“Earning a doctorate is not an end, but a beginning”

At the beginning of the ceremony, Rector Hassan Charaf congratulated the head of the Department of Mechatronics, Optics and Mechanical Informatics, Professor Rita Kiss, who was elected Vice President for Natural Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) at its 200th General Assembly.

The event was attended by Péter Bihari, Vice Rector for Education, János Levendovszky, Vice Rector for Research and Innovation, András Nemeslaki, Vice Rector for International Affairs, Gergely Zaránd, Vice Rector for Science, and Director General Dávid Bauer. Szabolcs Rózsa, Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Imre Orbulov, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Tamás Varga, Dean of the Faculty of Architectural Engineering, András Szarka, Dean of the Faculty of Chemical and Bioengineering, Sándor Imre, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Péter Mándoki, Dean of the Faculty of Transportation and Vehicle Engineering, Attila Aszódi, Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and Béla Janky, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, also sat at the presidency table, as well as Gábor Takács, Chairman of the University Habilitation Committee and Doctoral Council (EHBDT), and Norbert Agócs, Chairman of the PhD and DLA Student Union. Tamás Freund, President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and László Kollár, Secretary General of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, were present as special guests.

“Today is a day of science, education and – let’s face it – also a celebration of perseverance,” said Hassan Charaf, acknowledging the achievements of the new doctors and habilitated lecturers. The rector also highlighted that the achievements of the new doctors who have obtained PhD and DLA degrees, and colleagues who have achieved habilitation during their teaching careers, are extremely important for the future of the university’s training programmes. According to him, “earning a doctoral degree is not a conclusion, but a beginning: the beginning of a long, responsible creative work, where quality, ethics and exemplary leadership are of paramount importance.” He added that “there has never been such a great need for prepared researchers, engineers and economists – knowledge creates opportunities, but also requires responsibility.”

He also congratulated Attila Aszódi, the newly elected president of the Hungarian Academy of Engineering, as well as the new vice-president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In his speech, the BME rector praised the institution's international relations: "We are actively involved in obtaining EU research and innovation funds, and the number of our students and colleagues building relationships with Erasmus funding is growing year by year. Last week in Madrid, as part of the EELISA partnership, we once again reaffirmed our alliance with nine other leading European technical universities.”

After Charaf Hassan's speech, moderator Eszter Mozsár said that it was a long-standing tradition at BME to award honorary doctorates (doctor honoris causa) and honorary master's degrees (magister honoris causa) to scientists who have achieved international recognition.

Imre Orbulov nominated Professor Gábor Orosz for the degree of Honorary Doctor for his internationally outstanding activities in the field of mechanical engineering. Gábor Orosz is a professor at the University of Michigan and an internationally recognized researcher of nonlinear dynamic systems. His theoretical results are applied in transportation systems consisting of human-driven and autonomous vehicles, in the study of neural networks, and in the modeling of the spread of epidemics. He is also credited with the theoretical description of the so-called phantom traffic jams.

Tamás Varga nominated László Mester Parajdi for the degree of Honorary Master for his internationally outstanding work in the field of architecture. László Mester Parajdi is a French architect born in Budapest, whose work is primarily related to Africa. He spent decades in the Sahel region and other crisis zones. He was an invited lecturer at the Doctoral School of Architecture of BME several times, and a consultant and guest lecturer in the courses of the Department of Exploratory Architecture. A selection of his life's work was presented in the Time.Space.Existence exhibition in Venice in 2023 under the title Our Take on Africa.

The rector announced that he had accepted the proposals in agreement with the Senate and confirmed the awarding of the two degrees with a diploma presented to the nominees. Gábor Orosz and László Mester Parajdi also presented their fields of expertise in short scientific presentations.

The presentation of the habilitation certificates followed. Gábor Takács announced that after the public procedure, the Habilitation Committee awarded the degree to a total of 9 persons. The newly habilitated receiving their diplomas were as follows:

András Lengyel (The Ritz method) and Miklós Patziger (The future of wastewater treatment plants: development trends and guidelines) in civil engineering sciences, Gábor Iván Nagy (SuperNormal, or the beauty of everyday architecture) in architectural arts, Gábor Csernák (Nonlinear dynamic systems – The three-body problem) and Miklós Horváth (The role of dynamic simulation in building energy) in mechanical sciences, Gábor Rétvári (The service model of the Internet) in informatics, Szabolcs Czifrus (Application of nuclear measurement methods in the environment of nuclear reactors) in physical sciences, András Bethlendi (Concepts of the shadow banking system and measurement options) and Attila Buzási (Connections of urban sustainability and climate adaptation) in economic and organizational sciences.

The doctoral inauguration began with the commendation of Dóra Varnyú, who had excellent grades from grade nine onwards during her studies, excellent grades in all her exams in the bachelor's and master's programs, excellent grades in her exams during her doctoral studies, and summa cum laude in her doctoral defense during the procedure. Based on all of this, the EBHDT recommended her for an honors doctoral degree (Promotio sub auspiciis praesidentis Rei Publicae) to the minister responsible for education.

On behalf of the graduates, Krisztián Király, a certified civil engineer, asked the Senate to award them the doctorate degree. The deans presented 202 persons in total for the degree:

Szabolcs Rózsa proposed the conferment of 24 degrees in earth sciences 2 degrees in civil engineering sciences;

Imre Orbulov 26 degrees in mechanical engineering;

Tamás Varga 5 degrees in architectural engineering and 19 degrees in architecture arts;

András Szarka 19 degrees in biological, environmental, and chemical engineering and 12 degrees in chemistry;

Sándor Imre 20 degrees in computer science and 21 degrees in electrical engineering;

Péter Mándoki 21 degrees in transportation and vehicle sciences;

Attila Aszódi 15 degrees in physical sciences, 6 degrees in mathematical and computational sciences, and 8 degrees in psychological sciences;

Béla Janky 9 degrees in economic and organizational sciences.

Then, the representatives of the faculties placed their right hands on the sceptre of BME and recited the doctoral vows read out in advance by Krisztián Király.

Finally, the rector and the deans presented the diplomas entitling the graduates to the use of the doctoral degree.

At the end of the event, Krisztián Király expressed his gratitude on behalf of the graduates, emphasizing that they promise to fulfil their duties in the service of science, the university and Hungary in their profession.

Rector's Office, Communications Directorate