Five international students from Széchenyi István University received awards for their research at the recent Science and Arts Student Conference held at the institution. Four of the students were so outstanding that they have earned the right to participate in the 2023 National Scientific Student Conference, which will be the final of the competition.

The National Scientific Student Conference (NSC), which has been held for more than seven decades, is the largest scientific event in Hungary. It is open to young people who qualify through their performance at previous university conferences.

Every semester, Széchenyi István University organises its own Scientific and Art Students' Conference (SSC), which took place at the end of April. More than 300 students presented their research results in 35 sessions. The number of international students among the participants and prize-winners is increasing, in line with the growing number of overseas students studying here each year, which now stands at nearly 800. They come from 65 countries around the world.

Last November, Széchenyi István University's Science and Art Student Conference featured an installation that showed the 65 countries from which the institution's international students come.

“We have also opened the door wide for our international students to the scientific and artistic student community. Since spring 2018, we have been organising international science workshops as part of the SSC, which are open to international students of any status. There they present their research area in a presentation, competing at institutional level. The most outstanding students will receive a certificate of recognition", said Dr Eszter Lukács, Vice Rector for International Affairs. She added that in addition, full-time international students can participate in the institutional round of the SSC, from where they can also qualify to take part in the national competition.

"They will also have the opportunity to participate in the most important and most significant form of talent management in higher education in Hungary, a key area of quality intellectual training," stressed Dr Lukács.

Eight foreign students took part in this year's TDK, six of whom are studying at the University of Győr under the Stipendium Hungaricum’s Higher Education Scholarship Programme, one of whom came under the Erasmus+ exchange programme, while one young person with a permanent address in Hungary applied and enrolled for a state-funded course via felvi.hu.

Lao Phomvixay Phetaloune from Laos won first prize for her paper "Comparative study on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices of telecommunication companies" as did Bangladeshi Al Mamun Md Abdullah from Bangladesh for his paper "Big Data approach to evaluating workers' performance and improving productivity in garment manufacturing industry: a case study from Bangladesh". Nyambayar Batbayar from Mongolia presented Apple and Samsung's social media strategy, for which he received a special prize. The jury recommended the three of them to participate in the 2023 OTDK.

The judges awarded a second prize to Almelhem Marah from Jordan for his research on "The impact of cultural behaviour on the whiplash effect in the Covid-19 epidemic". Liliia Snizhkovska from Ukraine won a special prize for her paper on the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on global supply chains. Many international students also study at the Faculty of Performing Arts. Among them, the Chinese student Yu Yue, majoring in Performing Arts - Classical Horn, has qualified to participate in the Arts Section of the 2023 national competition (NSC).

"We are proud of the fact that our international students also strive to achieve knowledge that goes beyond the basic minimum and complements their respective core academic tasks, while developing their problem-solving skills, broadening their horizons and expanding their network of contacts. This type of research and creative activity teaches them to reason, to see the truth of others, to accept and celebrate the successes and achievements of others, to be demanding, to enjoy discovery, to embrace the new, to cooperate and to be tolerant.

We thank our colleagues for their mentoring of students, including international students, because the results are due to continuous student-teacher workshops, which help young people to learn more about the given field of science or art, to master research methods and to develop their skills", said Professor Márta Szombathelyi-Konczos, President of the University Council of Scientific and Art Students.

In November 2022, at the next SSC at Széchenyi István University, in the sections and the international scientific workshop, international students will have the opportunity to highlight their talents and the results of their research and artistic work.