The student needs and satisfaction survey organised by the Quality Assurance Office is available through the Neptun system in Hungarian and English until 29 April 2026.
Your responses will also contribute to the development and expansion of library services based on your needs. Please support our work and improvement efforts by completing the survey.
Artwork of the month – Péter Pázmány University Commemorative Cup
At its meeting on March 30, 1936, the University Council of the Royal Hungarian Péter Pázmány University of Sciences decided to commission a commemorative cup to honor the memory of Péter Pázmány, the university’s founder. The initiative was closely linked to the fact that the university celebrated its 300th anniversary in 1935; it was in this spirit that the goblet and the accompanying commemorative ceremony were established. Pursuant to the resolution, representatives of the faculties delivered commemorative speeches at the annual ceremony in rotating order.
At the end of each academic year, the speaker was selected by secret ballot at a meeting of the faculty deans. After briefly commemorating Péter Pázmány, the speaker was also required to deliver an academic lecture of no more than half an hour on a topic of their choosing. The date of the speeches was set by the rector, usually within two weeks of the opening ceremony of the academic year. He also decided who, besides the university’s regular and adjunct faculty members, would be invited to the event. On the occasion of the ceremony, the rector hosted a luncheon in honor of the participants, and the speeches delivered were published in print in the university’s series titled Speeches. The topic was freely chosen and could address issues in the university’s history, the institution’s former distinguished professors, current university affairs, or general problems in the speaker’s field of expertise. This lecture was called the “goblet speech.” The goblet itself was made of silver, bearing the university’s coat of arms and a portrait of Pázmány on the left side.
The following inscription can be read on one side of the goblet:
“INCLYTAE MEMORIAE FUNDATORIS
ALMAE UNIVERSITATIS NOSTRAE
PETRI CARDINALIS PÁZMÁNY de PANASZ.”
On the other side:
“BE SPIRITUAL WELLS, SO THAT FROM YOUR OWN ABUNDANCE
YOU MAY QUENCH THE THIRST OF OTHERS
PÁZMÁNY”
The event served not only as a commemoration but also provided a good opportunity for teachers to meet regularly each year. As a result, institutional toasts became widespread in many places during the 1930s.
The custom introduced in 1991 can be seen as a revival of this tradition: on the occasion of the ceremonial Senate meetings held in May to mark Pázmány Day, a professor from the university who had achieved outstanding results was invited to deliver the so-called “Pázmány Péter Professional Lecture” on their own field of research. At its meeting on April 6, 1992, the University Council passed a resolution that the university would award a distinction to the current lecturer.
The goblet is currently located in the Rector’s Office and forms part of the Rector’s collection.
Photo and Written by Bianka Kovács-Molnár
Sources:
Papp, J. (1983): Hagyományok és tárgyi emlékek az Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetemen. Budapest.
Németh, Gy. (szerk.) (1984): A Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetem igazgatására vonatkozó hatályos jogszabályok és elvi határozatok gyűjteménye. Budapest.
Springer Nature cordially invites all interested participants to its webinar on Thursday, 23 April 2026.
Further details about the event:
Tips and tricks to enhance your research visibility after publication
Date & Time: 23rd April (Thursday), 3:00-4:00 PM CEST
In this webinar, you will learn effective approaches to maximize the impact of your research after publication. We will cover best practices for sharing your work on academic platforms and scientific social networks, proven methods for engaging with relevant research communities, and how to interpret altmetrics as a valuable complement to traditional citations.
Discover how a well‑planned communication strategy can significantly expand your reach and spark meaningful conversations in your field. Don’t wait for others to find your research—learn how to take an active role in amplifying your contribution to global scientific progress.
Clarivate warmly invites all interested participants to its webinar designed for researchers, librarians, and research support professionals. Built around the responsible use of AI in the scholarly environment, the webinar introduces AI-powered tools developed by Clarivate that support research workflows, along with practical guidance on how to use them. The webinar is available in both English and Hungarian.
Details of the English webinar:
Getting Academic AI Right: Clarivate Tools for AI-Powered Research Workflows
Date & Time: 23 April (Thursday), 3:00–4:00 PM CEST
The webinar explore what it means to use AI responsibly in scholarly environments and why the underlying data and design principles of AI systems matter for discovery, evaluation, and knowledge creation. With this perspective in mind, it introduces the latest Clarivate innovations designed specifically for the research community:
In the K21 Quality Management Coordination Committee’s first-quarter report for 2026, the working group leaders provided an overview of the results from the past quarter, as well as ongoing work and changes.
