Obuda University

At its meeting on 7 September 2009, the Senate of Budapest Tech (Budapesti Műszaki Főiskola) declared that the institution had fulfilled all the legal criteria required to adopt the designation of “university.”

On this basis, and with the support of the Economic Council and the Senate, the leadership of Budapest Tech submitted a request through the Minister of Education and Culture to the Hungarian National Assembly, under Section 18 of the Higher Education Act (Ftv.), to grant the institution university status. They also proposed that, in line with the traditions of the first university in the capital—originally founded by King Sigismund in 1395 and re-established in 1410—the institution be registered under the name “Obuda University” through an amendment to Annex 1 of the Higher Education Act.

On 23 November 2009, the National Assembly adopted Bill T/10877 amending Act CXXXIX of 2005 on Higher Education. The President of the Republic of Hungary signed the bill into law on 11 December 2009 (published in issue 181 of the Hungarian Official Gazette, Magyar Közlöny). The relevant section, effective from 1 January 2010, states:

Section 45
In Annex 1 of the Higher Education Act, under the heading “State Universities,” the entry “Obuda University, Budapest” is added, and under the heading “Non-State Colleges,” the entry “Golgota Theological College, Vajta” is added, in alphabetical order according to the Hungarian alphabet.

Obuda University is the general and full legal successor of Budapest Tech and its predecessor institutions: Bánki Donát Technical College, Kandó Kálmán Technical College, and the Light Industry Technical College.

To commemorate the founding of the university, the Senate incorporated “Obuda University Day” into the university’s annual calendar of events. It is celebrated every year on 23 November.

Obuda University is a recognized and active participant in the global higher education market, providing high-quality and competitive services. As part of the European Higher Education Area, the institution is deeply committed to contributing to the development of a knowledge-based society and economy.

Until 1 July 2014, the university carried out its educational and research activities at five faculties—Bánki Donát Faculty of Mechanical and Safety Engineering, Kandó Kálmán Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Keleti Károly Faculty of Business and Management, Neumann János Faculty of Informatics, and Rejtő Sándor Faculty of Light Industry and Environmental Engineering—across its campuses in Budapest and Székesfehérvár.

Based on Government Decision No. 1139/2014 (III. 14.), the university’s sixth faculty, the Alba Regia Faculty of Engineering, was established in Székesfehérvár on 1 July 2014.

This new faculty was formed through the integration of the Obuda University Alba Regia University Centre and the Faculty of Geoinformatics of the University of West Hungary.

In developing the content of its educational programs, Obuda University strives to strike a balance between timeless foundational knowledge and practical, application-oriented skills. It places particular emphasis on foreign language training for its students. All students have access to the internet, the university’s computer network, and library system. The university also supports students’ physical activity needs through gymnasiums and sports facilities, and provides housing for the majority of those in need through its own dormitories and rented accommodations.

Obuda University maintains a wide network of international partnerships. Each year, more than one hundred students participate in internships or partial studies at European—and occasionally overseas—higher education institutions. The expansion of cooperative education allows an increasing number of students to prepare their thesis projects in real industrial environments and gain hands-on professional experience. Students also have the opportunity to engage in the university’s research and development activities, as well as its student scientific societies.

Graduates at each level of the university’s tiered training system receive internationally recognized engineering diplomas attesting to their strong theoretical and practical qualifications. The most outstanding students may continue their studies toward a university diploma and eventually earn a PhD.

The core of Obuda University’s academic mission is to offer the full spectrum of academic programs—from practice-oriented bachelor’s degrees grounded in strong theoretical foundations to high-quality, competitive master’s programs. Currently, the university offers education in 14 bachelor’s programs, 9 master’s programs, and 3 doctoral schools. The educational portfolio also includes higher education vocational training and specialized postgraduate training, available in full-time, evening, correspondence, and distance learning formats.

At the Bánki Donát Faculty of Mechanical and Safety Engineering, bachelor’s programs are offered in Hungarian in mechanical, military and safety, and mechatronics engineering, as well as in German in mechanical engineering. Technical instructor training is also available. Outstanding students can pursue master’s studies in safety engineering, mechatronics engineering (in both Hungarian and English), and engineering teacher training.

At the Kandó Kálmán Faculty of Electrical Engineering, bachelor’s education focuses on electrical engineering. Building on this, the faculty also offers a master’s degree in engineering teacher training for those wishing to continue their studies.

At the Keleti Károly Faculty of Business and Management, bachelor’s programs are offered in technical management, business and management, and commerce and marketing. Master’s education includes enterprise development and engineering teacher training.

The Neumann János Faculty of Informatics is responsible for managing the highly regarded, practice-oriented bachelor’s program in engineering informatics, as well as the applied mathematics program and the engineering informatics master’s program, offered in both Hungarian and English. The faculty also offers an engineering teacher training master’s program related to the engineering informatics undergraduate degree.

The Rejtő Sándor Faculty of Light Industry and Environmental Engineering provides education in bachelor’s programs in light industry engineering, industrial product and design engineering, and environmental engineering. Master’s programs are available in light industry engineering and engineering teacher training.

The Alba Regia Faculty of Engineering in Székesfehérvár offers five bachelor’s programs—electrical engineering, technical management, engineering informatics, land surveying and land management engineering, and public administration (renamed public administration organization as of September 2014)—as well as two master’s programs in mechatronics engineering and land consolidation engineering.

