Successful debut of the international scientific students’ association

101 students of 7 EELISA partner institutions competed for the 1st time in the international version of the Hungarian scientific students’ associations in Pisa on 17-18 May.

The first EELISA international students’ scientific contest was organised by the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) with the moral support of the Council of the National Scientific Students’ Association (OTDT) in Italy. The international TDK followed the rules and procedure of the Hungarian National Students’ Scientific Conference (OTDK) very closely, which goes back to more than seventy years.  The contest was held on 17-18 May in Pisa as part of the 2nd Research Based Learning Symposium of the EELISA project. István Szabó, strategic director of the OTDT participated at the event as an observer.

Opening day, 2nd Research Based Learning Symposium, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna

The contest was organised in nine sections of the respective areas of science. 101 students of seven EELISA partner institutions participated with 70 presentations, 22 of them held by BME students. The event was organised in a hybrid mode, with some 80% of the students personally present. BME delegated 12 students to Pisa. 

Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Andrea Mina’s (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna) speech at the closing ceremony

Dorka Jelinek, Barnabás Karakas and Dávid Márkus, special-prize winners in the Architecture section receiving their certificates (Balázs Géza Kövesdi, András Pataricza, Sabina Nuti, Andrea Mina)

Message of Balázs Géza Kövesdi, deputy dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at BME, secretary of the EELISA TDK organising committee: “We have received countless positive feedback about the proceedings; the event was well-organised and easy to follow for our international partners. The students were also well aware of the contest requirements. Despite the novelty of the form, a great number of high quality international papers were submitted, giving proof of the high level of professional work conducted at the EELISA partner universities. As far as I am aware, a contest similar to our TDK is only organised in Romania. As a consequence, the Bucharest university delegated substantially more contestants than other Western European universities, as these involve their students in similar, if not competitive projects. Based on the feedback from the students, the jury and the supervisors, the event was a huge success, so we hope that it will be arranged again next year in the EELISA program or in another institutional framework. 

KBG-LC