Eötvös Loránd University

"University of Budapest" and "Budapest University" redirect here. For other universities in Budapest, see List of universities in Hungary.

Eötvös Loránd University

Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem (Hungarian)
Latin: Universitas Scientiarum Budapestinensis De Rolando Eötvös Nominata[1]
Motto	Community of Knowledge
Type	Public research university
Established	1635; 389 years ago (1635)
Affiliation	Coimbra Group Utrecht Network UNICA EUA AUF
Chancellor	Gyula Scheuer
Rector	László Borhy
Academic staff	1,800[2]
Students	cca. 27,000[3]
Undergraduates	16,017[4]
Postgraduates	8,547
Doctoral students	1,442
Location	Budapest , Hungary 47.4906°N 19.0585°E / 47.4906; 19.0585
Campus	Urban
Sporting affiliations	Budapesti EAC
Website	www.elte.hu/en

Eötvös Loránd University (Hungarian: Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, ELTE, also known as University of Budapest) is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious^[5] public higher education institutions in Hungary. The 28,000 students at ELTE are organized into nine faculties, and into research institutes located throughout Budapest and on the scenic banks of the Danube. ELTE is affiliated with 5 Nobel laureates, as well as winners of the Wolf Prize, Fulkerson Prize and Abel Prize, the latest of which was Abel Prize winner László Lovász in 2021.

The predecessor of Eötvös Loránd University was founded in 1635 by Cardinal Péter Pázmány in Nagyszombat, Kingdom of Hungary (today Trnava, Slovakia) as a Catholic university for teaching theology and philosophy. In 1770, the university was transferred to Buda. It was named Royal University of Pest until 1873, then University of Budapest until 1921, when it was renamed Royal Hungarian Pázmány Péter University after its founder Péter Pázmány. The Faculty of Science started its autonomous life in 1949, when The Faculty of Theology was separated from the university (now Pázmány Péter Catholic University). The university received its current name in 1950, after one of its most well-known physicists, Baron Loránd Eötvös.

History

Seal of the university from 1880

The university was founded in 1635 in Nagyszombat, Kingdom of Hungary (today Trnava, Slovakia) by the archbishop and theologian Péter Pázmány. Leadership was given over to the Jesuits. Initially the university only had two faculties (Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Theology). The Faculty of Law was added in 1667 and the Faculty of Medicine was started in 1769. After the dissolution of the Jesuit order, the university was moved to Buda (today part of Budapest) in 1777 in accordance with the intention of the founder. The university moved to its final location in Pest (now also part of Budapest) in 1784. The language of education was Latin until 1844, when Hungarian was introduced as an exclusive official language. Women have been allowed to enroll since 1895.^[6]

Although several Hungarian universities opted for the new foundation model, Eötvös Loránd University remained state-owned.^[7]

On 3 October 2023, a former student of the Faculty of Science, Ferenc Krausz was awarded Nobel Prize in Physics.^[8]

Academic profile

ELTE is Hungary's largest scientific establishment with 118 PhD programs at 17 doctoral schools, and also offers 38 bachelor's programs, 96 master's programs, and over 50 degree programs in foreign languages. The course credits awarded are transferable to universities in Europe through the Bologna process.^[9]

The nine faculties are (active faculties are in bold):

Faculty	Code	Founded[10]	Defunct[10]	Institutions	Educators[11]	Students	Dean
Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education	FSNE	2000		5		2094	Gabriella Papp
Faculty of Economics	FE	2021	-	-	-	-	György Andor
Faculty of Humanities	FH	1635		18	589	6960	Dávid Bartus
Faculty of Education and Psychology	FEP	2003		8		3963	Anikó Zsolnai
Faculty of Informatics	FI	2003		4		3128	Tamás Kozsik
Faculty of Law	FL	1667		0		4172	Pál Sonnevend
Faculty of Medicine	FM	1769	1951	-	-	-	-
Faculty of Primary and Pre-School Education	FPPE	2000		0		1831	Éva Márkus
Faculty of Theology	FT	1635	1950	-	-	-	-
Faculty of Science	FS	1949		5		3815	Imre Kacskovics
Faculty of Social Sciences	FSS	2003		6		1762	Gábor Juhász
Faculty of Teachers' Training	FTT	1983	2003	-	-	-

Timeline (1873–present)

Reputation and rankings

University rankings
Global – Overall
ARWU World[12]	501–600 (2023)
QS World[13]	701–710 (2024)
THE World[14]	801–1000 (2024)
USNWR Global[15]	=368 (2023)

In the 2013-14 QS World University Rankings, Eötvös Loránd University was ranked 551-600th. In the 2018, according to the Times Higher Education World University Ranking, ELTE ranked between 601 and 800. Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked the university among the best 301-400 between 2010 and 2014.^[16]

Campuses

ELTE has campuses at several places in Budapest:^[17]