Since 1 August 2020, the Ybl Miklós Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering has operated as a part of Obuda University. At the bachelor’s level, the faculty offers programs in architecture and civil engineering in both full-time and correspondence formats, with instruction provided by highly qualified and experienced lecturers. These programs provide students with the professional knowledge necessary for successful engineering careers and competitiveness on the labor market. The faculty also offers specialized postgraduate training in fire protection engineering, based on prior engineering knowledge, and a master’s program in architecture (available in both Hungarian and English), which prepares students for independent architectural design, interior architecture, and urban planning tasks, as well as for further academic study leading to a scientific degree.

The Trefort Ágoston Centre for Teacher Training and Engineering Pedagogy provides undergraduate training for technical instructors and master’s programs in engineering teacher training in inter-faculty cooperation, aligned with technical disciplines.

On 24 February 2012, the Hungarian Accreditation Committee accredited the engineering teacher training master’s program in engineering informatics offered by Obuda University as an off-campus program at the Subotica Faculty of Hungarian Teacher Training of the University of Novi Sad.

Today, the Subotica Faculty of Hungarian Teacher Training is the only university unit in Vojvodina offering education in the Hungarian language. From the beginning, a strategic goal of the faculty was to participate not only in preschool and primary teacher education, but also in teacher training more broadly, as there is a significant shortage of qualified Hungarian-speaking teachers in the region.

The master’s program in engineering teacher training (engineering informatics specialization) was launched in September 2012, based on the cooperation agreement signed with the University of Novi Sad.

In 2013, Obuda University joined the “Science without Borders” program, established between the European Union and Brazil, which aims to facilitate partial studies in Europe for Brazilian university students. At the request of the Brazilian government, the university initially offered three English-language BSc and two PhD programs. Over time, the number of undergraduate programs increased to four, and as a result, the number of participating Brazilian students has since exceeded one hundred.

From September 2014, the presence of international students at the university changed significantly. More than 70 students began their studies within the short-term Erasmus mobility program. Additionally, thanks to the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship program supported by the Ministry of Human Capacities, full-cycle international students also began attending Obuda University. These students may pursue studies in five bachelor’s, three master’s, and three doctoral programs, gaining access to advanced levels of academic education.

The presence of international students contributes to strengthening the university’s international relations and also fosters the development of its broader institutional environment.

The expansion of off-site education in the Carpathian Basin was marked by a cooperation agreement signed with the Foundation for Székelyudvarhely in Transylvania, which led to the launch of a correspondence bachelor’s program in light industry engineering in Székelyudvarhely.

On 1 September 2014, the Carpathian Basin Online Education Centre (K-MOOC) was established as part of the University Research and Innovation Centre.

The name and mission of K-MOOC closely align with the globally expanding Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) movement. In this acronym, “massive” refers to the goal of large-scale education, “open” indicates free access to all course materials, and “online” refers to the accessibility of content via any web browser on any computer or mobile device. Obuda University was the first Hungarian higher education institution to launch this forward-looking initiative with four courses, aiming to support higher education institutions offering Hungarian-language programs throughout the Carpathian Basin, especially beyond Hungary’s borders.

The university’s development is also reflected in the growth of its student body. Since its foundation, the number of students has steadily increased, surpassing 13,000 in 2014.

Inseparable from education, the university’s mission and goal is to conduct competitive research. To this end, it provides an environment that supports the creation and application of knowledge, fosters the advancement of academic values, and expands research and development activities in cooperation with industry partners. As part of both national and international research programs, the university engages in targeted basic and applied research, development, and innovation across its academic disciplines.

Research, development, and innovation activities are carried out within the organizational units of the University Research and Innovation Centre, which implements the university’s science and innovation strategy. Currently, high-level scientific work is being conducted across five knowledge centres.

Alongside the University Research and Innovation Centre, a network of competence centres has also been established.

These scientific hubs provide an inspiring framework in which experts from various institutes and faculties work together in an integrated manner to conduct research in their respective fields at an even higher and more effective level than before. These hubs also serve as the academic foundation for the university’s doctoral training programs.

In several disciplines, internationally recognized research centres and scientific workshops are operating. Obuda University is a member of major international organizations such as EUA, SEFI, IEEE, and IGIP.

Obuda University maintains nearly 300 international cooperation agreements with institutions in more than 40 countries. These agreements promote mutually beneficial collaboration in scientific research, academic and curriculum development, joint organization of conferences, publication of scholarly articles, and faculty and student exchanges.

The university’s scientific journal, Acta Polytechnica Hungarica, operated by an international editorial board of renowned domestic and foreign experts, has been indexed in Google Scholar, included in the distribution of Thomson Reuters, and listed in both the Science Citation Index Expanded (SciSearch®) and the Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition.

The effectiveness of the university’s practice-oriented training is demonstrated by its students’ successes in national and international competitions. These include outstanding results in pasta bridge-building championships (domestic, RECCS Carpathian Basin, and world championships in Canada), the Design Challenge robotics competition, Bosch Electromobile, Mitsubishi-Scholarship, Pneumobil, Shell Eco-marathon, György Hajós Mathematics Competition, and the PLC automation programming contest.

In addition to their academic performance, students have also excelled in national and international sports competitions.