Mission Statement of our University
The goal of the doctoral school’s quality assurance is to maintain—and, if possible, enhance—the high standards of this internationally pioneering and high-quality educational and research center.
The main tools are as follows:
- Announcement of doctoral topics
- The PPKE RT MT DI awards doctoral degrees in the fields of biology, computer science, and electrical engineering. The Doctoral and Habilitation Council for the Field of Science (TDHT) evaluates all topics annually and approves only those for which the intellectual and infrastructural background for research is secured, and where it deems it realistic that a high-quality dissertation can be submitted within 4–5 years. Those announced topics that are linked to external research institutions are carried out only at institutions (MTA SZTAKI, MTA MFA, MTA TTK EI, MTA OITI, MTA TTK PKI) with which a cooperation agreement guarantees the student’s legal status regarding employment, and where the student’s rights and obligations are clearly defined.
- The Persons Serving as Faculty-Researcher Thesis Supervisors
- A key requirement for faculty-researcher thesis supervisors is that the metrics of their scientific publications over the past five years significantly exceed the publication requirements stipulated as prerequisites for degree conferral. Thesis proposers undertaking dual supervision shall identify a research topic that reflects the unique, multidisciplinary nature of the doctoral school and lies at the intersection of two disciplines cultivated within the doctoral school; therefore, the development of the topic at the thesis and dissertation levels requires the equal involvement of both disciplines, as well as coherent collaboration between the thesis proposers and the student applying for the topic. It is a consistently upheld principle that newly joining colleagues suitable for supervising topics should shortly obtain a degree Doctor of Science / 'DSc' from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and/or possess special expertise in their field. Those thesis topic proposers become supervisors when a student applying for their advertised topic is successfully admitted and enrolls in the doctoral school.
- Admission to the doctoral program
- The topics, updated and approved annually by the TDHT, can be found in the ODT database and on the doctoral school’s website. The admissions committee forms its opinion of students applying for the announced topics during an interview, based partly on academic performance and partly on the applicant’s demonstrated scholarly achievements, publications, awards, language exam(s), and research objectives. The formal requirements and documentation necessary for participation in the admissions exam are available for download from the PPKE RT MT DI Doctoral School / admissions portal.
- Courses in the doctoral program
- The TDHT decides on the inclusion of courses in the program based on a proposal from the head of the doctoral school. It is required that only instructors and researchers holding an academic degree whom the TDHT deems suitable may serve as faculty members of the doctoral school. Faculty members of the doctoral school are listed in the doctoral school’s ODT database, with their degree of affiliation with the doctoral school indicated as a percentage. Students pursuing studies in the doctoral school follow an individual study plan—taking into account the multidisciplinary nature of the program and the large number of topics announced that lie at the intersection of two disciplines. In other words, the individual training plan means that the pace and progress of academic advancement—as determined by the advisor and approved by the program director and the head of the doctoral school—can be tracked in the semester-by-semester work plan and report that must be submitted each semester.
- Research Work
- We have structured the experimental laboratories so that the Jedlik Laboratory, which brings them together, has access to several experimental workstations that are considered unique even on an international level, as well as laboratory access at the collaborating institutions. We aim to ensure that short-term visits by renowned foreign professors and the participation of international doctoral students in the school become a natural part of our daily work. The publication record of students who have recently earned their PhDs is intended to serve as a benchmark for future students. To facilitate this, we intend to maintain the opportunity for doctoral students to participate in conferences annually. A good opportunity for this domestically is the English-language “PhD Proceedings” mini-conference organized annually by the doctoral school, to which we also invite representatives from doctoral schools at other universities that belong to the disciplines taught within our doctoral school. We place significant emphasis on international engagement, competition, and participation in international conferences of outstanding scientific importance. This opportunity is offered to students who achieve significant new results. By leveraging the doctoral school’s extensive network of contacts, we create the conditions for eligible students to spend at least one semester at a major foreign university.
- Monitoring
- In addition to the presentations given at the aforementioned PhD Proceedings mini-conference, the academic performance and progress of doctoral students are evaluated by their advisors, the director of the doctoral school, and the TDHT on an annual basis, based on the written mid-term reports submitted. We intend to maintain the semester- and annual-level feedback system on an ongoing basis. This includes examinations and the preparation of mandatory written progress reports each semester. The committee assesses the student’s academic preparedness (language exams, publications, etc.) and research level (with particular regard to the “state of readiness” of the scientific articles supporting the theses of the dissertation in progress), and based on this, either offers the student the opportunity to begin the process of obtaining the degree immediately following the completion of the comprehensive examination—provided that the committee deems the student sufficiently qualified to successfully complete the degree in the fourth year—or recommends that the student pursue a professional engineering degree following the comprehensive examination.
- Publication Requirements for the PhD Degree
- We have developed a set of requirements that presents a significant professional challenge as a prerequisite for obtaining the degree. Students may only submit a doctoral dissertation if, at the same time, they “put on the table” at least two articles—published in international, peer-reviewed journals with high impact factors—that present their own results, are related to the thesis points, and have an “accepted” status. The TDHT is responsible for reviewing this.
- Statement on the Public Availability of Dissertations
- Theses issued by the PPKE RT MT DII by those who have earned a degree at the institution have been continuously available electronically since 2005, starting with the first degree awarded, at www.doktori.hu and on the PPKE RT MT DII’s own website, and in print at the PPKE ITK (1083 Budapest, Práter u. 50 /a), with the exception of those dissertations whose publication has been temporarily suspended due to ongoing patent proceedings.
