The history of the University
The University of Szeged is the successor to a university founded in
Kolozsvár, Transylvania (present-day Cluj, Romania) in 1872. At
the end of World War I, in accordance with the Treaty of Paris, Hungary
ceded Transylvania to Romania, and the University at Kolozsvár
was moved to Szeged in 1921. From the beginning, the city of Szeged took
pains to turn the town into a comfortable home for higher education.
Many outstanding professors worked at the University in the inter-war
period, including Nobel Prize winner Albert Szent-Györgyi, who was
the first to isolate Vitamin C, extracting it from the Szeged paprika.
After World War II, the University of Szeged was the first in Hungary
to resume functioning. In 1951, the Medical University became independent
from the rest of the University. In 1962, the remaining institution took
the name of the great Hungarian poet, Attila József, who had been
a student here in the 1920s.
In 1991, the leaders of the higher education institutions in Szeged
signed an agreement to merge into a large, unified research and education
centre. On 1 January 2000, this newly formed University of Szeged (SZTE)
was founded as the legal successor to the Szent-Györgyi Albert Medical
University, József Attila University and Juhász Gyula Teachers
Training College. At present, the University of Szeged consists of 11
faculties and colleges: the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Economics and
Business Administration, Faculty of Law and Public Administration, Faculty
of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacology, Faculty
of Sciences, Juhász Gyula Teachers Training College, College of
Agriculture, College of Food Engineering and Conservatory of Music.
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The student card
After registration, all students receive a student card which entitles them to a great many discounts at numerous local shops, to cheaper fares in certain taxis and 67.5% discount on trains and coaches. You can also buy a student pass for all local transport each month for about a third of the regular price.
Medical insurance
All students must have medical insurance when they register at the University. International students may prefer their insurance coverage from their home country. However, we strongly encourage you to take out Hungarian medical insurance. It entitles you to any medical service that Hungarians are entitled to. You can see a doctor at any time, you can purchase prescription medicine for much less, and all hospital costs are covered as well. It is always advisable to have some kind of travel insurance for full cover during your journey to Hungary and your first few weeks’ stay in the country. However, if you choose insurance from your home country, in most cases you have to pay all your medical costs on the spot (which in case of an accident can be enormously high) and then you are only refunded (fully or partially) after your return home.
Visas
People who arrive in Hungary from most European countries do not need a visa. What’s more, they can stay here for three months without obtaining a residence permit. However, the minimum duration of an Erasmus scholarship is three months or more, so every foreign student arriving in Hungary and planning to study for over three months is required to obtain a TM6 entry visa. We suggest that you consult the Consulate or Embassy of the Republic of Hungary or a body accredited to represent Hungary in your country and ask them for up-to-date information.
The academic year
The academic year consists of two semesters of fourteen weeks each. The first semester usually begins in the second week of September and lasts until the middle of December while January is the examination period. The second semester usually lasts from the beginning of February to the middle of May. The second part of May and much of June are reserved for examinations.
The current university calendar can be downloaded from the homepage of the International Relations Centre. (www.u-szeged.hu/relint)
The ETR (Egységes Tanulmányi Rendszer/Unified Studies System)
The ETR is an electronic system to which every registered student of the University of Szeged can gain access through the Internet by using a password.
Through the ETR you can:
- access the entire course catalogue of the University of Szeged
- register for courses for the next semester
- correspond with your teachers and other university students
- learn your exam results
- obtain information on your scholarship and finances.
The Hungarian grading system
The grading system generally used by Hungarian higher education institutions is as follows:
| Five-point scale: | Hungarian | English | |
| 5 | jeles | Excellent | Very good Outstanding with minor errors |
| 4 | jó | Good | Generally sound work with a number of notable errors |
| 3 | közepes | Satisfactory | Acceptable Fair but with significant shortcomings |
| 2 | elégséges | Pass | Performance meets the minimum criteria |
| 1 | elégtelen | Fail | Further work is required |
| Three-point scale: | |||
| kiválóan megfelelt | Meets requirements with distinction | ||
| megfelelt | Meets requirements | ||
| követelményeknek nem felelt meg | Does not meet requirements | ||
The Computer Centre
The University’s computer system is fully networked, and large labs are at students’ disposal for browsing through University Library catalogues, hooking up to the Internet, or getting tangled in the World Wide Web. Students receive an e-mail address upon registration and can correspond using the computers in the labs free of charge. A photocopy centre is also available for all registered students.