The priority goal of Széchenyi István University is to strengthen its international relations and thus contribute to the development of the region. This is why it joined the programme supported by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, within the framework of which the institution presented to the Azerbaijani delegation its model projects related to sustainable development and agricultural consultancy. 

On its Mosonmagyaróvár campus, Széchenyi István University hosted Azerbaijani delegates, who were gained an insight into the institution's international agricultural projects as part of its eleven-day Central European study tour.

The Azerbaijani delegation was welcomed by representatives of the University in the renovated castle of Mosonmagyaróvár (Photo: Csaba József Májer)

The aim of the study tour was to support and assist the twelve-member delegation in implementing their professional consultancy activities in their home country, taking into account sustainability aspects. In this way, Azerbaijan aims to provide more effective responses to current and future challenges in agriculture, thus improving the competitiveness of the Caucasian country and the livelihoods of its rural population. 

After welcoming the delegation, Dr Attila Kovács, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, briefly presented the history of the Mosonmagyaróvár academy and its current educational and research portfolio. He stressed that the number of international students is increasing year by year and that English-taught programmes in Agricultural and Food Engineering are also available.

"The programmes and services offered by Széchenyi István University’s Faculty of Mosonmagyaróvár focus on sustainability, modern food technologies, rural development and precision farming. These innovative fields together provide answers to the most topical problems of our time. Our University has been, and will continue to be involved in numerous international projects, so we were able to provide the delegation with a comprehensive overview of our experience," said the Vice-Dean.

Dr Attila Kovács presented to the visitors the programmes offered by Széchenyi István University in Mosonmagyaróvár (Photo: Csaba József Májer)

The delegation was welcomed on behalf of the management of Széchenyi István University by Dr Eszter Lukács, Vice Rector for International Affairs, who highlighted in her speech that the institution welcomed its first international students to its English-taught courses in 2016. Since then, the institution has seen dynamic growth, with this academic year around 800 students enrolled in the 36 English-taught courses offered by Széchenyi University.

“As a measure of our quality, Széchenyi István University is ranked between 800th and 1000th out of 25,300 institutions worldwide in the QS World University Rankings. This places us in the top four percent of universities in the world,” she underlined.

Regarding the increasingly close diplomatic relations between Hungary and Azerbaijan, the Vice Rector said that the Caucasian country is an important partner of Hungary under the "Opening to the East" policy. She confirmed that cooperation in the field of higher education is also intensive between the two countries: the Hungarian government provides Stipendium Hungaricum scholarships to 200 Azerbaijani students every year, and the popularity of the scholarship is shown by the fact that this year the number of applications for the scholarship was almost four times higher than last year. The Vice-Rector said that a significant number of international students at Széchenyi István University come from Azerbaijan, with economics being the most sought-after discipline.

Dr Eszter Lukács, Vice-Rector of Széchenyi István University, welcomed the participants. (Photo: Csaba József Májer)

Dr András Vér, Senior Research Fellow in the Mosonmagyaróvár Faculty at Széchenyi István University, said that during the Mosonmagyaróvár programme, the delegation was given an insight into the projects relevant to their fields of agricultural consultancy and model farming. 

During the study tour, in addition to Széchenyi István University, the delegation will visit a number of sites.

Anar Azimov, Deputy President of the Agricultural Employment Agency, said that they had had the opportunity to listen to interesting and useful presentations from the University's experts.

"We try to learn from the approaches and practices implemented in Hungary. We have also had the opportunity to learn what is needed to meet the requirements of the European Union in the field of agricultural advisory services. The examples presented by  experts from Széchenyi will help us to achieve our goals in our country", said the head of the delegation, summing up the aim of their study tour.

Anar Azimov, Vice President of the Agricultural Services Agency (Photo: Csaba József Májer)