BME’s Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences (GTK) has organised its 26^th annual Intensive Seminar. Spanning a history of a quarter of a century, the Seminar was organised between 17-19 October 2024. The event has hosted numerous foreign and local presenters, with excellent opportunities for students to gain deeper insight into their professional field, to improve professionally and for networking.

True to the Faculty’s mission, the lectures and workshops of the Intensive Seminar have contributed to the participants’ better understanding of interdisciplinary challenges arising from the intertwining of technical, economic and social science fields, as well as their sustainable solutions. The seminars aimed to develop transversal competences, management and communication skills, and the use of artificial intelligence, responsible management and sustainability.

A highlight of the seminar is that excellent lecturers and researchers from GTK and international higher education institutions were joined by representatives of companies in holding seminars, and they also participated in workshops and lectures. Just as before, GTK alumni joined the speakers and inspired the current students with their personal success stories. A special feature this year was that alumni from the English-language master’s programmes were also present and active with holding seminars. Challenge-based professional workshops were an important part of the event. These took place in smaller groups, thus ensuring more intensive learning and active participation for GTK master’s students.

A Networking Event was held on the third day of the course, and was deemed a resounding success. This was an opportunity for students and lecturers, as well as alumni, to build relationships, hopefully benefiting them in the long run.

The stats of the 2024 Intensive course speak for themselves: the figures of the  three-day GTK event underline its resounding success. A total of 23 lectures (8 in Hungarian and 15 in English) and 36 workshops (21 in Hungarian and 15 in English) ensured a colourful line-up of the event. A total of 62 experts (35 trainers and 27 lecturers) contributed to the Seminar, including 35 international lecturers and industrial experts, who shared innovative solutions from different fields with the students. Overall, more than 500 students participated in the program.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of some student feedback regarding the sessions:

First, for Dale A. Martin‘s presentation, titled “A dream come true – Three pieces of advice to prepare for success“:

“It was a pleasure to hear your experiences and honestly it was the best lecture I was attended at. It was very productive, I really liked that we had the chance to ask from an expert. Highly appreciated. Big respect and wishing you all the best!”

“I wanted to take a moment to express my deep appreciation for your remarkable speech today. It was incredibly inspiring and resonated with us as students. Your words motivated us to take initiative, make the most of our time at university, and embrace challenges as we discover who we are and what we wish to become.”

“I enjoyed his lecture as it was very personal and it was interesting to see how a wildly successful person actually achieved everything and how he analyzes his success looking back. I liked his honesty when answering the students’ questions and that he made sure to answer everything with the deepest of his knowledge, no matter how personal or deep the question was. He created a safe and warm atmosphere in the classroom and he was able to keep the attention on him the whole time without using a slideshow or barely any technology, which I think is very rare nowadays.”

Marco Rossi, PhD for the workshop titled “From Basics to Expertise: Solving Climate Change Risks in MATLAB”.

“I really enjoyed the lecturer’s style of speaking, he was knowledgeable on his subject and it was evident that he was a master of his craft and topic. I also liked that he was very helpful and he kept going to the students that were a bit slower and went over the topics that were a bit harder to understand multiple times just to get everyone on the same page. He was also very kind and funny and that made it easier to ask for help and ease into the topic.”

“The presenters were experts in their field, they could answer any questions raised. They were really patient with us and provided a solid foundation for continuing to use MATLAB.”

“Great presentation, engaging, useful and playful as well, with strong messages.”

“I like your way how you do it, would be happy to hear more or your presentations/attend ws. Thanks for the speacial treat with the chocolate.”

Bálint Tétényi, a GTK alumnus, gave a lecture entitled “Knowledge, markets, generations – Artificial intelligence and knowledge transfer in global marketing”.

“The best prepared speaker, he was very interesting. It was the best performance I’ve ever attended out of all the ones I’ve signed up for.”

“Everything that was said was entertaining and interesting. Thank you for the inspiration I received for writing my diploma thesis through the lecture.”

Last but not least, Dr. Beatrix Séllei, associate professor of the Department of Ergonomics and Psychology, held two workshops (The secret of successful people: Emotional intelligence and Spiritual self-defense against burnout). Here’s the feedback for those.

“Overall, I felt good and I think the session was useful, I was able to bring home a few ideas (which I think is the essence of these lectures/workshops).”

“I really liked the emotional intelligence test and it was interesting to experience the results comparing the two tests.”

“Thank you very much for the useful workshop! It highlighted a lot of things about myself that I knew subconsciously until now, but now I want to pay more attention to myself and develop the qualities that are necessary. The results of the questionnaire were very useful for me. :)”

“She is a tremendously kind speaker, she seems to have a constant smile on her, full of creative tasks. I was especially happy with the test part that I could guess the outcome first, and then I got to see her own evaluation. Thank you very much!”

This year, during the organization, we paid special attention to greening the event in order to reduce the ecological footprint and apply sustainable solutions in all possible areas. GTK’s forward-looking, interdisciplinary approach and the success of the Intensive Seminar further strengthen the Faculty’s mission: the creation of professional communities and knowledge that help solve the business and social challenges of the future.