• Egyetem tér in the 5th district (Faculty of Law, Faculty of Economics)
• "Trefort Garden" (Trefort-kert) in the 8th district (Faculty of Humanities)
• Lágymányos campus in the 11th district (Faculty of Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Informatics)
• Buildings in Kazinczy utca (7th district) and Izabella utca (6th district) (Faculty of Education and Psychology)
• Ecseri út in the 9th district (Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education)
• Kiss János altábornagy utca in the 12th district (Faculty of Primary and Pre-School Education)

Since 2017, ELTE has a campus named "Savaria University Centre" (Savaria Egyetemi Központ) in Szombathely (Savaria in Latin).^[18]

Faculties

Humanities

FL

FI

Science

FSNE

FPPSE

FEP

FSS

class=notpageimage|

Location of faculties (FEP = Faculty of Education & Psychology, FI = Faculty of Informatics, FL = Faculty of Law, FSNE = Faculty of Special Needs Education, FSS = Faculty of Social Science)

Faculty	Abbreviation	Postcode	Address
Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education	FSNE	1097	3. Ecseri út
Faculty of Economics	FE	1088	7. Rákóczi út
Faculty of Education and Psychology	FEP	1075	23–27. Kazinczy utca
Faculty of Humanities	FH	1088	4. Múzeum krt.
Faculty of Informatics	FI	1117	1/C. Pázmány Péter sétány
Faculty of Law	FL	1053	1–3. Egyetem tér
Faculty of Primary and Pre-School Education	FPPE	1126	40. Kiss János altáb. utca
Faculty of Science	FS	1117	1/A. Pázmány Péter sétány
Faculty of Social Science	FSS	1117	1/A. Pázmány Péter sétány

Library

The University Library and Archives was founded in 1561 and it is located in 6 Ferenciek tere.^[19] However, each faculty of the university has their own library located in different parts of Budapest.^[20]

• Library of the Faculty of Humanities
• Library of the Faculty of Law
• Library of the Faculty of Science

• 
• 
• 
• 

The library of Medieval Studies of the Central European University was located in the building of ELTE's Faculty of Humanities.^[21]

Notable alumni

Nobel Prize laureates:

• Lénárd Fülöp, Nobel Prize for Physics (1905)
• Albert Szent-Györgyi, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of Vitamin C (1937)
• Hevesy György, Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1943)
• Békésy György, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1961)
• Harsányi János, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1994)
• Ferenc Krausz, Nobel Prize in Physics (2023)^[22]

• 
  Fülöp Lénárd, physicist
• 
  Albert Szent-Györgyi, biochemist
• 
  Hevesy György, chemist
• 
  Békésy György, biophysicist
• 
  Krausz Ferenc, physicist

Other notable alumni:

• Faculty of Humanities
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Science

Sport

Stadium of the BEAC in Kőrösy József (Mező) street in 1940

The Eötvös Loránd University has its own sport club, Budapesti Egyetemi Atlétikai Club (English: Budapest University Athletic Club). The biggest achievement of the association football department of the club was qualifying for the 1924-25 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season. However, in the subsequent season (1925-26 Nemzeti Bajnokság I) the club were relegated to the Nemzeti Bajnokság II and has never been able to qualify to the top flight ever since.
https://www.beac.hu/

See also

• Utrecht Network
• List of universities in Hungary
• Virtual Globes Museum

References

1. "Alapító okirat módosításokkal egységes szerkezetbe foglalva" (PDF) (in Hungarian). 2024-04-09. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
2. elte.hu. "Brief History of ELTE". Archived from the original on 2016-05-07.
3. "Study in Hungary - Universities".
4. elte.hu. "A brief presentation of Eötvös Loránd University, page 12 Facts and Figuers - Students". Archived from the original on 2016-02-13.
5. Kaplan, Robert B.; Baldauf, Richard B. (2005-01-01). Language Planning and Policy in Europe. Multilingual Matters. ISBN 9781853598111.
6. "Brief History of ELTE". ELTE. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
7. "Hungarian parliament approves law creating new foundations". Financial Times. 2021-04-27. Archived from the original on 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
8. "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2023". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
9. "Academic System".
10. "Az Egyetem története". ELTE. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
11. "Közérdekű, nyilvános adatok". elte.hu. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
12. "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2023". shanghairanking.com. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
13. "QS World University Rankings: Eötvös Loránd University". Top Universities. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
14. "Eötvös Loránd University". Times Higher Education (THE). 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
15. U.S. News. "Eötvös Loránd University". Retrieved 27 February 2024.
16. "Academic Ranking of World Universities - Eotvos Lorand University". ShanghaiRanking. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
17. "Az ELTE campusai" (in Hungarian). ELTE. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
18. "Savaria Egyetemi Központ (SEK)" (in Hungarian). ELTE. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
19. "Homepage". University Library and Archives. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
20. "University Library Service". University Library and Archives. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
21. "ELTE's leadership supports CEU". elte.hu. ELTE. 2017-04-03. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
22. "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2023". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2023-10-03.

External links

• Official website
• Information brochure (2012) (48 pages)
• Szögi, László. "The Illustrated History of the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest (ELTE, 2010, 2015)" (PDF) (in Hungarian and English). Eötvös Kiadó. Retrieved 2019-10-13. (282 pages)