasmus + agreements and nearly 550 partner institutions.
It all means for degree-seeking international students at ELTE that they have the opportunity to cooperate in many different ways, in the framework of various programs with our partner universities. It also means that professors at ELTE are in active contact with international colleagues and they are involved in international collaborations all over the world.
Being an international student at ELTE
Besides studying, the university provides all kinds of opportunities for international students to relax and enjoy themselves. As an international student, you can join in the activities of ESN ELTE which organizes and offers a wide range of cultural and professional programs. Also, if you want to have other types of community experiences, ELTE has an athletics club (Budapest University Athletics Club) which offers a wide range of sporting activities for current and former ELTE students. Alternatively, you can join the choir or the university orchestra of the University Art Ensemble, too.
Since September, ELTE offers dormitory places for international students in newly renovated dormitory buildings. If you need a study area to prepare for your tests, you can always go to the libraries at ELTE. The university library network consists of over 50 faculty, institute, department, dormitory, and school libraries. The University Library honoured with the Hungarian Heritage Award in 2018 and with its amazing reading hall is older than the university itself and it has a rich collection of valuable books from previous centuries, some dating back to the 5th century. Besides these rarities, students can choose from more than 3 million documents and books available for study and research purposes.
Main reading hall of the University Library
As its faculties and most buildings are located in Budapest, the University offers a friendly cosmopolitan hub to students from all around the world. Budapest is a safe and truly student-friendly city and international students can select from a wide variety of cultural and sports events throughout the whole year. Whole Europe is easily reachable from the international airport and major Hungarian cities have direct connection to the vibrant capital of Budapest.
Also, if you have classes at Trefort Campus and you want to go out with your friends between two classes, you can have many options to choose from. The Hungarian National Museum is only five minutes away and the museum has a beautiful park with numerous benches to sit with your friends. If you want to have lunch, you can have culinary experiences and try traditional Hungarian cuisine or cuisine of other nations downtown.
Eötvös Loránd University provides a great chance for international students not only in the fields of academic development but also in the fields of personal growth and building professional relations during your Hungarian studies. If you are eager to try yourself in an international environment and want to earn a European degree, ELTE offers you great opportunities!
Links and sources: Eötvös Loránd University ; Hungarian Intellectual Property Office