Connections and competences - this was the 26th Intensive course

The presentations and workshops of the Intensive Course contributed to the participants' better understanding of the interdisciplinary challenges resulting from the intertwining of technical, economic and social science fields, as well as their sustainable solutions. Transversal competences, topics aimed at developing management and communication skills, the use of artificial intelligence, responsible corporate governance, and issues of sustainability received special attention.

Not only teachers and researchers from GTK and international higher education institutions performed, but also representatives of companies, and, as in previous years, members of GTK alumni joined in, inspiring the current students with their personal success stories. This time, there were also alumni speakers who graduated from English language master's program. The challenge-based professional workshops took place in smaller groups, thus providing GTK's MSc students with more intensive learning and active participation. On the third day of the course, the Networking Event provided an opportunity for students and lecturers, as well as alumni, to build relationships.

During the three-day event, 23 lectures (8 Hungarian, 15 English) and 36 workshops (21 Hungarian, 15 English) were held. A total of 62 professionals (35 trainers and 27 lecturers) contributed, including 35 international and industry experts, who shared innovative solutions from different fields with the students. More than 500 students participated in the program.

Below you can read some student feedback about the sessions.

About the lecture of Dale A. Martin, entitled A dream come true – Three pieces of advice to prepare for success:

"It was a pleasure to hear your experiences and honestly it was the best lecture I was attended at. It was very productive, I really liked that we had the chance to ask from an expert. Highly appreciated. Big respect and wishing you all the best! I wanted to take a moment to express my deep appreciation for your remarkable speech today. It was incredibly inspiring and resonated with us as students. Your words motivated us to take initiative, make the most of our time at university, and embrace challenges as we discover who we are and what we wish to become."

"I enjoyed his lecture as it was very personal and it was interesting to see how a wildly successful person actually achieved everything and how he analyzes his success looking back. I liked his honesty when answering the students' questions and that he made sure to answer everything with the deepest of his knowledge, no matter how personal or deep the question was. He created a safe and warm atmosphere in the classroom and he was able to keep the attention on him the whole time without using a slideshow or barely any technology, which I think is very rare nowadays."

Dale A. Martin

About the workshop of Marco Rossi, entitled From basics to expertise: Solving climate change risks challenges with MATLAB:

"I really enjoyed the lecturer's style of speaking, he was knowledgeable on his subject and it was evident that he was a master of his craft and topic. I also liked that he was very helpful and he kept going to the students that were a bit slower and went over the topics that were a bit harder to understand multiple times just to get everyone on the same page. He was also very kind and funny and that made it easier to ask for help and ease into the topic."

"The presenters were experts in their field, they could answer any questions raised. They were really patient with us and provided a solid foundation for continuing to use MATLAB."

"Great presentation, engaging, useful and playful as well, with strong messages."

Marco Rossi

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Rector's Office, Communications Directorate