| University of Pécs | |
|---|---|
| Pécsi Tudományegyetem | |
| Latin: Universitas Quinqueecclesiensis | |
| Established | 1367 / 1912 |
| Type | Public |
| Rector | József Bódis, Dr. |
| Academic staff | 1854 |
| Students | 35,000 |
| Location | Pécs, Hungary |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | english.pte.hu/ |
The University of Pécs (PTE) (Hungarian Pécsi Tudományegyetem) is the Hungarian university with the largest number of students and faculties.
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The first university in Pécs was established by Louis I of Hungary in 1367, the letter patent issued by pope Urban V, similar to that of the University of Vienna. The university existed for a few decades, then split into two schools, one of jurisprudence and one of theology in the course of the 15th century. The university was completely discontinued during Ottoman occupation, then restarted in 1785 by Joseph II moving the Royal Academy from Győr to Pecs. In 1802 the Royal Academy was moved back to Győr by the order of Francis I, and higher education was discontinued in Pecs until 1833, when the bishop of Pecs in conjunction with the city senate founded the Pecs Academy, comprising a legal and a philosophical faculty.
The modern University of Pécs was founded in 1912, and was originally located in Pozsony (now Bratislava, Slovakia). Since after the WWI Pozsony too came to be cut off from Hungary, in 1921 the university moved to Pécs, where it remained to this day. In 1951 the medical faculty was separated from the university, and till 2000 was a separate institution. The university was renamed Janus Pannnonius University in 1982. The present University of Pécs was created on January 1, 2000, via the merger of Janus Pannonius University, the Medical University of Pécs and the Illyés Gyula Teacher Training College of Szekszárd.
With its ten faculties the University of Pécs plays a significant role in Hungarian higher education. The University offers a broad range of training and degree programmes, ensuring high-level knowledge-transfer and research. With its more than 30,000 students and nearly 2,000 teaching and research staff the impact of the University of Pécs extends well beyond the borders of Pécs.[2]
In September 2006, a modern higher educational training system initiated by the European Union was introduced in Hungary too, known as the Bologna process, which offers students an opportunity to pursue their studies in a dynamically developing, convertible European higher educational system. The traditional college and university level training programmes were replaced by a three-tier system consisting of a basic training programme (BA, BSc), a master level programme (MA, MSc), and doctoral level (PhD, DLA) programme.
In order to meet the demands and the needs of the surrounding community for continuing education, the University of Pécs has started to develop its programmes within the area of life-long learning. In addition, the University attaches great importance to training in the colleges for advanced studies. Nearly every Faculty offers training in the framework of this organisation that encourages students to pursue their own research.
Due to the credit system, first introduced in Hungary here in Pécs, an increasing number of Hungarian students participate in international study programmes as an integral part of their education, and likewise, an increasing number of international students and researchers come to the University of Pécs to study and conduct research every year. Therefore, the University continuously works on expanding and improving its co-operation with other universities and international research institutions and is already part of a large network at different levels.
Pécs Medical University founded a CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) [2] campus on October 14 2008.
The university continuously works on expanding and improving its cooperation with other universities. It has extended partnership agreements with universities of neighbouring countries as well as with highly-ranked universities of Western Europe and the United States of America. The University has been offering study programmes in English for 22 years, and since then an increasing number of international students and researchers have arrived from over 80 countries to the University of Pécs to study and conduct research every year.
Inter-university agreements can be initiated by the management of the faculties or the university leadership. These agreements provide the framework for mutual visits, short term student, teacher or staff mobility, and joint research projects. The university runs successful student exchange programmes with Japanese and Korean universities as well as with universities from the United States.
Number of memorandums of understanding with Europe: 38
Number of memorandums of understanding with USA: 17
Number of memorandums of understanding with Asia: 6
Total number of the inter-university agreements is 66.
The University of Pécs is actively taking part in Europe's leading mobility initiative, the ERASMUS programme. Currently the University of Pécs has 300 ERASMUS agreements which support the mobility of approximately 340 students of UP abroad as well as a number of teaching staff.
The university knowledge base can be interpreted along three dimensions with respect to the innovative activities pursued at the University of Pécs. One concerns research results, which are produced in the university environment, that is, in labs and in the heads of researchers. The second one involves teaching, whereby a highly qualified labour force is trained that can succeed in the knowledge industry. The third one is the service dimension, which can ensure several important services that support the utilization of innovations for economic players surrounding the University.
Outstanding research is pursued at all the ten faculties of the University of Pécs in a creative environment with significant novel results. As one of the most important research universities of the country, the University of Pécs acts as a knowledge centre for innovation in the South Transdanubian Region. In accordance with the proper interpretation of innovation, the task of the University also covers, beside basic research, the training of experts that have competence for innovation and enterprise management, including the provision of several services that support innovative projects.
On 26 November 2009 a shooting occurred at the University of Pécs. A student killed one 19-year-old student and injured three other people: another student, a faculty member and a janitor were wounded by gunfire.[5][6] The incident occurred during an internship for pharmacy students in the Institute of Biophysics. The 23-year-old perpetrator entered the classrom and opened fire with a handgun, then fled.[7] He was arrested in about one hour.[8]
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