PÉCS, THE HISTORICAL TOWN
Pécs, the chief town of Baranya County in the south-west part of Hungary, is surely one of the most beautiful and lively places of the country with its unique natural treasures and cultural heritages. Its history goes back over 2000 years, when the city of Sopianae was founded by the Romans and became one of the most important early Christian centres. Despite the fact that the town was coming through numerous crises over the centuries such as the Tatar invasions or the Ottoman Turkish Rule, it could still develop into a significant town of its era preserving the characteristics of each historical stage.
By today, its exciting artistic life, baths and festivals make the whole region worth visiting at all seasons. Moreover, its hundreds-years-old education system is among the bests in Hungary. All this is also proved by the fact, that the town was nominated to be the European Capital of Culture in 2010 and received the UNESCO Learning City Award in 2017.
THE FIRST UNIVERSITY OF HUNGARY – THE UNIVERSITY OF PÉCS
The University of Pécs is one of the largest and most prestigious higher education institutions of Hungary with a history of more than 650 years. The first university of Hungary was established by King Louis the Great in 1367, which raised the town of Pécs - and also the whole country - to a new level of education. Over the centuries, by reacting to the continuous intellectual growth of the age with stages of expansion and integration process, the University of Pécs was founded and was growing into the leading knowledge centre of the Transdanubian region.
By today, the University of Pécs offers a wide scale of degree and training programmes for more than 20 000 students, with nearly 1500 teaching and research staff members at 10 faculties. Its programs cover almost every field of science and art at all levels, its medical programs are of the highest standard for years with a great international reputation. Thanks to its top-level education service and outstanding research achievements, it has taken leading positions at highly recognized international rankings as being among the best 3 universities of Hungary. Until these days, plenty of prominent people, such as famous artists, scientists or sportsmen are among the graduates of the University: György Buzsáky, the famous brain researcher and winner of the Brain Prize 2011, József Szentpéteri, the World-Press Photo award-winning photographer or Romeo Szentgyörgyi, the sixfold aerobic gymnastics world champion are just some of those to be mentioned.
As providing degree programs in English for more than 30 years, the university is rightly considered to be one of the most internationalized higher education institutions of Hungary. More than 4500 international students from more than 110 countries study at the university from all over the world, who can choose from 82 degree programs taught in English and German as well. The large international student community has become part of not only the university, but the whole university town, which ensures all that a student needs for a full study life: vibrant community life and cultural programs. The historical downtown offers several museums, exhibitions and theatre halls for art lovers, Cella Ceptichora (the cemetery from the early Christian times), the Vasarely Museum or the National Theatre of Pécs are among the most famous ones in the country. Traditionally, the town gives home for several popular festivals each year. The 3-week-long Sétatér Festival is perfect for all who wish to discover the drinks, foods and cultural peculiarities of the whole region, the Pécs University Days (PEN Festival), which is the most popular student event of the town, offers plenty of programs and music concerts for all university students.
The university’s ambition towards internationalization also occurs in its events. The 3-month long International Spring is a series of programs that aims to introduce the culture and traditions of the nationalities live and study in Pécs. It usually starts with the biggest international student festival, the International Evening where the international and local students of the University of Pécs come together to share their native foods, showcase their traditional and cultural dressing as well as different performances from selected countries.
Besides the entertainment, the university is dedicated to providing its students with quality education and possibility to meet well-known professors and professionals. Therefore, each semester the University of Pécs hosts experts from all around the world and make their lectures available to any students who are interested. Within the Prominent Scholar’s Talk Program the university hosted for example Prof. Paul Embrechts, the renowned Mathematics Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and Dr. Antonino Germano professor and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Messina, who has a pioneer role in research and clinical application of high precision transcortical magnetic stimulation (Nexstim).
Knowing the university’s history, the high-quality education and research experience, and its unique location, one thing is sure: the University of Pécs is an excellent choice for all students who wish to study abroad.
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Sources: The University of Pécs