The National Conference of Scientific Students (NCSD) is Hungary's largest scientific event, with a history stretching back more than seven decades. Only university students performing outstandingly at the previous university conferences can qualify for this competition.

In each semester, the Széchenyi István University organises its own Scientific and Art Students' Conference (SSAC), where last year alone hundreds of students presented their research results in nearly 50 sessions.

In line with the growing number of foreign students studying at our institution every year, the number of international students among the participants and award winners is increasing. They come from 70 countries around the world. According to the evaluation of the judging board six of them excelled, so they are entitled to compete at this year's NCSD.

The Széchenyi István University considers it of utmost importance that high quality education and research opportunities are provided for international students. In order to achieve this objective, we have been organising international scientific workshops within the framework of the SSAC since the spring of 2018, and we have also made the SSAC sections open for them as well, thus allowing their qualification for the NCSD. We are proud that many of our students continue to study science beyond their studies. We thank our colleagues for encouraging and preparing our students for this segment of scientific work as well," said Professor dr Márta Szombathelyi Dr Konczosné, Chair of the University's Scientific Student Council and Talent Support Council.

Dr. Nóra Géczy, Associate Professor in the Department of Building Design, has mentored and prepared 22 architecture students for the university's Design Lab Talent Workshop over the past two years, including international students, four of whom qualified for this year's NCSD.

“Our English-speaking Master's students typically work on topics that are understandable and interesting on the international scene. Last year, for example, we presented at the UNEECC conference in Lithuania with Brazilian architecture student Layane Vieira, and this March we will be co-presenting at the ICOMOS architecture conference in Florence with Daniel Osorio Arboleda, who comes from Colombia. The SSAC and NCSD conferences are a great opportunity for the students to prepare for these challenges and test their skills. Apart from the competition itself, the largest benefit of the event lies in the feedback given by jury, which is very inspiring for the young researchers of the future,"  said Nóra Géczy.

Associate Professor Dr. Nóra Géczy (centre) with her two students, Daniel Osorio Arboleda from Colombia and Sofia Suarez from Ecuador (Photo: Csaba József Májer)

Daniel Osorio Arboleda is one of the students who will represent Széchenyi István University at the NCSD.

"I have been interested in studies related to the cultural and historical heritage of our buildings and cities since my undergraduate studies, so in my SSAC thesis I wrote about the ruins of buildings, nostalgia and collective memory from a philosophical approach, based on some architectural and heritage theories.

The focus of my topic is our relationship with the built environment in our cities and its impact on our capacity to create an active memory. I was thrilled to participate in the SSAC and to share my research with other students and professors. In the near future I plan to develop my thesis into an article and publish it at the ICOMOS conference in Italy," said the Colombian student.

Dr Nóra Géczy's three further international students, Sofia Suarez and Katherine Vega, both of them from Ecuador, and Rnin Salah from Jordan, worked together as a team to earn the right to participate in the NCSD. Their architectural design aims to explore gender equality and sustainability through the design of a community centre in southern Senegal. "Design is my passion and I am always looking for new ways to learn and develop my skills. I also firmly believe that the best way to achieve success is working together. That's how our team got the opportunity to take part in the NCSD,"  emphasized Rnin Salah. Katherine Vega added that she is highly interested in how architecture improves people's living conditions.

"We developed this project with the intention of providing a space for women in the community to engage in activities that improve conditions for equality and learning,” she highlighted.

Besides them, the Széchenyi István University will be represented at the spring NCSD by a computer science student named Zoher Orabe, whose topic supervisor is Dr Gábor Takács, Associate Professor, and Md Abdullah Al Mamun from Bangladesh, who is mentored by Dr László Buics, Assistant Professor. During our interview Md Abdullah Al Mamun was happy to share how proud he felt to compete at a national level.

“Due to its limited possibilities in automation, the process of production in the textile industry's is one of the most human-centred ones. At this university, I had access to a number of useful tools regarding Industry 4.0 and automation, and I attempted to use them to automate these processes reducing physical workload, human intervention and waste, which can lead to higher profits, productivity and efficiency," 

 said Md Abdullah Al Mamun regarding his topic. Furthermore, he added that apart from the continuous support he received from his teachers, the facilities and services of the Kautz Gyula Faculty of Economics and the library are excellent, similarly to the dormitories and the city of Győr.