On 20 February 2026, the K21 Quality Management Coordination Committee approved the 2025 University Library Service Quality Improvement Report via an online vote. At the meeting, the final version of the ELTE University Library Service’s strategic objectives for the 2026–2030 period was also unanimously approved. The document defines the ELTE University Library Service’s tasks, development directions, and key intervention points in line with the university’s strategy. The sections of the 2026 ELTE-wide staff service survey and student survey questionnaires pertaining to library services were reviewed by the Primary Research Working Group and approved without changes. The Process Management Working Group asked the process owners to prepare key process descriptions, two of which have been completed.
The Communications Working Group provided information about the tasks carried out and results achieved by the working groups via the website, the ELTE University Library Service’s newsletter, and the short film entitled “3 Months – 3 Minutes” on the Kolibri mailing list, and contributed to the successful preparation and administration of the K21 reporting days meetings. They contributed to the publication of additional news on the ELTE Libraries website, which also appeared in the newsletter. The Green Library working group compiled the data from the Green Library questionnaire, and a report is being prepared.
Members of the Library Directors’ Working Group prepared the member libraries’ 2025 reports, dissemination reports, this year’s work plans, and school outreach plans; they approved the reports and this year’s work plans of the member libraries and the ELTE University Library Service, as well as the ELTE University Library Service’s Quality Improvement Report. They collected and submitted the libraries’ statistical data by an earlier deadline than in previous years. In addition, they reviewed the ELTE University Library Service’s strategy adopted in 2024 and aligned it with ELTE’s strategic goals for the 2025–2030 period, indicating that the libraries play an active role in achieving ELTE’s strategic goals. Four meetings were held in the first quarter to discuss the new strategy, the updating of assimilation documents, Open Access quotas, digitized theses and those received from Neptun, and the DoTS project.
An update on the achievements of the K21 Quality Coordination Committee and our new developments will be posted on our website soon.
Sándor, a recently widowed father, finds himself facing a serious moral dilemma. He becomes the sole witness to a serious accident caused by his troubled teenage son. Sándor must decide: will he bear the burden of the truth and the consequences that will ruin his son’s life, or will he cover up the act, which in turn will distort the boy’s psyche for life? His paternal instincts push him toward the latter.
Growing Down explores important moral questions. Is everything really fine? The world has entered an age of honesty, yet we play games every day – especially with those we love the most. Our image of the family is still filled with idealized expectations: harmony, love, unconditional support. But what happens when reality doesn’t fit this picture? Love sometimes builds walls – walls that can become prisons if speaking the truth threatens our own mental or physical freedom.
Date: 15 April 2026, 6:00 p.m.
Venue: ELTE University Library and Archives, Community Space (Budapest, 6 Ferenciek Square, 5th District, ground floor)
Director: Bálint Dániel Sós
Screenplay: Bálint Dániel Sós, Gergő V. Nagy
Cinematographer: Kristóf M. Deák
Editor: Márton Gothár
Music: Máriusz Fodor, Ambrus Tövisházi
Starring: Szabolcs Hajdu, Ágoston Sáfrány, Anna Háy, Zoltán Friedenthal, Rita Kerkay.
Our guests for the post-screening discussion: Liliána Révész, psychologist, grief counselor, and story therapist, as well as Bálint Dániel Sós, the film’s director.
To mark Hungarian Poetry Day, on April 8, 2026 (Wednesday) at 4:00 p.m., poet Ágoston Szauer, a teacher at ELTE’s Bolyai Training Institute in Szombathely, will present his latest collection of poems, titled Mindenek mögött (Behind Everything), in the event hall on the second floor of the ELTE ULA Savaria Library and Archives.
In the poems of this collection, published in February, the author explores the relationship between God and man, earth and sky, body and soul. Ágoston Szauer’s poetry explores the connections behind the visible world, attempting to give voice to the almost unspeakable: in his poems, which hint at brief, subtle vibrations and are interwoven with silences, the emphasis is on inner attention and contemplation.
At the book launch, a discussion related to the volume will be moderated by Dániel Szauer, a university student.
Zoltán Kelemen, an actor at the Sándor Weöres Theater, will read selections from the poems, accompanied on the piano by Marcell Kardos, a student majoring in Hungarian language and music.
