About the Faculty
ELTE is the leading university in Hungary, standing out in higher education and recognized as a significant research institution. Its role in the national innovation ecosystem is increasingly significant, and its international ties are continuously expanding. The university excels in educating talented professionals with marketable knowledge. With the measures taken according to the Faculty of Science's 2021 strategy, it has taken another step towards becoming a knowledge hub for the region.
Knowledge community for tomorrow
Since its foundation in 1635, the university has been a gathering place for talented and diligent individuals, from whose ranks much of the national scientific intelligentsia has emerged. Its scientists, knowledgeable about the latest scientific directions and working together in excellent workshops, strive to acquire useful knowledge. Their results often help advance science on an international level. Those who join gain competitive knowledge and extensive connections, aiding them later even in the international job market.
The cooperation of excellences has created an inspiring atmosphere, which continues to define and make the university attractive. The Faculty of Science not only leads in the field of natural sciences but also in the overall faculty ranking nationally. It leads Hungarian universities in physics and astronomy, mathematics, biology, geophysics, and geology in the most prestigious global rankings. Its guest lecturers are world-leading experts, and today, one in four students in its English-language programs comes from abroad.
Marketable degree – three main areas of education
The Faculty of Science at ELTE offers the widest range of educational programs in natural sciences in the country, its students winning the most awards at national competitions and successfully participating in international contests. Its graduates successfully apply their knowledge in industry and services, and many start their scientific careers in the university's doctoral schools.
The faculty's three main areas of education are training in natural sciences, teaching in natural sciences, and nurturing research successors. Thanks to quality-centered reforms related to the strategy (curriculum renewal, raised admission requirements, faculty performance evaluation), the level of education and the retention power of the programs have increased in recent years.
Today, practicality and meeting social needs are important aspects of all areas of education, allowing students to earn prestigious degrees. ELTE consistently ranks first or second in comparisons of starting salaries and job-finding speeds among graduates, and this competitive advantage remains evident five years later.
Intensive, diverse research activity
As a research university, researchers of the Faculty actively participate in national, European, and global projects, conducting investigations across all areas of natural sciences, with particular emphasis on astrophysics, artificial intelligence research, quantum informatics, modern environmental science, and biochemistry. The university's broad scientific portfolio enables varied multi- and interdisciplinary research, resulting in special developments through collaboration among specialties.
The Faculty has traditionally been strong in basic research, and applied research is increasingly important. Cutting-edge research results are born within the framework of diverse-themed projects, for instance, the drug development company EvolVeritas and Motorpharma, FIEK specializing in microbiological diagnostics, Pharmalab fighting against Covid, and CollMot dealing with industrial and entertainment uses of drone swarms.
Independent research also continues at the Faculty, and its researchers collaborate with national scientific institutions, partner universities, and industrial research sites, achieving results in international projects shaping today's scientific worldview. Through applications, they also join international networks, increasingly winning Horizon Europe support and leading international research groups in fields such as bioinformatics, food science, and risk analysis.
Innovation: from theory to practice
Continuous infrastructural developments are underway at the Lágymányos campus, modernizing research and educational spaces. In 2022, an ultra-modern molecular microbiology laboratory was opened, involving an investment of nearly one billion forints, and soon the region's best-equipped university chemistry teaching laboratory, the SuperSmartLab, will open. The quantum hardware operated at ELTE is one of the near future's big promises: the equipment makes Hungarian research groups competitive in basic and applied research, significantly impacting interdisciplinary innovations.
In supporting innovation and social development, the Faculty of Science leads the way. Its laboratories develop anti-cancer agents, protein structure examination methods, and underground water replenishment processes. The Faculty has extensive corporate connections, more patents are being generated at the university, and about a third of these reach the market. The newly established Central Research and Industrial Connections Center offers the highest professional level of unique experimental methods and measurement techniques through its laboratory services, enhancing its partners' competitiveness. The success is greatly aided by encouraging students to be aware of social needs, recognize market gaps, and test and apply their knowledge in practice.
(Translated by Artificial Intelligence)