The event is organized by the Department of Hungarian Literary Studies and the Department of Hungarian Linguistics at ELTE Dániel Berzsenyi Teacher Training Center.
The ELTE–NFI University Film Club screening and discussion series continues. We welcome university members from all ELTE faculties.
In a joint program with the ELTE Faculty of Law’s Student Research Group on Criminal Procedure and Penitentiary Law, we will use the film to trace the life story of Attila Ambrus – the criminal infamous as “the Whiskey Bandit” – and the crimes he committed. The former hockey player robbed some 29 financial institutions, post offices and travel agencies over a six-year period and successfully evaded law enforcement for a long time. The Hungarian public followed his actions with keen interest.
Following the release of Control, Nimród Antal returned to audiences with another significant film, introducing one of Eastern Europe’s most notorious criminals. Yonderboi’s music perfectly underscores the action scenes, of which this film has no shortage.
Date: 8 April 2026, 6:00 PM
Venue: ELTE University Library and Archives, Community Space (1053 Budapest, 6 Ferenciek Square, ground floor)
Director, Screenwriter: Nimród Antal
Cinematographer: Péter Szatmári
Editor: Zoltán Kovács
Music: Yonderboi
Starring: Bence Szalay, Piroska Móga, Zoltán Schneider, Viktor Klemm.
Guest for the post-screening discussion: Dr. László Jován, attorney and adjunct lecturer in the Department of Criminal Procedure and Penitentiary Law at the Faculty of Law. Representing the student research group in the discussion will be Laura Leszkó, law student and teaching assistant.
With the support of the ELTE University Film Club, the National Cultural Fund (NKA), and the Hungarian Documentary Filmmakers’ Association (MADOKE), a documentary film screening series featuring works by Hungarian filmmakers is being launched. The next screening will feature Balázs Simonyi’s 2017 film Ultra.
Date: Tuesday, April 14, 6:00 p.m.
Venue: University Square Campus, Weiss Emilia Hall (1053 Budapest, Egyetem tér 1–3., ground floor, in the hallway next to the coat check)
How far must you go to get closer to yourself? Ultra takes you to the limits of physical endurance and the depths of the human soul. Balázs Simonyi and his film crew document the struggles of five competitors in the legendary Spartathlon race – and what makes the film truly unique is that the director is himself a multiple finisher, and one of the five protagonists is the filmmaker himself.
The Spartathlon has a time limit of 36 hours; during this race, which winds from Athens to Sparta and conquers a 1,200-meter-high mountain, finishers cover 246 kilometers. Commemorating an ancient legend, this test of strength – one of the toughest and most prestigious races in the world – concludes in front of the statue of King Leonidas.
We learn about the competitors’ personal motivations – both during the race and beyond – and why they’re taking on this extreme distance. The toughest challenge faces Béla, a small-town financial controller who has already tried five times without success – the organisers won’t accept his entry, so he’s running a “Private Spartathlon”: he’ll set off from Athens when the others have already arrived in Sparta. Will he reach the finish line on his sixth attempt, relying solely on himself and his wife’s help?
Made with state-of-the-art technology and rich in spectacular drone footage, Ultra is a one-of-a-kind, unforgettable cinematic experience. In 2017, the film was shortlisted for the European Film Award, among 15 films deemed worthy of the honor.
Our guests for the post-screening discussion are Balázs Simonyi, the film’s director and lead actor, and producer László Józsa.
Balázs Simonyi László Józsa
Dr. Balázs Simonyi studied at the Faculty of Humanities at ELTE between 1998 and 2006, earning degrees in film theory/film history, Hungarian language and literature, and aesthetics. He studied at the Doctoral School of Philosophy at ELTE’s Faculty of Humanities, and in 2025 earned a PhD from the Doctoral School of Literary Studies at Pázmány Péter Catholic University on the topic of contemporary documentary film. Since 2002, he has been a freelance creative: he produces films and long-term photo series, as well as commercials, image films and television programs. His films have been invited to hundreds of festivals, including several Oscar-nominated events and A-category film festivals.
László Józsa, cinematographer and producer, is the head of the Speak Easy Project (SEP). The founders established the Berlin-based sister company in 2014. SEP produces commercials, communication projects, television programs, and documentaries.
Seating is limited, so please register in advance by email.
